Coffee culture is booming and with it more high quality coffee houses are opening. Each have there own style, coffee blends, unique menu items, and techniques.
There are many great coffee houses, however I chose to highlight a few that stand apart. These coffee houses are well known for uniqueness, quality, popularity, and dedication to the art of coffee.
Here are my top picks for Noteworthy Cafes in the U.S.:
Madcap Coffee (Grand Rapids, MI)
Madcap Coffee has won me over by offering tasting flights, use of latte art, and serving espresso in snifters.
However, what really set them apart most of all was implementing a zero waste policy; trading trash cans for bus bins and sorting all of their trash into compost and recyclables.
Heart Coffee (Portland, OR)
Coffee drinks & gourmet baked goods offered in stylish, industrial-chic quarters. Taking an absolutely obsessive approach to excellence and quality in roasting and brewing, Heart Coffee is one of the best cafes in the U.S. Try the affogatto; espresso dolloped over homemade coconut ice cream.
1369 Coffee House (Boston, MA)
1369 serves up Espresso drinks alongside homemade soups, sandwiches, and freshly baked pastries. Locations in Inman Square (1369 Cambridge Street) & Central Square (757 Massachusetts Ave).
It is a top-notch coffee house that draws local creative types and features a gallery.
Everyman Espresso (New York, NY)
Coffee & espresso from direct-trade beans offered in a small, no-frills setting or to grab and go. Sam Lewontin was the champion of the 2015 Northeast Barista Competition. With his love for coffee and knack for mixology, he offers unique drinks at his SoHo coffee shop.
Everymans Espresso is also known for having the best espresso shot in New York. If that wasn’t enough they also have unique offerings like almond milk as well as sheep and goat milk.
Seattle Coffee Works (Seattle, WA)
A modest coffeehouse with an espresso bar & a slow bar for comparing single-origin beans. Seattle Coffee Work is located at 107 Pike Street close to the Pike Place Market.
They roast quality coffee, and boast direct relationships with farmers. Their impressive brew bar offers a “slow bar” utilizing Chemex, Hario pour-over,
Aeropress, and syphon brewing.
Peregrine Espresso (Washington, D.C.)
Considered by coffee connoisseurs as the premier place to go for a cup of delicious, micro brewed coffee. Peregrine Espresso is owned by husband and wife team Ryan and Jill Jensen, and has a strong focus on great service, education, and sustainability.They have both coffee and tea option, cold press juices, bakery items, sodas, and Mexican chocolate.
Café Grumpy (New York City, NY)
Offering sandwiches, homemade pastries and cookies, excellent coffee, and a No Laptop Policy; this independently owned and operated cafe, bakery, and roastery is
a popular New York hangout.
Café Grumpy is also a Member of the Specialty Coffee Association of America.
Panther Coffee (Miami, FL)
This coffeehouse first started as a cart on a bicycle serving cold brew at food truck roundups. Now with three locations, with more on the way owners Joel and Leticia Pollock have established themselves reputably in the coffee business.
At Panther Coffee they roast their own beans, curated from small farms (such as Grupo las Cuchillas in Nicaragua.) The coffee shop also showcases information sheets about the growers; your cup’s story from plant to cup is entirely accessible.
The Coffee Fox (Savannah, GA)
A craft coffee house in historical downtown Savannah, Georgia featuring the pour-over coffee brew method as well as pastries, cheese boards, wine and beer.
A quirky coffee house in a charming town, what could be better. Aside from the enchanting atmosphere the cafe also offers a fun and interesting menu with items such as a Mexican mocha, cold brew coffee, and a horchata latte.
This is a coffee house worth visiting.
Barista Parlor (Nashville, TN)
Nashville’s Barista Parlor does credit to the cities culture. It is housed in a former auto repair garage in Music City’s hip east side. The coffee house serves artisan espresso, as well as local seasonal cafe food.
Not only is the location hip with a cool industrial vibe, but they also offer unique drinks such as a bourbon vanilla latte.
