Café entertainment in North America
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Ritual Coffee Roasters
Blue Bottle and Ritual Roasters are the two big names in SF’s ‘Third Wave’ coffee movement, which esteems coffee as highly – and artfully – as fine chocolate and grand cru wine. We love bringing our laptop to Ritual’s Mission location to get jacked and eavesdrop on tattooed bikers, internet pros and coffee aficionados, but lament the loss of electrical outlets at some tables.
reviewed
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Le Club Social
Another character-filled mecca literally a block away from Olimpico. Its terrace is equally sun-kissed, its coffee as flavorful, its ambience as lively. (Most patrons split their time between these two legendary establishments.) You’re apt to spot a rock star or two bicycling down Rue St-Viateur or ordering a cappuccino after rolling out of bed at noon.
reviewed
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Jives Coffee Lounge
Easily the hippest hand on the Old Colorado City stretch, this large brick-wall coffee lounge has ample sofas, wi-fi and a bandstand featuring regular live music and a Wednesday open-mic night. They do all the coffee drinks and a selection of all-fruit, no-sugar smoothies.
reviewed
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Intelligentsia Coffee
This local chain roasts its own beans and percolates good strong stuff. Its baristas frequently win the national latte-making championship, and one went on to win the international version. They know their joe. It makes a good pre- or post–Millennium Park fuel up.
reviewed
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Caffe Strada
University students get wired on caffeine on the giant outdoor patio and study, ardently talk philosophy or make eyes at each other. Good pastries.
reviewed
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El Lugar del Nopal
This sophisticated café-bar-cum-restaurant-cum-cultural center is a fervent supporter of local artists and an enchanting place at that, especially in the garden patio. It's known as a café cultural (cultural café). These places are probably the best way to experience Tijuana's independent arts and music scenes. It's tucked away in a residential area and is a bit hard to find but well worth the effort.
It offers music and art classes, and live music Wednesday through Saturday nights. It's also a super place to eat.
reviewed
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Ha-ra
If you’re alone with your journal, or need a place for a tête-à-tête that may end in tears, bring a fiver for the jukebox, select Miles Davis, and cozy up in this often-empty vintage-1947 classic dive. Take note of the flashback-to-the-1950s black-and-white photo of the couple dancing, then look at the wall sconces and you’ll realize you’re standing in the exact same spot – only now it’s filled with ghosts, not bee-boppers.
reviewed
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Online Coffee Company
Just because there’s wi-fi in every corner of every scraggly soup-kitchen bathroom these days doesn’t necessarily mean you brought your laptop with you to Capitol Hill. If you need a quiet place to check your email over a latte, this coffee shop in a renovated house is a good bet. Internet use is free for the first half-hour with the purchase of a drink. There’s free wi-fi too, of course. The branch on E Pine Street is larger and more office-like.
reviewed
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Stumptown on 12th
Serious bean freaks will be pleased to know that the small but internationally acclaimed coffee-roasting company Stumptown Coffee Roasters, based in Portland, Oregon and known for its fair-trade practices, now has two branches in Seattle. The cafe on 12th Ave is home to the company’s Seattle roasting headquarters. Coffee tastings are open to the public at 3pm daily. The tiny, adorable Pine St Cafe is also perfect for a quick caffeine hit.
reviewed
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City Steam Brewery Café
This big and boisterous place has plenty of yummy beers on tap. The Naughty Nurse Pale Ale is a bestseller, but be sure to check out their seasonals. The café is also home to the Brew Ha Ha Comedy Club, where you can yuk it up with comedians seen on Conan O’Brien and at the Improv. Shows are $15 on Friday and Saturday nights and $5 on Thursdays. You must pay for tickets with your credit card.
reviewed
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Toi Moi & Café
It’s best known for breakfasts, but this chic Laurier café embodies Montréal’s European flair from morning to night. As you sip your café au lait on the outdoor terrace (alongside sophisticates of all ages) you’ll feel as if you’ve crossed the pond yourself. It also serves tasty lunch and dinner, and its specialty coffee, roasted on-site, is sold around town.
reviewed
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Zeitgeist
One of the prettiest coffee shops around, this converted warehouse space serves coffee, pastries and sandwiches that have locals lined up all the way out the door in the morning and lunchtime rushes. But its blond-wood tables, picture windows, brick walls and wrought-iron accents make it an aesthetically pleasing place to work or read when it’s quiet. It’s also very handy to the Amtrak station.
