One thing everyone knows about me is my deep deep love (addiction) for coffee. Ever since I started high school I began fueling my long days with coffee. My Keurig is a definite staple in my life but when I’m not home I love exploring different coffee shops. For this post, I decided to outline my 3 current favorite coffee shops in my home city, Philadelphia.
Blue Stone Lane
This is my favorite coffee shop, not just because of its coffee but for sentimental reasons. Blue Stone Lane is the coffee shop I like to take all of my friends to. It’s where my close friend and I started our tradition of trying to find time out of our busy schedules to see each other at least once a month. It’s a place of memories for me.
Back when I was obsessed with latte art and wanting to order ‘cool coffee’ I had went on a search to find a café near me that made latte art. I found out that Blue Stone Lane in Philly did. To summarize it in one sentence, this place has bomb Australian coffee and amazing brunch, the avocado toast is amazing. I may not be able to afford a house but at least I’m eating well.
Overall this is a great café to check out, I love the one near Rittenhouse Square because it’s a larger space with seating. Their color scheme is predominantly white and blue and it’s beautiful inside. Important to note though that they were card only but Philadelphia is currently passing a law to ban card only stores so they may not be anymore.
Elixir
My best friend showed me one of his favorite coffee shops and it quickly became one of my favorites too. If you aren’t looking for Elixir you could easily miss it because it is just off of Walnut St. At the street corner, you’ll see their little sign sticking out the side street. It’s nice because you don’t see all of the foot traffic from Walnut St. if you’re planning on sitting in.
Their coffee is very straightforward and also artisanal so if you’re looking for a super sweet drink this may not be for you. As someone who prefers sweet drinks, I’ve still found drinks that I like here and they have simple syrup that you can always use later on to sweeten your drinks. When ordering, I tend to grab whatever is on their seasonal menu to try new things.
Capital One Cafe
Okay, this is an incredibly weird place to add to my top 3 but it’s actually such an amazing space. When I passed this café I had honestly just thought it was some gimmicky popup café for the bank but I was surprisingly wrong. Please keep in mind even after my first visit I still for some reason thought this was a popup café until my friend told me otherwise… I still don’t understand how I didn’t pick up on that.
To put this café into context, when you walk in you’re welcomed by a large open space and it’s what I wish every study space on my campus had looked like. It’s an amazing area if you’re looking for someplace to get work done, they have a lot of separate rooms and spaces. The drinks here are Peet’s Coffee sponsored. I prefer their teas but their coffee is nice too! My go-to drink here is typically an iced sweetened fruit tea. They had an amazing non-alcoholic mojito drink but they discontinued it sadly.
You also don’t have to worry about any unwanted interaction with banking staff. In my time here, I’ve never felt bombarded by questions. I really don’t remember anyone trying to initiate a conversation. The people there are more so for your convenience which is nice if you need them. Sidenote, if you’re a Capital One cardholder you get half off drinks!
Others to expl ore
There are so many great cafes in Philly to check out. Right now these are just the three I find myself gravitating to the most. You’re always bound to find others through social media or just by wandering the city. Next time you’re in Philly or a city of your choosing check out a new cafe in the area! Maybe it will become your new favorite!