The Best Coffee Houses in the United States

Signature drinks

Many of the American menus are led by a sweet latte with its own name. Goldchild Coffee Roasters in San Diego has the Secret Handshake, and Yaw Farm Coffee Roaster in Las Vegas calls its oat-milk lattes Yawttes. Desnudo Coffee in Austin mixes sweet and savoury in a Brown Sugar Miso Latte and a Shoyu Butterscotch Latte. Caffe Paradiso in New York pours its Salted Brown Butter & Oat Latte from a tap. Syrups are made in house at Yaw Farm and at Mad Priest Coffee Roasters in Chattanooga.

Menus from elsewhere

Several shops put another country's coffee on an American menu. Saigon Coffee in San Diego and Phin Smith Coffee House in Las Vegas serve Vietnamese egg coffee. Makario Coffee Roasters in Everett sets an Einspänner, the Viennese coffee under whipped cream, beside Korean-influenced food. Buddies Coffee in Williamsburg has a coquito latte and Puerto Rican music playing. Blue Mountain Coffee House in West Palm Beach is Jamaican-owned and serves Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, and Cath Coffee and Tea House in Indianapolis leans Turkish and Egyptian, with homemade baklava.

Espresso and light roast

Other shops keep to the coffee. Espresso Vivace on Capitol Hill in Seattle is a long-running espresso bar with no drip coffee and a quiet room in the back; its two order lines confuse first-timers. SEY Coffee in Bushwick roasts light, brews single-origin filter by Aeropress and serves a glass of sparkling water with every drink. Moxie Coffee Co. in Phoenix is a micro roastery with pour-overs and a NOLA cold brew with chicory.

Charges

Bills differ by shop. SEY has no tipping and includes service in its prices, Onyx Coffee Lab in Bentonville adds a mandatory 4% employee benefits surcharge, and at Blue Mountain Coffee House extras such as milk and syrup cost more.