Houston’s 16 Best Coffee Shops — Where to Find Your Perfect Cup

While it’s only a little over a year old, The Cuppo Coffee & Tea has quickly become a favorite. Cuppo offers house classics like its Cuppo Joe (hot), Cuppo Jane (iced), Vietnamese iced coffee, matcha and turmeric lattes.

The Jersey Village shop also has a great ambiance. There’s local art on the walls and an almost Parisian-style dining area. Cuppo is a nice place to hang out. And if you’re looking for some sustenance, there are hearty toasts and smoothie bowls.

Known for all of the unique ways it brews its coffee, Barbarossa is a great place to experience elevated brews. Options include Turkish coffee, Chemex, Siphon, Aeropress and more. With the recent opening of a second location in Tomball to go with its Spring original, Barbarossa seems committed to giving the suburbs some worthy coffee.

Perfect for when you need more sustenance than just a cup of coffee, Common Bond brings topnotch bakery options. It’s  great for brunch or just a mid-afternoon treat yourself pastry. Common Bond’s counters are almost always full of fresh-made options.

A must-try? The massive flavored croissants. They come in chocolate, almond and pistachio.

One small step for man in the right direction is the trend of coffee shops working to support and enhance the neighborhoods they call home. Giant Leap is determined to do that with both of its locations in Uptown and East End.

The community-oriented shops serve up local Amaya coffee and pastries from Tlahuac.  The yet-to-open East End location will serve as a hub for local events — and Giant Leap owner and founder Logan Beck hopes to draw University of Houston students, too.

Perfect for a late-night work or study session, Agora is a Montrose staple for good reason. The cozy, two-story coffee shop is open until 2 am and serves up some great brews (caffeinated or alcoholic) and great vibes. The coffeehouse’s walls are full of art, there’s plenty of seating indoors or outdoors, and there is even a jukebox.

Tout Suite serves up locally roasted Greenway coffee which pairs perfectly with its extensive pastry and brunch menu. Grab a latte and macaroon to-go or sit down in the industrial-chic dining room to get some caffeine-assisted work done. Or catch up with friends in the airy room.

Inspired by Barcelona and Buenos Aires cafes, Cafeza is a vibrant coffee shop with live music and homemade churros. The fact that it’s in the First Ward makes it even more unique. This is a shop that wants to be part of its community.

Need a recommendation? Try dipping the homemade churros in a Café con Leche while sitting at the bar top. Cafeza is also a perfect spot for a coffee date. It regularly has live music in non-coronavirus times.

Boomtown Coffee specializes in small-batch roasting with shops in The Heights and the Understory food hall. For a high-quality cup of coffee, order any of the specialties such as the Crüd (cold brew, espresso, chicory, vanilla and cream). But if you’re really in need of a pick-me-up, the Johnny Cash (drip coffee with an espresso shot mixed in) is the way to go.

This little coffee shop is housed in one of Houston’s first gas stations — with the station dating all the way back to the 1920s. The refurbished building still holds nostalgic charm. And now, it’s home to Retrospect Coffee Bar’s lattes and crepes instead of gas pumps.

The centerpiece of Retrospect’s bar is a bright orange Slayer espresso machine, which helps to enhance the retro ambiance of the shop. This one’s a charmer.

With murals along its large outdoor patio and cozy couches to lounge on the inside, Campesino Coffee House brings a lot to the table. Including a diverse food menu. The menu includes empanadas, chilaquiles and tacos.

Campesino makes for a unique brunch spot. Or if you’re in the mood for just a snack, some pan dulce and hot coffee are a solid go-to. It’s Montrose with a real Latin flavor.

Serving Amaya roasts, Catalina Coffee is the quintessential coffee shop delivering fresh brews and comfortable seating. Classic coffee drinks like drips and Café Au Lait are done perfectly at this Washington Avenue retreat.

Whether you need a bag of Amaya beans or a cappuccino to-go, Catalina has an online ordering option that makes it easy to order and pickup.

For a unique coffee experience, visit Siphon to see what looks like a science experiment gone incredibly right. This Houston coffee shop uses the Siphon method, which employs halogen burners to slow-roast a fresh cup of coffee. The idea behind it is to bring out flavors that are hard to achieve through other forms of brewing.

Watching the flames and bubbles is fun and may even make you nostalgic for high school chemistry class. But the true treat is the coffee it makes. All of Siphon’s food menu comes from fresh, locally sourced vendors.

This is another Montrose shop. Sense a trend?

Three words: coffee gelato, art. This modern coffee shop in the heart of Montrose is an airy and colorful spot to grab a latte and dessert. Inversion’s walls are decked out in local art and its rainbow drip windows make it impossible to miss.

The shop is full of light and plants, both indoors and outdoors. Inversion really is a plant-lovers paradise. The Houston coffee shop even hosts plant popups on occasion.

The cool Heights coffee shop with a brick-wall interior and colorful umbrella clad patio is home to the must-try Cajeta Latte. The unique drink is made with caramel made from goat’s milk and tastes like dulce de leche.

Besides coffee, Antidote also boasts a beer and wine list with a number of local brews.

Sister shop to Antidote, Black Hole Coffee House brings a similar menu. Yes, that means the Cajeta Latte, too. However, these sibling shops have very different aesthetics.

While Antidote is airy and colorful, Black Hole is darker and very conducive for studying or working remotely. Or just brooding.

A coffee shop that’s making a difference, A 2nd Cup is a nonprofit. Its proceeds go towards helping put a stop to human trafficking. While spending money on a cup of coffee can sometimes feel like a guilty pleasure, there’s no need to feel guilt when buying a latte from this Houston coffee shop because your money is going to a worthy cause.

A 2nd Cup’s extensive menu includes unique drinks such as the Horchata (horchata and espresso) and the Mochanut (coconut and mocha). Its coffee is worthy, too.