If you don’t like the HPU library, or other “silent” study areas, where do you go to study? Sometimes, to make doing homework easier, it would be nice to sink into a big fluffy couch and stay there for hours drinking coffee and eating appetizing, homemade apple pie.

The closest and easiest accessible cafés must be Starbucks, since they seems to be on every corner. ”Starbucks is very good at grab-and-go coffee, but the café itself could be more inviting,”said Johan Rojhammar, a HPU student referring to Starbucks low temperature and loud music. Rojhammar enjoys coffee at the rRed Elephant: “To study or just sit down chatting with some friends, I like the rRed Elephant better,” said Rojhammar.

rRed Elephant, which opened a year ago, is a stone’s throw from HPU.

The rRed Elephant café Web site invites customer to sit, use Internet connections, listen to a range of music, enjoy new wall art every month, and “see live musical entertainment as well as improv, and open-mic nights on a monthly schedule.”

Both amateur and professional artists are welcome to exhibit, and every third Thursday the café organizes a “meet the artist” evening. The music is never too loud during the day, and if students need a break from study, they can grab a book, magazine, or a newspaper from the café’s loaded bookshelf.

The rRed Elephant has simple furniture with Windsor-style chairs and tables, and an overstubbed leather sofa. In addition to different kinds of coffee and tea, the café serves cakes, good sandwiches, and salads. Try the grilled chicken and papaya salad or the rRoast beef sandwich.

“ Instead of paying $39 per month for Internet at Starbucks,” said Rojhammar, “go to rRed Elephant and buy a good drink and use the Internet for free.”

Oh, yes: the chai tea is really good, too.