Best of Philly

Best Coffee Shop

2023 Best New Coffee Shop

Thank You Thank You

At this Washington Square West coffee shop, a mundane morning ritual is exalted to a serene experience. Owner Cody McGregor will ask about your taste — you want classic, or something a little weird? — before digging into a treasure chest of cool beans he sources from places that include Copenhagen and Duluth, Minnesota. It feels more like an omakase dinner than a coffee run but is about $140 less expensive — deluxe but understated, the accessible luxury we all deserve. Read More »

700 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA Website

2022 Best Coffee Shop To Make Your Office

Càphê Roasters

Càphê Roasters has everything you’d expect from a great coffee shop: caffeine, sun-soaked couches, strong wi-fi. But they also serve some of the best Vietnamese food in town, like fried chicken bánh mì and roasted tomato egg sandwiches. Not to mention coffee from barista and roaster Thu Pham that ranges from Viet drinks topped with sweet whipped egg custard to lattes inspired by Asian cereals. Read More »

3400 J Street, G1, Philadelphia, PA Website

2021 Best Neighborhood Everything

Herman’s

There’s something to be said about a tiny cafe and micro-roastery­ that can look a seething global pandemic right in the eye and not so much as flinch at the idea of going toe-to-toe with it. There’s even more to be said about the creativity it takes to completely transform, to wholly rebrand, to expand in ways nobody expects, at a time when fear and tragedy can be so debilitating. Herman’s did both. Owners Matt Falco and Amy Strauss were able to turn their converted-auto-repair-shop cafe into a pop-up hub for aspiring chefs and business owners in need of a home, a retail pop-up outlet for vintage brands and plant shops, and a boutique market with an enviable collection of imported pastas, tinned seafood, chocolates, and more food-things you never knew you ever wanted, let alone needed. When the pandemic forced so much of Philly to become less, Herman’s became more, for the neighborhood it’s in and for all of us who needed some inspiration, hope and delicious things in especially trying times. Read More »

1313 South 3rd Street, Philadelphia, PA Website

2021 Best Cafe

Mina’s World

Mina’s World is a retail space for local artisans, a community fridge, a meeting place for West Philadelphians. But mainly, it’s a cafe — a coffee shop that serves expert cortados, rose syrup chai lattes, tehina mochas (!), and regular ol’ cups of joe brewed with locally roasted coffee. (Try a plate of pakoras and samosas while you’re at it.) While it’s all these things at once, Mina’s World is, at its heart, a perfect neighborhood coffee shop. Read More »

511 South 52nd Street, Philadelphia, PA Website

2019 Best Cafe That’s Also a Charcuterie Shop

Bower Cafe

If doughnuts and fried chicken works, why can’t coffee and cured meats? And honestly, it’s one of those things we can’t believe someone didn’t think of before. Read More »

263 South 10th Street, Philadelphia, PA | 267-758-5536 | Website

2018 Best No-Frills Coffee

Wawa

I used to drink fancy coffee – single-drip/hand-roasted/micro-lot concoctions that cost roughly $25 apiece. But eventually, I stopped being patient enough to wait for a latte artist to draw a tree in my almond milk foam. So I went to Wawa, the promised land of self-serve carafes, where a cup costs less than two bucks, where the bar never runs out of stirrers or sugar or creamer, and where the coffee isn’t a caffeine bomb, so I can drink it all day without getting the shakes. There’s something innately comforting about the easy routine of Wawa: press, pour, stir, pay, drink, repeat. I guess I could ask myself if I miss my rose-petal cappuccinos (not particularly), or if I really need to drink four cups of coffee a day (definitely not). But the question I actually find myself asking, as I zip in and out of Wawa in less time than it takes a hipster barista to pull a shot of espresso, is: Why did coffee become so freaking complicated in the first place? – Emily Goulet Read More »

Website

2018 Best New Suburban Coffee Shop

Pretty Bird

When the brothers behind Yardley’s coolest dining spot, the Vault brewpub, opened a coffee shop across the (otherwise very sleepy) street, we cheered. (A place besides Starbucks for our morning koffee klatches!) But then they delivered incredible sandwiches and homemade doughnuts, expert Gibraltars, and hand-roasted coffee from their own single-origin beans, and suddenly this Little Main Street That Could has become a genuine destination. Read More »

7 South Main Street, Yardley, PA | 267-714-2800 | Website

2018 Best New City Coffee Shop

Herman’s Coffee

Now that Herman’s exists – roasting its own beans in-house (that “house” being a converted auto repair shop), serving carefully crafted espresso tonics, hosting all sorts of events and food trucks – every other coffee spot in Philly is going to have to try just a little bit harder to stay cool. Read More »

1313-17 South 3rd Street, Philadelphia, PA Website

2018 Best After-Hours Coffee Shop

Rim Cafe

Have dinner somewhere in South Philly, then pass on the French press and head to this kitschy cafe to finish your night over an expertly pulled espresso drink drizzled with your choice of warm chocolate or salted caramel. Read More »

1172 South 9th Street, Philadelphia, PA | 215-465-3515 | Website

2017 Best New Coffee Shop

Rival Bros.

Rival Bros. coffee (and its snacks) was already a cut above. But this second location, with its high ceilings, gilded flourishes and retro-chic aesthetic, makes it the Le Bec-Fin of coffee shops. Read More »

1528 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA Website