The Best Coffee Shops in San José, by the Record
The best coffee shops in San José, by the professional record: The World's 100 Best Coffee Shops, Sprudge, and San Francisco Chronicle have all weighed in, and their honors are what rank this list. Cafeoteca Coffee Shop comes out on top.
Moonwake Coffee Roasters and Nirvana Soul hold the next two places. Sprudge shows up on more of this list than any other guide, with San Francisco Chronicle next.
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Three coffee trees grow out of a circular planter in the middle of the room, which tells you something about how seriously this coffee shop takes its atmosphere. The half-moon bar looks borrowed from a boutique hotel, and through the sliding glass doors at the back you can watch the team roasting and cupping while your pour-over is pulled. The menu runs to passionfruit ginger espresso tonics and a sweet corn cream Americano for the adventurous.
- Sprudge The Sprudge Guide To Coffee In San Jose, California
- San Francisco Chronicle The Best Coffee in the Bay Area
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Rank 3. Nirvana Soul
Coffee
The vibrant pink walls are visible before you even open the door, which sets the tone for what Nirvana Soul is: a specialty coffee shop that also functions as a neighborhood living room. The mezzanine overlooks the floor, open mic nights fill the calendar, and the sidewalk seats are prime for people-watching. You go in to get work done and leave having met half the block instead.
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Rank 3. Nirvana Soul
Coffee
The pink walls hit you before the espresso does. This coffee shop in San Jose's SoFa District sits among a row of Black-owned businesses and runs like a neighborhood living room, with a mezzanine overhead for anyone who came to read and stayed for three hours. Open mic nights and live music fill the place regularly, and the sidewalk seats are good for people-watching. Strangers here tend to introduce themselves unprompted, which is either charming or a lot, depending on your mood.
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Rank 3. Nirvana Soul
Coffee
The pink walls hit you first, then the smell of specialty coffee, then someone at the next table already talking to you. This is a coffee shop in San Jose's SoFa District, set among Black-owned businesses, with a mezzanine good for reading above the hum below. Open mic nights and live music fill it after dark, and the sidewalk seats are ideal for watching the neighborhood do its thing.
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Rank 6. Lacàphê
Vietnamese Coffee
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Rank 6. Lookout Coffee
Coffee