Cafe Du Monde (New Orleans, LA)
Café du Monde French for “Café of the World”, is a coffee shop on Decatur Street in the French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is best known for its world famous café au lait and its French-style beignets. The Original Cafe Du Monde Coffee Stand was established in 1862 in the New Orleans French Market.
Ritual Coffee Roasters (San Francisco, CA)
Ritual has been a pioneer in this delicious shift in coffee consciousness since they opened their doors on Valencia Street in 2005 and started what some call a coffee revolution in San Francisco.
Ritual’s San Francisco cafes are also known as popular hangout and working spaces for tech workers in the city.
I am sure there are so many coffee houses that are absolutely wonderful and I wish I could give credit to them all. The venues listed here came up reputably in my research for high quality unique coffee houses.
Please share about a great coffee house you have visited. What set them apart?
Café Grumpy gets my vote for the best coffee house name ever!
Somehow, I have never been to Seattle Coffee Works, even though it’s right in my neighborhood. (Thanks for the heads up!)
I am partial to Top Pot Doughnuts. The original store is just up the street from me. It’s primarily a doughnut shop that sells coffee, but it’s the only place I have been able to find an Ovaltine latte.
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Pretty unique name indeed. 🙂 Wow an ovaltine latte, that’s awesome.
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I hope to go to Seattle one of these days to visit Seattle Coffee Works! Macy’s, a coffee house in Flagstaff, AZ, remains my all time favorite. It’s not just the beatniks and hippies, or the mix of cinnamon and incense, or the Baha’i art on the walls, or the vegetarian menu, but because I always seem to fall in love with people when I go in there.
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But those are all certainly good reasons. 🙂
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Hi Abbie. Good post. I thought of you the other day as in our newspaper there was this article on the best coffee shops around the world so I saved the link and was waiting for you to post again so I could send it to you…so here it is.
http://www.traveller.com.au/the-traveller-10-best-coffees-around-the-world-gn6djo
Hope you enjoy but you may have already seen it.
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Thank you so much! 🙂 I have the second part of this post “International Coffee Houses” set and plan to post it in a few days. It will be interesting to compare. 🙂
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Ho, o loved this post and live in New Zealand and don’t get to The States very often these days but your post encouraged me to go. Maybe it’s the traveller in me posing as wannabe coffee connoisseur but whatever it is – makes me want to explore coffee places in the US. We kiwis are a bit precious about our coffee so trying yours would be a great expidition I think!! I’ll make contact if I’m over in your part of the world! 😊
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I hope you get a chance one day. 🙂
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Great post by the way
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Fun stuff! Thanks for the tour.
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Happy to give it. 🙂
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Cafe’ Du Monde! Because that means I’m home! lol A block from my place.
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How wonderful! 🙂
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I live near the DC/Virginia region and I’ve never heard of Peregrine Espresso; I’ll have to make a trip and check them out!
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I hope you enjoy it! 🙂
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So glad to see some local spots! I lived in the Seattle area most of my life, but I’ve never been to Seattle Coffee Works. Will have to the next time I visit. I’ll have to visit Heart Coffee soon 😀
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Their are so many great ones in the N.W. I hope you get a chance to try, and enjoy these two. 🙂
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I do like the Cafe Grumpy’s policy! Leave your laptops at home, people!
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For social gatherings and atmosphere, yes. 🙂
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Reblogged this on John's Notes and commented:
Another nice list to follow up on. I have been to Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans a few times and I do enjoy it. It is one of those few places though where I relent and don’t insist on taking my coffee black!
If in Austin, TX a good coffee house is Mozart’s located just off of Lake Austin.
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Even tho I’m in what some say is the coffee center of the US, (SEA) .IMHO the absolute best cafe in USA…. Cafe Trieste in San Francisco. It was the first true cafe house opened on the west coast back in 1956. And is still true to the ole world espresso. Plus, the ambiance is amazing.
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That sounds wonderful. 🙂
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Have you been to all of these cafes? A few of these have been on my must-visit list for a long time, especially Madcap Coffee. I’ve always admired them but never knew they were in Michigan until a few days ago. I was in Michigan for vacation back in July, and would have loved to visit – definitely wishing I’d found out sooner!
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Not all of them, unfortunately.
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