reviewed
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La Croissanterie Figaro
A charming Parisian bistro popular with well-heeled locals. Located in a converted old house in a beautiful residential neighborhood, its terrace is among the city’s prettiest. Although it can be a bit of a scene, La Croissanterie is a lovely spot to nurse a coffee or cocktail all afternoon or evening. It also serves homemade croissants, salads and other goodies.
reviewed
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Chez José
Jolly owner José often mans the small kitchen of this tiny, colorful café. Besides serving some of the ’hood’s best and strongest espresso, it’s lauded for its breakfasts, seafood soup and Portuguese sausage. A young, bohemian clientele tends to spill onto the sidewalk to chat while eyeing the cast of characters that meanders by.
reviewed
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Café Romolo
This affordable Italian café is a beacon to the city’s coolest artists, musicians and those in search of a welcoming place to sip a beer or coffee. Romolo’s big-screen TV broadcasts international sports events such as soccer and hockey. Don’t be intimidated by the shouting fans; if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.
reviewed
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P
Abbot’s Habit
With its crunchy, unwashed vibe – messenger bags, dreadlocked hippies, ’80s indie classics on the airwaves – scruffy Abbot’s Habit feels more Colorado mountain town than shiny LA surf city. But then you see the flip-flops, dude, and it all seems right. The coffee’s strong, the pastries are fresh and the patio’s made for loitering. Check it out, bro.
reviewed
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On the Waterfront Cafe
For a little German-style conviviality, oom-pah-pah your way over to the lively patios at On the Waterfront Cafe, where a boisterous international crew guzzles pitchers of Bitburger and Erdinger. Lots of pub grub and a few Germanic specialties – potato pancakes, bratwurst, Swiss dried beef – keep the boardwalk-adjacent revelers going all day long.
reviewed
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Cluny Artbar
Tucked into the loft-like Fonderie Darling gallery is this charmingly hip café that serves breakfast, lunch and coffee to an artsy-chic, bilingual, Old Montréal clientele. It’s open later Thursdays for dinner and drinks, and can be rented for private parties, but Cluny’s is really a daytime scene. It doesn’t get more Montréal than this.
reviewed
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Farley’s
Retro-Americana down to the whitewashed slat-board walls and soda-shop-style counter, Farley’s is Potrero Hill’s unofficial gathering place, and has a big community newsboard and stellar magazine selection. Neighbors while away entire afternoons at sunny sidewalk tables. If you want to meet locals, this is the place.
reviewed
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Momi Toby’s Revolution Café
For once, a cafe that’s not an internet port. Dig the boho scene, with artists on both sides of the counter, swilling coffee and wine. Take sun at outdoor tables, or snag a window seat inside and meet the locals. There’s another location in the Mission that hosts Classical Revolution on Sundays.
reviewed
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Les Folies
A cross between a bar, café and club, the oh-so-chic Folies has a DJ every night spinning trendy music and, much more importantly, the only sidewalk terrace on Ave du Mont-Royal. Too-thin models and creative types breeze in for a quick Zen sandwich or a Buddha salad with mineral water before evaporating into the night.
reviewed
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Segafredo
The Bologna-based chain expertly prepares all the espresso variations, from caffé latte fredo to macchiato con panna. Try a Caffé Maya, spiked with the Yucatecan anise liqueur Xtabentún. Attracted by wireless access, laptop-users often occupy the upper level, which has an open-air terrace attached.
reviewed
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Espresso Vivace Roasteria
Asked what’s the best coffee in Seattle, most people will mention Vivace. The main location is vast and open with Vivace’s trademark curved bar. There’s also a tiny walkup window on Broadway where you can get an espresso on the run or stand around and watch the overcaffeinated street theater.
reviewed
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Café Olimpico
Its espresso is among the city’s best, yet this no-frills Italian café is all about atmosphere, as hipsters and unassuming local rock stars rub elbows with elderly gentlemen and quirky regulars. Spring and summer, the benches of the sunny outdoor terrace, a people-watching paradise, are jammed.
reviewed
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La Burdick Chocolates
This boutique chocolate store doubles as a café full of patrons drinking cocoa. Whether you choose dark or milk, it’s sure to be some of the best chocolate you’ll drink in your lifetime. There are only a handful of tables, so it’s hard to score a seat when temperatures are chilly.
reviewed
