DeSpyro Coffee is now Duke’s Burgers

A few months back I wrote a post about a local coffee (?) joint near my house. The problem with DeSpyro Coffee, from my point of view, was that they were claiming expertise in too many categories at once (coffee, burgers, breakfast, mexican food, gelato, subs, and “grill”), which gives the impression that they’re a jack of all trades, master of none. Maybe that’s fine if you’re a diner or a Jewish deli, but for a place with “coffee” in the name, it would be nice if they’d at least mastered a good cup a’ joe.

The other day I noticed that DeSpyro is now Dukes Burgers. I called, and apparently it is just a name change, with little change to the menu or anything else. The lady I spoke with wouldn’t give me a real reason for the name change.

But here’s the kicker: the sign still has a list of other options besides burgers. (Unfortunately my picture is too lo-res to read, but it looks like they just replaced “burgers” with something else.) Maybe burger eaters are less picky/snobby than coffee drinkers at the mean, but I still think it’s strange to expect a burger place to make great Mexican food.

Maybe this is a step in the right direction for DeSpyro/Duke’s. While it’s a nice “I told you so” moment for me, I’d rather have a great new restaurant (or café) in the neighborhood. For now, however, I’ll stick by the statement in my original post:

DeSpyro…has doomed itself to being perceived as a place that’ll try to make anything decently, but probably nothing brilliantly.