I am heading to wedding, and will be staying downtown w/o a vehicle.. Are there any good coffee places within walking distance.. (SoMA, N.Beach etc??) my free time will be limited so i won't be able tromp around the city on the Muni or BART...

Thanks!
Q

Searching on "San Francisco" yielded some good matches, e.g., Good espresso in San Francisco, San Francisco Coffee Houses, and A Visit to Blue Bottle Coffee in San Francisco.

1. try Sight Glass on 7th between Howard and Folsom. Serving out of a kiosk while they build their HUGE new coffee bar.

2. Blue Bottle at the Mint.
Blue Bottle Cafe
66 Mint Street
Providian Loan Building
San Francisco, CA 94103
510.653.3394

3. The Creamery - serves Ritual coffee
655 4th St.

Not much in the vein of 3rd wave coffee in North Beach

BART is very quick and reliable.
Take it to 16th and Mission BART station.
Walk one block to 16th and Valencia, then 1 block to 15th and Valencia.
4 Barrel coffee.

Enjoy.

Ritual is on a lot of people's list, not mine. Get back on the BART at 16th and off at the next stop, 24th at Mission. One block off of Mission is Valencia. Walk two blocks down Valencia to 22nd and you will see the controversial red star and cup flag. Ritual will make you appreciate Four Barrel even more.

q_at96 wrote:I am heading to wedding, and will be staying downtown w/o a vehicle.. Are there any good coffee places within walking distance.. (SoMA, N.Beach etc??) my free time will be limited so i won't be able tromp around the city on the Muni or BART...

Thanks!
Q

If you're desparate, Philz, on the corner of Berry and 4th, a block from AT&T Park.

There must be a Starbucks within a block or two!

Just kidding


My experience at Blue Bottle on Mint St was excellent. I've had some of my best espresso's there though I found some baristas better than others. Try the SO espresso of the day pulled on their lever machine.

A new player in the game is Sightglass Cafe, operating out of a garage opening as their cafe is being built. They are at 270 7th st. between Howard and Folsom. They are using beans from Verve in Santa Cruz and they are pulling shots on a two group Slayer. Excellent, both times I've been there.

Blue Bottle serves different coffees at different locations: Roman at the Ferry Building on Saturdays, Hayes Valley at their kiosk on Linden and 17' ceiling or the SO of the day at Mint Plaza. The Roman is my personal favorite, don't much care for the 17' ceiling.

The Ferry Building is in between SoMa and North Beach, so Alex, if you're around on Saturday, the Ferry Building is the place to go. It's a nice walk along the Embarcadero.

In San Fransisco for the weekend. Have tried Blue Bottle and Sightglass so far. Blue Bottle at the ferry terminal was not a fair test because I didn't have a straight shot, only a cappuccino. Very smooth, but didn't stand up particularly well to the milk and not quite as warm as I like it. Back there tommorow for a couple of straight shots.

Sightglass is pretty amazing. They are building a huge restaurant/coffee bar next door to their stand at 270 7th. Standing in the middle of the floor is a huge Probat roaster waiting to be hooked up. In the meantime they're brewing coffee with a Slayer in a plain concrete space about the size of a 1930s era garage. Amazing cappuccino and two straight shots served by a knowledgable barista who obviously was completely in command of her craft. One of the better coffee experiences I have had.