Coolest Coffee Shop
 

Clearly this is a very well traveled crowd so here's a challenge to you all: what's the Coolest Coffee Shop you've ever been to? We're talking hipness factor.

My preposition is that Seattle is home to the Coolest Coffee Shops anywhere (as well as the corporate coffee giants of course). You can read my opinions here:

Coolest Coffee

And you can nominate your own choice in any city on that page or post them here!

I don't know about hipness but my favorite is Cafe du Monde in New Orleans. Cafe au lait, beignets, and the street musicians may be touristy, but I head there every morning whenever I am in town.

I don't drink coffee, but everybody I talk claims that La Dolce Vita in El Paso is the best :confused:

At least here in El Paso :p

When I think of a coffee shop, I don't think of gourmet coffee. Coffee houses, on the other hand, are for those who desire gourmet coffee.

A coffee shop is a little piece of heaven. It's a restaurant open 24 hours on the weekend and nearly 24 hours on weekdays in which you can get breakfast, lunch and dinner at all times. Their menus tend to be extensive and they are the providers of "comfort food". In New York, they tend to be owned by Greek families. They also offer terrific value for the dollars spent. Some might call coffee shops "diners".

A real coffee shop has to have a counter where you can see the cooks working.

Seattle's Best hands down
 

I just l ove Seattle's Best Coffee it's a cut above Starbucks. Their coffee is so much smoother,they have good mixed drinks as well. The design of the store in Borders is really cool. And plus the company is owned by Starbucks. It's so rad.

Vancouver, BC and Portland, OR sure wouldn't be far behind.

Unfortunately, Vancouver has crummy coffee shops on average. I think that's because the coffee craze hit Vancouver after the corporate giants were already established. So there were few independents operating by the time Starbucks moved in and took over.

I enjoyed your blog, Doug. I do like the coffee shops in Seattle. If nothing else, Seattle is the first place I ever saw a drive-in espresso bar (maybe in Redmond?). I saved your list for the next time I visit my son out there. I'm living near London now.. some nice, Italian coffee bars here and some interesting French patisseries with good coffee - but I haven't found anything outstanding as yet.