I’ve spent quite a bit of time in Pittsburgh over the last couple of years and found sevearl great coffee cafés in trendy little neighborhoods of Pennsylvania’s second-largest city.
Best Coffee In Pittsburgh
I found a great coffee shop called Commonplace Coffee in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh.
Commonplace Coffee
5827 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15217
(412) 422-0404
7:00 am – 6:00 pm (Monday – Friday)
8:00 am – 6:00 pm (Saturday – Sunday)
This place had the typical “third wave’ vibe with a nice coffee machine, young staff dressed casually, and a minimalist interior. Most importantly, though, the coffee was superb. I had a cortado on a Sunday morning and it set the tone for a great day ahead – the espresso was strong and had my favorite nutty chocolate flavor.
The lines were quite long at 9:30 am…
Benches had power ports and wi-fi was free, so you could stay here for awhile if you wanted to, though it was so crowded I did not linger all that long. I loved all the plants inside.
You can also buy beans to grind and consume at home.
Right down the street was the Tree of Life synagogue, which is an ever-present reminder of evil right in our midst.
Commonplace has other locations in Pittsburgh, but it’s a “local” chain with great coffee and staff. More recently, I’ve been several times to the Rockwell Park location near Wilkinsburg. The coffee is good 100% of the time.
Commonplace Coffee
7514 Thomas Blvd, Suite 100
Pittsburgh, PA 15208
(412) 500-1899
7:00 am – 6:00 pm (Monday – Friday)
7:00 am – 6:00 pm (Saturday – Sunday)
Another place I tried was Arriviste Coffee Roasters, located in Pittsburgh’s Shadyside neighborhood.
Arriviste Coffee Roasters
5730 Ellsworth Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15232
(412) 204-7320
7:00 am – 4:00 pm (Monday – Thursday)
7:00 am – 5:00 pm (Friday – Sunday)
Kyle and I met up here for an afternoon meeting over coffee. Here, roasting is done on-site and the friendly baristas whipped up a very nice cappuccino with some impressive swan latte art.
This is the sort of place in which you can stay and make yourself comfortable. The couches and chairs are great and if I needed an office away from my office, this would be the place.
But wait, there’s more! I’m in Pittsburgh so often that there are several more places I’ve tried.
One place that recently opened is called Ineffable Cà Phê inside a Vietnamese grocery store (it happens to be right across the street from the Rockewell Park Commonplace.
Ineffable Cà Phê
7511 Thomas Blvd
Pittsburgh, PA 15208
8:00 am – 3:00 pm (daily)
This place specializes in Vietnamese coffee, which I’m going to try next time, because the espresso they use is from La Colombe, which is definitely not my favorite brand. Still, a beautiful dining room, a beautiful coffee machine, and great service.
Next, a place called KLVN Coffee Lab… extremely busy in the mornings, but for good reason.
KLVN Coffee Lab
6600 Hamilton Ave Fl 1, Pittsburgh, PA 15206
7:00 am – 4:00 pm (Monday – Friday)
8:00 am – 4:00 pm (Saturday – Sunday)
Street parking is generally very easy in Pittsburgh… something I’m so thankful. for. The traffic is worse than LA since there’s essentially one narrow artery running through the city and a pair of tunnels that create a bottleneck at virtually all hours of the day. But once you get off the interstate, parking is not a problem.
The coratdo here was excellent.
Redstart Roasters
224 N Euclid Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15206
(412) 695-3667
7:00 am – 6:00 pm (daily)
I had a strong cortado at Redstart Roasters…no complaints. Redstart calls itself a “sustainable bird-friendly microroaster.” Thankfully, the coffee shops is not full of squaking birds, but a portion of sales does go to underwrite bird preservation and the café is bird-themed.
Mechanic Coffee Company
5830 Ellsworth Avenue #100
Pittsburgh, PA 15232
7:00 am – 4:00 pm (Monday – Saturday)
8:00 am – 4:00 pm (Sunday)
Another good cortado at Mechanic…very busy as well, which is a good sign.
Spigolo
101 Edgewood Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15218
(412) 482-8789
7:00 am – 4:00 pm (Monday – Friday)
8:00 am – 4:00 pm (Saturday)
8:00 am – 2:00 pm (Sunday)
Spigolo was such a cute coffee shop inside an old house (there’s outdoor seating too for the warmer months). Furthermore, the staff here were simply lovely. I had a great cortado…that’s my preferred drink and you can’t go wrong with it.
CONCLUSION
Pittsburgh has many nice third-wave coffee options and I’ve given you a long list of options, all of which I personally recommend. Support the local company before going to Starbucks or Dunkin.
What is your favorite coffee shop in Pittsburgh? I’m happy to keep adding to my list!
I would expect the best cup of Joe at Kyle’s home. Hope you tried the steak at Gaucho.
I like the La Prima Espresso in the Strip District, as they’ve partnered with the pastry shop next door who makes a really good Apricot Miele, though I’ve heard commonplace is good as well
These “great coffee”’posts are boring & very local centric – irrelevant to 99.99% of readers.
Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket since I’m in the 0.1 % of readers here whom W Ho doesn’t represent and I’m not Pittsburgh based. Appreciated this post being here when in town for a short visit!
Maybe best to just ignore W Ho?
I’d say so.
And I’ve spent a lot of time in Pittsburgh this month – daily visits to Commonplace Coffee in Wilkinsburg and Mechanic Coffee Company on Ellsworth Ave is also great.
That’s just your opinion. We love the “great coffee” posts.
Try De Fer next time as well – I think it is very good.
Glad you’re enjoying our city, Matthew!! There’s a place called Compass Coffee in Millvale that’s fairly new. (Zip code 15209) Heard some good things. Also, Ruckus Coffee on Babcock Blvd. (Also 15209)