Arsaga's Church & Center

The porch is the point. Arsaga's sits on the Fayetteville square, one block from the boutiques, and in good weather the porch fills with people drinking coffee before the Farmers Market gets going. Dogs welcome. Casual and a little hip, with an indoor room that's small enough to feel cramped on market mornings.

There's no wifi inside. That's a deliberate choice, and it tells you the whole story about who Arsaga's is for. This is a place to sit on the porch with a coffee and a Loxsmith toast and talk to whoever you came with, or read a book, or watch the square wake up while your dog sleeps under the table. It is not a place to grind out a workday on a laptop, and the owners have made the call that they'd rather have you talking to your friend than staring at a screen.

The toast menu is the calling card. The Loxsmith is the one to order, smoked salmon done the way a cafe with a toast program should do smoked salmon. The Nutella toast with whipped cream is the move if you want something closer to dessert. The maple street latte and the Orchid drink are the named house drinks, both worth ordering once even if you end up defaulting back to the regular latte. The orange poppyseed loaf and an iced coffee make a fine pre-market breakfast. Gluten-free bread is available, which more cafes should bother to offer.

Get there before the market crowd if indoor seating matters. After that, the porch is your only real option, and the porch is the better seat anyway when the weather cooperates. The dog-friendly patio fits the square's rhythm and the people who live in Fayetteville rather than the weekend tourists. Show up with a dog and a hangover and a Sunday morning. That's the right way to use this place.