When I find places where I can get a cappuccino or latte that tastes as good as any café crème I had in Paris, I want to tell the world! And if it looks as good as the ones I used to have at Caféotheque that’s an even better reason to share it.
While this list is only just beginning, I figured I would share where you can find a great cup of coffee in and around Boston. This list is still a work-in-progress!
Voltage Café
A couple of blocks away from MIT, this cafe has been written up time and time again for its excellence in coffee. And from the many times I’ve been there, it does not disappoint. And although the people working there could have been snooty about their coffee and looked down on someone like me who was asking questions, they were the exact opposite: incredibly helpful and welcoming, answering every question I had and making sure I made the best decision about what type of coffee to get.
The cappuccinos I’ve gotten have been beautifully poured and crafted and the beans they use are wonderful. Their latte creations are incredibly delicious, creatively envisioned, and expertly prepared. Super yummy. Those are definitely worth the extra bit of money because it takes like no other latte I’ve had anywhere else. Although to be fair, how many other places serve sea salt caramel latte?
Plus you can head just down the street to Tatte Bakery and pick up a few goodies to munch alongside your awesome coffee drink, or you can take the latte to go! Yum, yum, yum. Definitely make your way out here for amazing coffee!
Area Four
Another cool spot in Kendall Square is the cool Area Four with its industrial, edgy style complete with a hipster-nerd-professional crowd, a delicious cafe serving coffee with probably the best microfoam I have had in a while, and a fantastic casual restaurant to boot.
The pastries looked and tasted delicious (I tried a smores bar and it was incredible). Despite the relatively steep price, the quality of the food and the upscale atmosphere with down-home appeal was well worth the money it took to get the coffee and food there.
Overall, it’s definitely worth the trip out to the 3rd street area just to come here. Delicious coffee, yummy pastries, and an awesome space.
Diesel Café (Somerville)
A frequent hang out for Tufts students, this cafe in the heart of Davis Square is known for its great pastries, yummy food, and awesome coffee.
It manages to maintain the small cafe feel while having a huge seating area and large scale production. The pastries are amazing, and the breakfast is utterly delicious.
It may not look appetizing in that picture, bu I swear that might be the best oatmeal I’ve ever eaten. The tiny, chewy oat pieces were topped with walnuts, dried cranberries, steamed milk, and a fresh hunk of brown sugar that slowly dissolved into the steaming bowl of goodness. It was positively delightful. While the people who work here are not as openly friendly as at 3 Little Figs (see below), they are all very knowledgeable and produce really great quality products, including their coffee. Be on the lookout for seasonal lattes, like my personal favorite the pumpkin pie latte. DEEEElicious.
Three Little Figs (Somerville)
This adorable shop a bit outside of Davis Square in Somerville is exactly what I always look for in a cafe: a cute place to sit (inside or out), yummy food (they had both sandwiches and delicious pastries), fantastic coffee (they have a very impressive espresso machine displayed prominently), and a warm staff (we made friends with both the cashier and the barista in no time).
I definitely crave their cappuccino and their “lemon doughnut muffin”, which was a pastry that was too good to be put into one category (is it a doughnut? is it a muffin? is it a tart? is it a cupcake?). It’s just the type of place I wish I lived closer to so I could go there all the time.
Unfortunately, the location is just that far off Davis square (about a mile) that it seems inconvenient to walk there from Tufts campus, especially with another great coffee place that’s so much closer (Diesel Cafe), but this cafe is truly an incredibly beautiful place with a more intimate feel, a cooler espresso machine, and slightly cheaper prices. Tufts kids should try to make the trek!
Crema Café (Cambridge)
Right in the heart of Harvard Square it’s hard to know if there will be anything except chain restaurants or low-quality food options to find, but this cafe has all the vibe of a place half its size while maintaining a large scale customer base. I passed by this place every morning on the way to my job, and I was always secretly hoping I would miss the bus so I could snag a seat and sip a cup of their coffee or tea and munch on a treat.
All of the drinks I had from there were delicious, including a Moroccan mint iced tea, a “maté latte” (tea with milk, honey, and cinnamon), and of course a cappuccino. In addition to their fun and yummy drinks, they have pastries, salads, and sandwiches that never failed to disappoint: everything from chocolate chip cookies to s’mores cupcakes to quiche to croissants to mini carrot cakes to panini-ed sandwiches and fresh salads and wraps for the lunchtime rush. Like Diesel, they knew how to maintain the balance between hidden-secret and big crowd pleaser, with the homey feel of a small cafe but all the bells and whistles of a place that keeps up with the crowds. It’s also owned by the same people who have Flat Patties (a cheaper sandwich place next door) and Felipes (for tacos and burritos), both in Harvard Square as well, and all of them are great bargains!
George Howell Coffee (Newtonville)
The man who runs this coffee shop is a coffee legend. George Howell has been a proponent of single-origin coffee since before Starbucks. Right now, he travels around giving talks and tasting coffee, but every once in a while you can catch him at his store. And I was fortunate enough to be able to have a long conversation with him while we has in the store! He prefers light roast to dark roast and iced coffee to cold brew, and he gave us many tips on how to best store the coffee (freezer once it’s opened).
He even brewed us up a new pot of iced coffee so we could compare it to the old one that had been out all day and so that we could compare it to our knowledge of cold brew. It was a very interesting experiment, and while I didn’t agree with all of George’s preferences of coffee, I loved hearing his reasons for his choices and where he thinks the coffee industry is heading. And the shop makes a good cappuccino to boot.
Again, this cafe may seem a little harder to get to in that it requires a car, but you do get a chance to go right to the source, and who knows: you might also get to meet the expert himself!
Ula Café (With reservations)
While the coffee, in both presentation and in quality, may not be as good as some of the others that I’ve had in Boston, the place itself is a really nice spot to sit in. They have a lot of great food options: freshly made sandwiches, pastries, and, my favorite, popovers. They have a nice place to sit, with a groovy atmosphere and very low key. And they definitely had the best t-shirts/logo of the bunch.
It’s very rare that you get a popover in a cafe, let alone a good popover. And Ula Café has a puffy, eggy, crunchy, soft popover that they keep bringing out over the course of the day. It was very yummy, and probably the highlight of the place for me.
All in all, it’s definitely worth the visit, even if not just for the coffee!
Places that were also on the list but I haven’t gotten a chance to go there yet:
Thinking Cup, Downtown Crossing
Andala Café, Central Square
Equal Exchange Cafee, North End
Simon’s Coffee House, Cambridge
1369 Coffeehouse, Cambridge
Render Coffee, South End
Addresses:
Voltage Café
295 3rd St, Kendall Square
Area Four
500 Technology Square, Kendall Square
Diesel Cafe
257 Elm Street Somerville, MA
3 Little Figs
278 Highland Avenue Somerville, MA
Crema Cafe
27 Brattle Street Cambridge, MA
George Howell Coffee
311 Walnut Street Newton, MA
Ula Café
284 Amory St, Jamaica Plain
Instead I Had Cake 