After gaining a following with her pop-up run inside of Stein’s Deli, local barista Lauren Fink opened the Cherry Coffee shop on Laurel in 2016, now an Uptown favorite, and a second shop two years later. She’s also since launched her own local roasting operation, but still sometimes features guest roasters.

This Mid City joint is easy to spot from the street with its unusual architecture, but it's what's inside that makes it a must-try. Sweet and savory baked goods made in-house accompany a robust coffee menu, with espresso drinks, Chemex and V60 pourovers. Everything's made with high quality products in house, so you can't go wrong. As a bonus, it’s one of few shops in town that makes it’s own chai blend.

Church Alley is a charming community-driven cafe in Mid City, one that consistently shows up in a big way for its neighborhood. It’s also vastly expanded its food offerings, which include beet and apple salad, tahini avocado toast, and smoked ham and cheddar scones, as well as monthly drink specials.

The Bean Gallery is a longtime Mid City favorite serving Turkish coffee and specialty teas, outlasting many of the shops that have come and gone and over the years. It’s open early and closes late, and there’s lots of seating indoor and out to enjoy drinks and the relatively large food menu of paninis, bagel sandwiches, avocado toast, and sweets.

Coast Roast Coffee, first started in St. Roch Market, has a lovely outpost Uptown on Magazine Street with a particularly pleasant patio out front. Find exceptionally creative drinks, fun breakfast pop-ups on the weekend, and a vast menu of grab-and-go food items at all times.

This Uptown shop had to close its Magazine Street shop during the pandemic, but the beloved coffee outlet also has a home on the Lafitte Greenway — and it’s open late (til 8 p.m., a rarity in New Orleans). Hey! expertly roasts and brews coffee manually, boasting a “temperature profiling system,” makes its own chai, and serves bagels, pastries,  and breakfast tacos.  

Park Island Brew is a newer favorite, opened in 2020 on Gentilly Boulevard by Kevin Davis and business partner Chachera Brantley. The lovely corner building has become a neighborhood gathering place for its intricate espresso drinks — like the new rosemary lavender shakerato — and sweet treats.

This sunny Warehouse District shop from Jonathan Riethmaier, co-founder of the New Orleans Barista Social Club, boasts a Seraphim in-counter brewing system with automated pour overs and specialty drinks. Mammoth is now a roaster as well, with plans for an upcoming roasting facility and expanded cafe. The tea program is one of the best in town.

Treme’s Old Road Coffee always has something new to offer, from kombucha tastings to Honduran breakfasts to art markets showcasing some extremely talented local vendors. Serving coffee from Congregation Roasters and Mojo, Old Road also serves fresh pastries and breakfast sandwiches made by a local mother-daughter team daily.

With a few locations around town plus a successful foray into roasting, this LGD shop is still innovating in the New Orleans coffee world. Check out the coffee cocktails like the espresso gimlet, a double shot of espresso layered on top of a combination of lemon, lime, and simple syrup. Visit any of Mojo’s locations for a wide variety of locally-roasted signature beans, a four pack of 32-ounce cold brews, and even milked oats. Bonus: the location on Magazine is open late.

Backatown serves up beans from one of the country's only Black-owned coffee roaster, Bean Fruit in Pearl, Mississippi, bringing a stylish, colorful stop to the city’s historic former Storyville area. Enjoy espresso coffee drinks as well as soup, paninis, and house-made sweet potato pie (a family recipe of the owner) daily. This lovely spot serves seriously great, reasonably-priced sandwiches.

Treme Coffeehouse is a gem; bright, cheery, full of local art, free wifi, tasty savories and sweets, excellent java (yes, including cold brew) small and community minded — all reasons to visit again and again.

A Marigny longtimer beloved by its neighborhood, Orange Couch is a bright, modern spot that attracts a mix of artists, students, retirees, tourists, and writers (it’s a favorite of hometown hero and famed author Maurice Carlos Ruffin). There’s a handful of sidewalk tables and a takeout window on Royal Street, making it a great option for a coffee with friends or grabbing something for a stroll in the pretty Marigny.

Pond Coffee is for the real coffee heads —an if-you-know-you-know kind of place. The sweet stand was opened by two baristas in 2020, connected to Small Mart’s beloved corner shop located on the border of the Marigny and Bywater. It’s popular for chai, matcha, lavender lattes, and cappuccinos, made exclusively with oat milk. Small Mart is a must-try for food, even if just a cookie or pastry, but the vegetarian Indian-inspired menu and bagel sandwiches are worth a separate visit.

This quaint new coffee shop and cafe on a quaint corner in Bywater has quickly become a popular destination for its excellent coffee, fresh pastries, and great European-style sandwiches. Open until 6 p.m., Petite Clouet’s sidewalk tables are usually occupied with friends chatting or people working.

This neighborhood coffee shop with a mission (it raises money for Bethel Family House, a faith-based addiction recovery center), serves kolaches — nola-ches — pastries, breakfast sandwiches, frappes, and coffee drinks in one of the friendliest atmospheres in town (it’s also wheelchair accessible, not a guarantee in New Orleans). As a major bonus, it’s open late, until 9 p.m. daily.