Outside magazine has a nice overview of stove options…

http://outside.away.com/outside/outsidestore/goverview/BG_STOVE.html

…along with comments by the “Gear Guy” on alcohol stoves in particular:

http://outside.away.com/outside/gear/gearguy/200208/20020805.html

http://outside.away.com/outside/gear/gearguy/200303/20030331.html

I know you said you are space limited, but I would re-consider ruling-out space for a regular gas grill. For the first 15 years of my marriage, my wife and I lived in apartments, not one bigger than 720 sq.ft., and in that time we always had a gas grill outside (regardless of the floor we lived on, first, second, or third) with one exception. That exception was when we lived for a year in a high-rise apartment building in the Washington, D.C. area (we were on the 13th floor of all things). If you’re in that situation, I understand not wanting to fuss with a full-sized grill.

Last year we lost electricity multiple times due to hurricanes, once for a few minutes shy of 72 hours (we were one of the lucky ones to get electricity back on so quick). During that time I used both my white-gas stove (MSR WhisperLite, 1980s vintage) and an iso-butane stove (MSR Rapidfire, 1990s vintage), mostly for grins because we have a Weber grill outside. I tried to teach my young son about priming a white-gas stove, but he was wisely keeping his distance. That business of priming a white-gas stove really puts people off, understandably so. I’ve never owned a Coleman white-gas stove, so I don’t know how that gets primed, but I doubt it’s much more pleasant than with an MSR. Flare-ups are the result of not priming correctly. These can be exciting if you’re too close.

Also, white gas stoves generally don’t simmer well (not a big deal with boiling pasta; a much bigger deal with cooking rice). You’ll get better simmer performance if you put a burner plate underneath the pot (e.g., I use a Backpacker Pantry Scorch Buster from REI). You can also get them to simmer better if you don’t pump too much pressure into the fuel bottle.

Having said all of this, if I were in your shoes I’d buy a Coleman propane stove with two burner units and not look back. I think there are good reasons RVs and other camping vehicles are all equipped with propane stoves: safety, ease-of-use, cleanliness.