The cities where I have been consistently impressed by the coffee were San Diego back in 1983-1985, San Francisco, and Anchorage.
In San Diego I would get eyeball popping espressos at the Gelato Vero Cafe. The coffee at the Nieman Marcus restaurant was uncommonly good (As was the invisible service that refilled the cup) and a pasta restaurant on Balboa that tanked in 1985 always served up excellent coffee.
In San Francisco there was a now forgotten coffee place in the breezeway between the Hyatt Regency and Embarcadero Center. Best Cappuccino's on the planet. You couldn't tell when the soft creamy foam stopped and the steamed milk began. Some years later I would get my espresso from The Pasqua push cart at 100 Spear St. (The Propeller Building) served up excellent espressos until Pasqua was borged by Charbucks. In between I frequented The Coffee Roastery in Mill Valley which served excellent espresso and you could always get good coffee at Cafe Tireste if you could find a place to park.
The most memorable city for coffee is Anchorage, Alaska. Winters in Anchorage are best described as dark and cold. The sun rises after 10AM and sets before 4PM. When I was there in 1998-1999 it was twenty-four below for nearly two months straight. In this climate humans need coffee and Kaladi's delivers. I was a regular at the store in a strip mall on East Tudor back in the winter of 1998-1999. One February morning when it was 24 below I stopped for espresso and a pastry. The staff saw me coming and had three shots lined up on the counter, 25, 27 and 29 second pulls and wanted me to taste them. That represents a sincere interest in delivering the best espresso possible.
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Originally Posted by bangel
How about Seattle, Home of Starbucks.
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I've tried every coffee place in SEA-TAC while on layovers for the two years I was flying to Anchorage or Pasco. There was nothing memorable about the coffee, even in 1999 when Starbucks would still pull a decent espresso.
Which City has the Best Coffee?
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