I have been in San Francisco the past week, eating my way across the city, and I've quickly fallen in love. This is most definitely a city I could happily live in, I just need a green card so any eligible bachelors please form an orderly queue! With a ten hour flight and an eight hour time difference I landed with a unusually, for me anyway, bad case of jet lag, waking up very early each and every morning. This means on one hand I was able to enjoy some truly stunning sunrises (this was from Noe Valley, a lovely residential neighbourhood that sits next to the Castro) and on the other I was surviving on a diet composed heavily of coffee. As today in International Day and San Francisco is a city in love with caffeine here are some of my favourite spots I visited.
Le Meridien
I know what you’re thinking, hotel coffee, really? Due to my screwed up sleep, I woke up before any coffee shops had opened so took advantage of Le Meridien’s room service and coffee offering. For me these little luxuries makes me disproportionally happy, breakfast in bed whilst dressed in a fluffy white robe is all I need to wake up right! Le Meridien has a partnership with Illy coffee so it’s a big step up from the usually undrinkable hotel coffee I am used to and really helped make those early morning a little easier to handle. Plus, with this view, how could you not want to enjoy a lazy breakfast and coffee looking out over the city!
The hotel was also the perfect place for exploring the city, it is located near every transport link you could need and the best bit for me was that it was a mere two minutes walk to the Ferry Building so exploring the wonderful San Francisco Farmers Market was just a stroll away.
333 Battery St, San Francisco, CA 94111
The upstart of American coffee. They're definitely not Starbucks big, but they're getting there with shops in the Bay Area, LA, NYC and even in Tokyo. In San Francisco they have locations in the Ferry Plaza, Hayes Valley, and a few downtown. My drink of choice on this trip was the New Orleans Iced Coffee, a delicious cold brewed coffee with chicory thrown in for a true New Orleans flavour, its a solid iced coffee, perfect for those hot SF days.
315 Linden St.
San Francisco, CA 94102
These guys are definitely a local favourite, I stumbled upon multiple cafes using beans from this roaster and some of my favourite hits of caffeine came from coffee made with their beans. The Mission location is a full on hipster fever dream with exposed bricks, beams and a handful of taxidermy heads mounted on the wall. So yes the original location isn't my favourite in terms of design but they have a space alongside Alamo Square and The Painted Ladies that is much more my style. In 2012 the guys behind Four Barrel teamed up with the brilliant baker Josey Baker (yes that’s his real name) to open The Mill, a combo bakery coffee shop space (you might also know it as the home of the $6 toast). Its a gorgeous bright space and the perfect place to start your day. Out of all the coffee I had this week this place made the best cappuccino. Add some toast to your coffee and you have a fabulous breakfast.
736 Divisadero St, San Francisco, CA 94117
This flagship of this local chain is slightly off the regular tourist track in SoMa but it's a gorgeous spot and they serve pastries from one of the best places in the city, Neighbour Bakehouse. They also make a really good vanilla iced coffee, perfect if you like your coffee flavoured, but lightly so. You can also get coffee from Sightglass at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market on a Saturday and at the San Francisco MoMa.
270 7th St, San Francisco, CA 94103
This is another coffee shop that does great coffee buts beauty lies in so much more than that. They have two stores but for this I am referring to Jane on Larkin, the food offering here is a bit special. In this shop you can get a series of different pastries made with a croissant dough and they are fabulous! My favourites were the sausage and provolone croissant and the lemon poppy seed knot. My tip would be get there early, these sell out quick!
925 Larkin St, San Francisco, CA 94109
With all my painfully early mornings I needed somewhere to get my much needed morning fix. At the start of my trip I was staying in Noe Valley in an airbnb, who's hard futon may have contributed slightly to my lack of sleep. Each morning I would make the walk over the mountainous hills to the Castro and enjoy breakfast at this wonderful spot, former food truck gone bricks and mortar. The weather was unseasonably warm so took advantage of the cute outside space, enjoying a coffee and a breakfast sandwich as I slowly started to feel a little human again. They also have a number of other locations across the city, plus the original truck is still going
4076 18th St, San Francisco, CA 94114