Hey everyone,

I'm really curious about this, but it seems that a lot of coffee enthusiasts in general are lacking in a favorite coffee spot. I've talked with a lot of my friends, many of which live out of state (I'm from NJ) and there just seems to be a lack of independently owned great coffee shops out there.

My question, where are you located and does your town, or city have a coffee shop you frequent? It's just been bothering me lately and I'm looking to see what the larger coffee community has to say. And I'm definitely hoping not to hear an endless array of Starbucks responses.

Thanks guys.

Jim

Well I'm relatively new to the coffee shop scene, and also new to the area, so take my response for what it's worth, but there seem to be at least a handful of reputable shops and cafes in the Hampton roads area of Virginia (Virginia beach, Norfolk, Newport news, etc). I've been to a couple so far, my favorite being Cafe Moka in Virginia Beach, but there is Bean There which apparently gives occasional barista classes, and another one called Cafe Stella that supposedly roasts their own beans (next on my list).

I'm currently in a Athens, GA, a college town and have asked myself the same question. "Charbucks" reigns supreme and the southern culture doesn't seem to take an interest in coffee. Jittery Joes has some locations and their roaster is 5min away but they cannot seem to break the mermaid mold. Two Story is the best coffee venue that I'll commend for their Counter Culture beans and to-order chemex drip, though their second location just closed down this summer. And Walker's is a hybrid of a bar and a coffee joint so they have a unique scene combining their alcohol and espressos. Further evidence for the lack of a coffee culture in GA can be seen by the reason Atlanta makes #15 on T&L's top US coffee cities. There's Aurora coffee famous for adding unique milk flavors to iced coffee and Octane famous for adding Coca-cola to iced coffee. I don't know how we can get placed when the focus is on the non-coffee ingredients and watered-down drip coffee. It's rather disappointing.

For sure nothing too close to me. The closest shop to me that doesn't focus on food and drip and fru fru drinks would be Revelator in Birmingham. It's around 100 miles and worth a stop if you are in town.

Great ones, three hours away in Spokane, Seattle, Olympia, Tacoma, Hood River, Vancouver, Portland. Good ones 25 minutes out. But my favorite, coffee spot: home or lunch hour. Thanks to HB and contributors and the daily grind.

And I'm definitely hoping not to hear an endless array of Starbucks responses.

Here is but one example: Baltimore-Washington DC Coffee Shops

And there exists plenty others here: /cafes/

Okay, so it's not just me. I know great coffee shops are out there, but it does seem they're a rarity.

Looks like home-roasting is the way to go

In Jersey I frequent Rojo's Roastery in Lambertville. He also has a store in Princeton. Many good independents in Philly.

Chicago. There is a decent coffee shop in every neighborhood and probably some of the best in the country (and I'm not talking about intelligentsia and metropolis).

Boston also has a great coffee scene

sweaner wrote:Many good independents in Philly.

Yes there are! Sadly, some excellent independents like Town Hall have come and gone because they had weak business plans - the owners get delusions of grandeur and try to grow too much too fast, winding up with insufficient working capital to maintain a first class operation at the original site(s). so I hope my current favorites can remain going concerns.

Square One (13th Street a half block south of Locust) is an excellent spot that I'm able to visit at least 2 or 3 times a week. Their coffees are great, and the staff are wonderful people who make you happy to be there. Ultimo's another excellent shop, with 2 locations in South Philly. Reanimator and Elixr are also very fine places. I was a bit surprised at both the center city La Colombe and the new LC cafe in Fishtown, though. Given that LC started the good coffee movement here almost 20 years ago, I was not happy to see that less attention seems to be paid to the coffee itself than was true in the "good old days"- good but not outstanding shots, blobs of thick foam where a rosetta should be, and a broad focus on the food menu. Yes, the food's good at the flagship cafe, but I'd much rather eat a plain bagel or biscotto (or even nothing) if I could get great coffee there.

I supppose a food-based business model brings a higher net income than a coffee-based model, so I can't fault them if that's their goal. But I seem to recall that LC maintained tighter control over every one of their outlets years ago when there were far fewer, managing their machines tightly and requiring intensive training at their facility for every employee. Today when I get LC at a restaurant, it just doesn't seem to be as consistently excellent as it was before the great expansion. So if you're after great coffee in Philly, the indies above should make you more than happy.