When it comes to exceptional coffee shops on a per-square-mile basis, it's hard to beat San Francisco. The City by the Bay boasts a counterculture flair, an adventurous spirit, and an appetite for quality that combines to create a coffee culture that's simultaneously grounded in tradition and completely original. San Francisco's coffee history runs from the first commercially roasted coffee—debuting in 1850 just a few years after the city's founding—to today's fourth-wave cafes.
While the options are seemingly endless, not all coffee shops are created equal. To find the best San Francisco coffee for you, peruse the curated list below and then start exploring. Visitors will need plenty of caffeine to sample the best coffee shops in San Francisco. We have some suggestions about where to get a cup.
Best San Francisco Coffee Shop for a Post–Golden Gate Park Pit Stop: Flywheel Coffee Roasters
Location: Upper Haight
Founder Aquiles Guerrero grew up on a Nicaraguan coffee farm and started working as a barista at the age of 12. His lifelong experience shows with the care put into every cup at Flywheel, a hand-built coffee near Golden Gate Park that's packed with reclaimed wood and repurposed materials. Watch Guerrero and his expert team work their coffee roasting magic or get a cappuccino to go for a leisurely stroll through the nearby Haight-Ashbury neighborhood.
Best San Francisco Coffee Shop for a Taste of Yemen: Delah Coffee House
Location: SoMa
The first coffee seeds cultivated for commercial sale came from Yemen and Delah brings the country's long tradition of exceptional coffee to San Francisco. Try their signature drink, the Yemeni latte (flavored with cinnamon and cardamom), or venture further into the robust menu featuring coffee, tea, smoothies, and traditional pastries of the Yemen region, like kunafa and baklava. The decor boasts a Middle Eastern flair with coffee-related history lessons written on the walls. With a 10 p.m. closing time, visitors can enjoy Delah's delights deep into the night.
Best San Francisco Coffee Shop for an Affogato: Sightglass Coffee
Location: Multiple locations
The Sightglass crew has come a long way from its humble roots in 2009, when two brothers served coffee from a service cart behind a warehouse garage door. Today, the franchise includes multiple locations in San Francisco and Los Angeles as well as a robust sourcing and roasting operation. But the real gem of the 7th Street flagship store is the affogato bar, where visitors can add Salt & Straw ice cream to their espresso. Life doesn't get much better than that.
Best San Francisco Coffee Shop for Sipping Like an Australian: The Coffee Movement
Location: Multiple locations
The laid-back, communal vibes of The Coffee Movement’s cafes—one in Chinatown/Nob Hill and another in Inner Richmond—take their inspiration directly from the beaches north of Sydney. Coffee, including signature drinks such as Cocoa Cappuccino (dark chocolate dusted cappuccino), is the sole focus while sitting and sipping. If you want The Coffee Movement to come to you, consider hiring their mobile espresso bar for your next event.Options include a chic bar cart or a 1969 Volkswagen truck for a true San-Francisco-meets-Down-Under coffee tasting experience.
Best San Francisco Coffee Shop for a Scholarly Discussion: Mazarine Coffee
Location: Financial District
This beautifully designed spot takes its name from France's first public library, Bibliothèque Mazarine. Sit down for a leisurely cup of coffee or espresso from a tightly curated list of premium roasters or dig into the more robust fare including toasts, salads, and sandwiches. While the interior aesthetic leans sleek and modern, the intellectual vibe here will inspire visitors to engage in philosophical discourse. Investigating the meaning of life over a cup of coffee? Could be worse.
Best San Francisco Coffee Shop for Irish Coffee: The Buena Vista Cafe
Location: Fisherman's Wharf
As the legend goes, one day in 1952, Buena Vista owner Jack Koeppler and travel writer Stanton Delaplane set out to recreate a beverage served in Ireland's Shannon Airport. It took months—and one trip to the airport—but the pair eventually succeeded: coffee, sugar cubes, Irish whiskey, and heavy cream lightly whipped served in a hot, six-ounce, tulip-shaped glass. Bartenders at Buena Vista make Irish coffees by the dozen. Order one, or three, with breakfast, lunch, or dinner served at the traditional pub near the Powell-Hyde cable car's last stop.
Best San Francisco Coffee Shop for Pure Relaxation: Verve Coffee Roasters
Location: Duboce Triangle
There's nothing rushed about Verve, which started in Santa Cruz and has outposts in Los Angeles, Palo Alto, and Japan. The company's direct-trade buying model ensures the best beans at fair prices while the San Francisco shop in the Castro District is calm and cool with plenty of live plants and pleasing light-wood tones. It's the perfect place to sit and chill with a friend, a latte, and a light bite.
Best San Francisco Coffee Shop for Bread and Coffee: The Mill
Location: Hayes Valley
The founders of Four Barrel Coffee and Josey Baker Bread joined forces to create this Hayes Valley destination. The industrial space offers homey, comforting touches like newspapers to read, a communal table, and bright art on the walls. The coffee is sourced from all over the world while the menu includes fresh baked bread, pastries, toasts, and whole-wheat flour milled daily for visitors in a home-baking mood. And Monday night is pizza night, if all that goodness isn't enough for you.
Best San Francisco Coffee Shop for Café con Leche and Café con Morro: Abanico Coffee Roasters
Location: The Mission
Abanico founder Ana Valle credits her Salvadorian abuela for her love of all things coffee. The café, an outgrowth of Valle's successful wholesale business, is spacious with plenty of seating and works from local artists adorning the walls. Must-try items on the long menu include café con leche (sweetened with condensed milk and cinnamon) and café con morro (morro seeds and allspice). Make sure to take home a bag of beans as well—or join the subscription program.
Best San Francisco Coffee Shop for a Coffee Flight: Saint Frank Coffee
Location: Russian Hill
Named after Saint Francis, an itinerant preacher who took pleasure in the simplicity of life, the shop specializes in small-batch roasts. The flight of single-origin coffee is a treat for even the most dedicated drinker, a way to explore how terroir and farming technique can truly change the flavor of a bean and a cup of coffee. The decor at Saint Frank Coffee is austere and contemporary, shifting the focus to where it should be: on the coffee.
Best San Francisco Coffee Shop for Remembering the Old Days: Simple Pleasures Café
Location: Outer Richmond
As its name suggests, Simple Pleasures Café is a blast from the city's historic past. The 45-year-old establishment, recently honored as a San Francisco Legacy Business, features a large, welcoming sitting area out front, cheap but quality java, simple food, a packed interior with ancient furniture and quirky art, and friendly staff. Simple Pleasures recalls the sense of community that was in the DNA of pre-tech SF. Simply put: It's a great place to hang.
In between caffeine-reloading stops, make sure to check out some of the other amazing things to do in San Francisco, as well as more off-the-beaten-path attractions in the area.
And, of course, the coffee injections don't end in San Francisco. Head across the bay for some of Oakland's best coffee shops or hop in a car and hit up the top coffee shops in Sacramento County. If you find yourself a few hundred miles south down I-5, there are always the best coffee shops of Los Angeles and San Diego. California is a true coffee lover's dream.