Starbucks may have locations all over, but independent coffee shops hold their own keeping locals caffeinated and happy. What makes the best ones great? Is it the quality of the beans, a daily roasting, some flavorful espresso-based experiments, the latte art, pastries, or maybe food, live music or overall mood? Or some mysterious combination of the above.
Hoodline filtered the numbers to find the top five coffee shops around the city, using both Yelp data and our own blend of analysis to produce a data-driven breakdown of where coffee drinkers go out of their way to get the city’s best cup(s) of coffee.
Elixr Coffee
Rittenhouse Square
Small-batch roasting, directly-sourced beans, and careful preparation make this the top coffee shop for many reviewers. The modern interior is laptop-friendly, with free wifi and handy outlets. Elixr is an early leader in the local craft coffee scene, and today has a wholesale operation and online orders.
Gran Caffe L'Aquila
Penn Center
Who needs third-wave coffee when you can get the Italian specialties that inspired the new generation? This emporium of fine Italian food not only has a popular restaurant, but it also has a classic Italian coffee bar. The custom blends are roasted on-site every day, and you can include Italian liqueurs—or liquors for that matter (drinks like espresso alla grappa come with a shot of booze on the side).
La Colombe Torrefaction
Fishtown
Philly's homegrown independent coffee chain (it's now in seven cities) has been slowly expanding over the last two decades. Today, its four locations in the city include its flagship cafe in Fishtown. Newly opened, the 11,000 space includes the roasting operation, a tasting room, plus some non-coffee variety like a bakery and rum distillery.
The Chapterhouse Café and Gallery
Bella Vista
The comfortable ambience—local art gallery on one side, board games on the other—plus all sorts of good coffee-based drinks make this a favorite South Philly spot to hang out. Thai, Mexican and Dominican-style coffees are just the start. There are less common drinks like the ancho chili latte or black and tan latte (peanut butter chocolate). The wifi and outlets sweeten the deal.
Menagerie Coffee
Old City
This modern, minimalist coffee shop in the city's oldest neighborhood keeps things simple with a daily selection of hand-poured coffee and related drinks, along with great (and inexpensively priced) sandwiches and oversized cookies.
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