Alternative to Starbucks!

[elgordo]

Visiting Philadelphia, looking for recommendations for places to drink good coffee in the city?

Cheers!

[amrobinson]

There is a great app called coffeeguru that lists and reviews independent coffee houses. It uses your current location to suggest options. Extremely useful when traveling. I think it costs $1.99. I love it. I don't love Starbucks.

[barryg]

http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/craig_laban/20110316_coffee_as_a_craft.html
http://www.philly.com/philly/restaura...

Best two places I have been are Ultimo and Elixir.

[Buckethead]

Where are you going to be, exactly? There are dozens of options.

[elgordo]

We'll be based on Race Street and probably spend most of our four days fairly centrally based in the city!

-----
Race Street Cafe
2 Race St, Frenchtown, NJ 08825

[barryg]

Elixir and Spruce St Espresso are probably your two best options. La Colombe (two locations) is ok but not in the same league for espresso.

[Bob Loblaw]

I've not been to La Colombe for a few years, and only to Elixir once. But I'd take La Colombe over Elixir, in a heartbeat. Maybe there's some difference in the brewed coffee, or the drinks with milk, but the espresso I had at Elixir just wasn't that good.
La Colombe can be a bit of a sceney hassle, but I like the espresso.

[truffles2]

plus 1 for Colombe!

[jarona]

plus 2 for La Colombe.

[barryg]

Wow maybe a difference of taste. I stopped getting espresso at La Colombe a while ago but the baristas were not good. Elixir, Ultimo, et al are light years ahead IMO. La Colombe does good drip coffee but AFAIK is still not doing per-cup pour over and chemex like the newer places which IMO makes better coffee.

[Hungryin theBurbs]

I'm with barryg on this one. I have only made it to Elixr once, but I thought it was superior to La Columbe (which is still very good). Elixr reminded me of Intelligentsia in Chicago--they really take their coffee seriously and the different brewing options are fun.

[InSearchOfTacos]

i agree with barryg as well- im a big elixr fan and prefer them over la colombe

[Bob Loblaw]

i've never asked for a per-cup pour over or chemex. so i've nothing to say there. and it's been a while since i've been to la colombe. but the shot of espresso i had at elixir just wasn't that great.
i was ready to like "third wave" espresso, but it hasn't wowed me yet.

[barryg]

I was just back at Elixir for the first time in a bit and the espresso was good but not as great as past shots. A lot depends on the barista and some are just not that consistent. Ultimo still #1 for me. Maybe I need to give La Colombe another shot (no pun intended).