Cafés of the World

A collection of the world's best cafés by world traveler and café lover Kira Newman

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Berkeley: Mo’Joe Cafe

Espresso: $2 Cappuccino: $2.50 Coffee: $2 Tea: $2

Mo’Joe Cafe is located at the intersection of Dwight and Sacramento, a few blocks from our (now former) home in Berkeley. It’s near Homemade Cafe, where we had several overhyped brunches with excessively long waits; near the Indian resturaunt where we picked up ate takeout after a late-night flight from Vegas; near the median where turkeys were running wild and looking lost, causing us to call Animal Care Services (no, they told us, we don’t do anything about the turkeys).

In short, it’s a good old neighborhood cafe, still not devoid of Macbooks, yet unassuming (and bright orange) enough to make you feel like a local. 

Address: 2517 Sacramento Street

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Oakland: Cat Town Cafe

Coffee: 3 Tea: $2.50 

At 3 pm on a Saturday, Cat Town Cafe was a cat cafe at its worst: full of patrons competitively vying for the attention of a group of wholly apathetic felines. Combined with rules that prohibit you from waking a sleeping cat, that meant that we all basically paid $10 for the privilege of sitting in frustration for an hour. I tried to be that one person in the corner who shows no interest in cats and gets accosted by them, but to no avail. 

Mid-afternoon is apparently kitty naptime - i.e., it falls within the 18 out of 24 hours that cats sleep per day - so perhaps another time would have been satisfying. I’m happy to support a business that helps get cats adopted, but the experience itself was less than purrfect. 

Address: 2869 Broadway

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Berkeley: French Hotel Cafe

Espresso: $2.10 Coffee: $2 Cappuccino: $3.25 Tea: $1.50 

This February, as a kind of diet experiment in extreme paleo eating, I finally managed to give up dairy: no cheese for snacking, no butter making everything better. For my first weekend, I ventured to French Hotel Cafe to try out a substitute to my usual breve latte: coffee with coconut milk (coconut milk provided by me - virtually no cafes have it). 

Let’s just say it was a poor approximation of my most favorite drink, and most of it went in the trash. Suddenly, the weeks ahead looked long and dreary; my spirit was sapped by the prospect of cafe jaunts without caffeinated creaminess. (Yes, I’m exaggerating...but only a little.)     

Address: 1538 Shattuck Avenue

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Berkeley: Highwire

Espresso: $2.75 Coffee: $2 Cappuccino: $3.50 Tea: $3.50

It’s a sunny President’s Day, and hipsters are making their pilgrimage to the neighborhood cafe, Macbooks in hand. The espresso machine whirs as a line starts to snake out the door, and would-be patrons eye the few open tables with possessive eagerness. 

But it’s impossible to feel impatient, because at the front of the line is the nicest barista in the neighborhood. Her British accent lilts as she greets everyone with a smile and a “How are you doing today?” She seems genuinely grateful for your patronage. Is it possible to love this job of swiping credit cards and slicing sandwiches? Perhaps it is. 

Address: 2049 San Pablo Avenue

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Berkeley: Caffe Strada

It’s easy to see how culture shapes behavior. Now that we’ve moved to Berkeley, I bike to and from work, something I’ve never done before. I eat gluten-free food (okay, I’ve done that for years). I go hiking. 

On a sunny Saturday, we stopped at Caffe Strada and drank our coffee amidst a sea of students on Macs before meeting up with one of my coworkers for a hike. Even with the caffeine, we ended up sore and spent three hours later (while my coworker doubled up and back down the hill for more exercise). I guess we’re not full Californians yet. 

Addreses: 2300 College Avenue

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Berkeley: Caffe Trieste

Our neighborhood in Berkeley, about 1.5 miles west of campus, isn’t the most lively. We live in a patch of residential blocks, and even the two “high streets” nearby only feature a smattering of shops and restaurants. 

Caffe Trieste is one of the most famous, with its Italian-style espresso and live music in the evenings. It has the kind of neighborhood feel that almost makes you forget that this is an area where you shouldn’t walk alone at night. 

Address: 2500 San Pablo Avenue

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Las Vegas: The Beat

Espresso: $1.99 Coffee: $1.99 Cappuccino: $2.99 Tea: $1.99

Every time I tell people I used to live in Vegas, I feel the need to elaborate - no, not the Strip. My company was based there. It was just six months! 

Downtown Vegas is experiencing a revival thanks to Zappos’s Tony Hsieh and his Downtown Project, a $350 million fund dedicated to revitalizing the area with new businesses, arts, and education. The neighborhood has a wonderful community feel, and (at least when I was there) The Beat - coffee shop by day, bar by night, open mic venue on Mondays - was the place to find that community. 

Address: 520 Fremont Street

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Berkeley: Caffe Mediterraneum

Espresso: $2 Coffee: $1.35 Cappuccino: $2.50 Tea: $3

I was under the impression that the latte was invented in Italy, but Caffe Mediterraneum claims that the drink got its start there in the late 1950′s. Apparently Lino Meiorin, one of the cafe’s co-owners, was inspired to create the creamy concoction by all the customers who asked for more milk (latte) in their cappuccinos. 

Since then, apparently, the cafe has been frequented by countercultural celebrities like Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Jerry Rubin, and Patty Hearst and may have been the set for a scene from The Graduate. It is, as one of my coworkers would say, a Berkeley institution. 

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San Francisco: Workshop Cafe

Espresso: $2.50 Coffee: $2.50  Cappuccino: $3.50 Tea: $4

You’ve probably watched a cat video or two online, but have you ever watched cat videos for an hour and a half straight? That’s exactly what we found ourselves doing on a Saturday in January. 

