Fig and Olive Cafe

Located at 4507 West Market Street inside of Nazareth Bread, Fig and Olive Café offers coffee drinks and baked goods. It is open from 7-6 Monday-Thursday, 7-9 Friday and Saturday, and closed Sunday. Outdoor seating is available.

Greensboro is reaching the point of coffee shop oversaturation, but even amid the abundance of other options, Fig and Olive manages to stand out. The coffee drinks include homemade syrups not easily found elsewhere such as fig and honey or pistachio cream. So too it goes with the desserts, which include everything from eclairs to crookies (chocolate chip cookie stuffed croissant rolls, the kind of mad science we can all get behind).

I opted for an iced karak/adani chai, and, after being wracked by indecision (thankfully, staff here are patient and courteous) at the pastry case, a Biscoff New York roll. Prices here aren’t cheap – the 16-ounce chai ran $6 – but that and calories are likely to be your only regrets.

The karak chai was very good: stronger than the more familiar masala chai albeit not overwhelming. The best way to describe the Biscoff roll is “wrong in a good way.” Imagine layers of buttery, flaky pastry stuffed with cookie butter. “Delicious” doesn’t do it justice.

One final note: Fig and Olive is bright and clean with plenty of comfortable seating. If your memories of Nazareth are of it seeming slightly run down, prepare to see this side of the house in a very different light.

If Fig and Olive existed when I lived within walking distance of it, I might have spent a dangerous amount of time here. As it now stands, it’s a bit of a trek, but it’s one that I’ll gladly make. Those who live closer, go here now and enjoy it.