PicoBlog

The other day a friend who recently relocated to Chamblee was telling me about a coffee shop in his neighborhood and how he was so excited to try it, but then the coffee wasn’t great. “It tasted burnt, right?” I asked him. And he was like, how did you know? I mean I haven’t been to that specific place, but burnt coffee seems to be the overarching issue with many shops in and around Atlanta and I can’t really figure out why. Is it the milk? I tend to choose whole milk over almond or oat, so I feel like that’s not it…

And then I get this email, which to be clear I found kind of offensive (the data comes from Clever, a real estate site), stating:

Did you get the chance to read the study I sent last week on the best coffee cities in America? Atlanta is the 3rd-worst coffee city, moving down 28 positions from last year.

Atlanta has a coffee passion score (based on a sum of Google Trends scores for 16 coffee terms) of 73.3 out of 100. For comparison, Seattle has the most coffee passion with a perfect score of 100. In Atlanta, there are only 0.3 coffee roasteries per 100,000 residents. In contrast, Portland, the No. 1 coffee city, boasts the most, with 2.4 per 100,000.

If you ask me, I prefer the coffee in Los Angeles and San Francisco and Seattle (West Coast is the Best Coast when it comes to coffee, sorry) and New York. Chicago and Philly have some great options, too.

But if we’re talking Atlanta, which I’m constantly saying is still just such a new city with a lot of room to grow, not all is lost. Below, some coffee shops I love for different reasons (the quality of the beans, the ambiance of the shops, etc.), and what I order there.

Bellwood Coffee in EAV is my absolute favorite and the Ezra (horchata cold brew) has my whole heart. I love that the shop shares a space with the Victorian, but before this location opened I used to go all the way out to the Riverside one (which started out as a pop-up cart in 2019) with my brother during the early months of the pandemic.

Con Leche makes a simple, delicious latte and always has seasonal flavors. True story: one time I tried to buy one of their vanilla syrups—they were all on display so sue me—and they were like, oop, sorry those aren’t for sale. lol. They also have a membership option for $12 a week, which is quite convenient if you live in the area.

I’m half-Cuban from Miami and the cafe con leche at Buena Gente in Decatur tastes like home. I wrote a little blurb about the restaurant/bakery here.

The Reading Room, a new Decatur spot stays open “late” on the weekends and also serves cheese/charcuterie boards and wine, which is so nice. I didn’t even try the coffee my first visit, but had some little dinner snacks, a drink, and then a coffee eclair to end the meal.

I love Gilly Brew Bar, but it’s all the way in Stone Mountain so if you’re in the mood for a little car ride, this is a good one. Their Instagram right now has no pics and says “soft re-opening” and IDK what that means, so maybe confirm their hours before heading out there. Another drive worth taking: Vinings for Cafe Comma and/or Read Shop, which doubles as a bookstore.

FLAVORED COFFEES: The Mexi Mocha at El Tesoro is a yes. Chocolate coffee is my love language. I’m also a fan of the vanilla bourbon latte at Chrome Yellow, which has been an Edgewood Ave. staple for almost 10 years. At Momonoki in Midtown you can get a regular latte, of course, but I favor the signature drinks like the Black Sesame Latte or the Okinawa Brown Sugar Latte. Haven’t tried the Iced Strawberry Latte, so that’s next. I used to love Uber Eats-ing(?) coffee and a matcha brownie and the chicken karaage from Momo for lunch during the pandemic.

BRUNCH OR AFTER-DINNER COFFEE COCKTAILS: I’m a sucker for a carajillo (this BA article offers a quick history lesson and recipe) and the Santo Carajillo at Palo Santo in West Midtown is the perfect after-dinner drink when the night is still young and you need a little kick. It’s made with nixta, licor 43, Santa Teresa rum, and espresso. Oaxaca, in Chamblee, has an incredible, pared down carajillo on the brunch menu, as well. It’s cold, creamy, equal parts licor 43 and cafe de olla, and topped with a star anise.

San Francisco Coffee Roasting Co. on DeKalb (it’s a good place to work), Stereo (FKA Victory, also on DeKalb), Perc in East Lake (which got its start in Savannah), Spiller Park inside Ponce City Market, East Pole (Armour Yards is great, but the newer Poncey-Highland location is so convenient), Larakin (I wrote about it here), Daily Chew (my go-to for coffee and a latke, or I’ll hop over to The Buttery for a donut), Opo Coffee (they make their own vanilla bean syrup) and Radio Roasters (both in Decatur), Banjo Coffee in Avondale, Le Bon Nosh in Buckhead (it’s beautiful, but the coffee, for me, is just so so—I like to grab a pastry and a glass of wine here, depending on the time).

Also, I just visited Ash Coffee in Virginia Highland for the first time and it’s beautiful. The plants, the natural light. I like that it doubles as a gift shop and I was able to pick up a birthday present for a friend while I was there. Funny story: I had been obsessing over this space since 2019 when it was still a kids’ (clothing and toys, I think) store. I have pictures of my dog in front of it. In 2020, I reached out to the “for rent” phone number and told them I wanted to open a coffee shop and they told me the space wasn’t zoned for food and beverage. It then sat empty for nearly FOUR years until I got word something was opening there. Couldn’t be happier it became a coffee shop, even if it isn’t mine. My day (and perfect space) will come, though it might be in a different city or country.

Luckily, I don’t have too much to share in this section, but I like to be honest about my experiences, so here are a couple insights.

I used to love Brash (the one in West Midtown), but the one in Midtown has always been not great. I hate to blame it on the barista, but it might have just been the barista… anyway, I stopped going because every time I did, my latte was just watered down and kind of tasteless. I hear they are opening a new location (which will be the fifth in the city) at Krog.

Dancing Goats outside Ponce City Market isn’t the worst place to work, but the coffee always tastes burnt, ever since I started going in 2020. Haven’t been in a while, so maybe it’s changed, but wouldn’t recommend.

The Latina-owned Cafexito Mexican Coffee Shop in Adair Park specializes in Mexican-fusion hot and iced drinks.

Portrait Coffee on the historic West End is a Black-owned coffee roaster offering “exceptionally roasted coffee and culture in a socially conscious way.” Their goal is to “pour a new narrative” or change the way people think about specialty coffee.

mezcla, a Scandinavian & Mexican influenced coffee popup is open inside El Ponce— where I often go for the frozen margs—Wednesday to Sunday. Their menu includes collaborative bottled horchata lattes and espresso martinis.

Popping up in places like Atlanta Fishmonger, the Grant Park Farmers Market, and at the new Space Queen boutique’s grand opening (March 23, 2024) in Candler Park, Recuerdos exemplifies the struggle of being a first-generation child of Latin American immigrants and the effort to balance both cultures through food, traditions, and most importantly, coffee.

With multiple locations, I always worry that a restaurant/coffee shop will lose quality, but that doesn’t seem to be the case with Finca to Filter. The queer, woman-owned cafe has specialty/seasonal menus with fun drinks like “the Fool,” a fruity pebble oat milk latte. And I LOVE that they are a Plan B outpost, truly serving the community in more ways than one.

Meadowlark Coffee is a bit far in Gainesville, about an hour from Atlanta. But it looks awesome. Shoutout

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