I surprised Fred with tickets to the Internet Cat Video Festival, which compiles the year’s best cat videos into a full-length movie. I even got a cat tattoo, or “cattoo,” before the show. 

Afterward, we wandered block after block in search of a nice cafe and finally found Workshop. It’s kind of a hybrid cafe/coworking space, where you can pay $3 per hour to sit in their special working section - which seems cheap, but must net them a pretty penny from workaholic entrepreneurs. 

Address: 180 Montgomery Street

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Berkeley: Artis

Espresso: $2.50 Coffee: $2.25 Cappuccino: $3.75 Tea: $2.75

When I told my Toronto friends I’d be in Berkeley for the winter, they were envious. I’m sure they were imagining palm fronds waiving in the warm breeze, cruising down the highway in a convertible, and all those other California cliches. But instead, in my first few weeks here, we got rainy days and wet feet. 

We spent one such gray afternoon at Artis, a big and fancy coffee roaster that sells beans and offers tastings. The sun wouldn’t really come out in force for another month, but luckily we didn’t know that then. 

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Berkeley: PIQ

Espresso: $2.25 Coffee: $1.95 Cappuccino: $3.50 Tea: $2.50

The first weekend we spend in every city, when we’re itching to explore our new surroundings, always devolves into a black hole of grocery shopping. Travel isn’t all fun and games, people; it’s many hours wasted buying tissues and (if you’re unlucky) frying pans, scouring Craigslist for needed appliances (in our case, juicer and microwave), getting stood up by Craigslisters with said appliances, and heading to work on Monday completely unrested. 

At least there was coffee. Thank you, PIQ. 

Address: 91 Shattuck Square 

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Warwick: Tuscan Cafe

Espresso: $1.40 Coffee: $1.60 Cappuccino: $2.80 Tea: $1.50 

At Tuscan Cafe, as part of our New Year’s reflections, we asked ourselves the question on everyone’s minds: are we done traveling? 

One friend sympathized with the psychological difficulties of not having a home; another told me she believes that needing to travel constantly is probably dysfunctional. Then there are the digital nomads, who see “location independence” as a form of primal freedom. 

I always found the idea of traveling to “find yourself” misguided, and I still do; our primary journey in life is internal, not external. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to eat sushi in Japan or speak French in Belgium. Having a home but still traveling for a few months a year sounds perfect to me. 

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Warwick: Eat Sweet

Espresso: $2.25 Coffee: $1.95 Cappuccino: $3 Tea: $1.50

Fred and I had a busy 2015: He got a contract that was supposed to last the summer and ran into December; I ran an online course and then got a new job. Two weeks off from work was the universe’s perfect Christmas gift to us, and not a minute too soon.

The height of our relaxation was a trip to Warwick, New York, where we were promised a fireplace to sit by and a quaint town to walk around in. We rested, we talked, we ate lots of dessert, and we drank coffee, and (I hope) we set the tone for a more balanced and energizing 2016.

Eat Sweet website

Address: 28 Railroad Avenue

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Sparta: Cloveberry

Espresso: $2.80 Coffee: $2.10 Cappuccino: $3.70 Tea: $2.50

Whenever I visit my family in Sparta, I always feel like I’m pulled in a million directions: to go to the mall with my brother, take walks with my mom, and talk with my dad. I try to spend time with everyone but it never feels like enough.

So on this trip, my dad and I snuck away for lunch (and coffee). We talked about his new podcast, my latest challenges, and the merits of cortado vs. cafe au lait (he went with the cafe au lait). I initially felt bad that we had to schedule time to spend together, but maybe life is so hectic now that that’s how it has to be done. Cloveberry has an extensive drink menu that rivals any big-city coffee shop, so I’m sure we’ll be back.

Address: 21 Main Street

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Toronto: Le Gourmand

Espresso: $1.85 Coffee: $1.60 Cappuccino: $2.95 Tea: $1.43

The word around town is that Le Gourmand has the best chocolate chip cookies, so even though they’re not gluten-free like my cherished Almond Butterfly’s, I decided to give them a try. Le Gourmand cleverly displays their cooling cookies in pans next to the window, so pedestrians on Spadina get a glimpse of what they’re missing.

I’m not sure how Le Gourmand bakes them (if I had to guess based on this comparison, it might involve some dough chilling), but they lived up to their reputation: cakey, soft in the middle, and with a tasty blend of chocolate chips and walnuts. I’ll have to avert my eyes next time I’m passing by.

Address: 152 Spadina Avenue

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Toronto: Dark Horse Espresso

Espresso: $2.63 Coffee: $3.66 Cappuccino: $3.33 Tea: $2.38

Dark Horse is a chain of cafes in Toronto, with three locations and one on the way. Their Chinatown digs feature long coworking tables and attract a crowd of laptop-toting remote workers; it’s constantly full, which is perhaps why I’ve never been there though I walk by all the time. 

This John Street location, which I just discovered, is the basement-apartment of cafés. It’s a Montreal-esque venue that’s halfway underground, tucked in the Entertainment District, and thus not insanely popular. If you want the Dark Horse taste without the crowd, this is your spot. Website

Address: 125 John Street

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Toronto: Milano Espresso

Espresso: $2.75 Coffee: $2.60 Cappuccino: $3.25 Tea: $3

I lived just three blocks from Milano in Toronto, but I didn’t discover it until a fellow CaféHappy member suggested it as a potential location.

Meetup-worthy cafes are rare, and Milano fit the bill: not too crowded on Saturday afternoons, with enough tables for a group of 10+, and not blaring pop music. (Plus, they have a whole section of their menu called “Add Cream”; what more could you want?) 

Our group came here two months in a row, I spent one afternoon working here myself, and I recommended the cafe to Fred for a work meeting. Great for all occasions! Website

Address: 266 Adelaide Street West #2