Coffee coffee coffee

Last updated: June 2 2015

I drink coffee and move a lot. Here are some recommendations.

When possible, I avoid espresso in favor of anything else, so if you want espresso recs, you should go ask my friend Justine. Some of these cities I qualify as “avoid drip coffee, drink espresso.”

San Francisco Bay

San Francisco

San Francisco-proper has pretty good coffee, the problem is the prices. Starting at $3 for a 12 oz. pour over is a bit steep (IMO), especially when not every barista is equally great at producing a good cup. I won’t bother to recommend the usual triumvirate (4Barrel, Ritual, Blue Bottle) for this reason. If you want it, you know where to go. Here are some alternatives, that I think are just as good if not better:

East Bay

South Bay

Peninsula

New York City

Lower Manhattan

Brooklyn

Queens

Hudson Valley

Ontario

Toronto

Somehow, despite the Green Beanery, this city is definitely filed under, avoid drip, drink espresso. I haven’t lived here since 2009 though, so it’s entirely possible there’s been a sea shift.

Ottawa

North Carolina

Chapel Hill / Carrboro

I can wax poetic for hours on the Piedmont’s excellent, excellent drip coffee. I think some of it is the pressure from having Counter Culture roasted locally—everybody else steps their game up!

Cary (RTP)

You might be scoffing at this, but seriously, one of the best lattes I’ve ever gotten was at this shop off Davis Drive.