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I love working in coffee shops: a list

Last week, I polled via-Insta stories: I get sooo much done at coffee shops. Do you?

I can always tell I'm "in the zone" when I'm not picky about what song comes up on shuffle, and that's the most likely to happen when I'm at a coffeeshop.

Going to school in Berkeley conditioned me, I think. I'd pass by at least 3 great coffee shops as I walked to class everyday, and my roommates and I used to hop between 2 or 3 in a day when we had papers to write. There's just something about the hustle & bustle and occasional people watching.

Last week, I polled via-Insta stories: I get sooo much done at coffee shops. Do you?

I can always tell I'm "in the zone" when I'm not picky about what song comes up on shuffle, and that's the most likely to happen when I'm at a coffeeshop.

Going to school in Berkeley conditioned me, I think. I'd pass by at least 3 great coffee shops as I walked to class everyday, and my roommates and I used to hop between 2 or 3 in a day when we had papers to write. There's just something about the hustle & bustle and occasional people watching.

I like working in coffee shops that have:

  • Really good light
    • (side note, thats prob my fav thing about our house- it has amazing sunlight, sunrise starting towards the back, into our room and ending in front of our house, our living room)
  • A visually pretty space 😅
  • Decent coffee. I am no coffee connoisseur but I can tell when coffee's pretty bad ;) 
  • Bonus: A standing booth. I love alternating between sitting & standing when I'm working.
    • (side note: when Jeff and I first started dating we had a competition of who could last through a standing desk at work the longest (meeting & meals excluded). I beat him at 2 weeks and won)

A quick list of my favorites:


Sue's Gallery, Saratoga
Beautiful pottery always tempts me to spend way too much on more cups. Beautiful outdoor & indoor space, upstairs & downstairs. Lots of seating, long opening hours. Parking: remote part of downtown, no hours restrictions. PLUGS. 



Verve, Palo Alto
Outdoor & indoor space. Lots and lots of plants and huge windows which means lots of amazing light anytime of the day. Standing counter. Downtown parking, not too hard to find spaces but 2 hour limit. No plugs.


1oz, Mountain View 
I come here for coffee the most often w my coworkers because it's a mile from our office. Their matcha latte is my favorite and the cozy shop gets lots of nice sunlight in the AM hours. Downtown parking is usually ok to find some spaces, I actually don't know if they have plugs I've never stayed long enough!


Manresa Bread, Campbell
I've been there literally for breakfast, lunch, and dinner haha. Lots of space, very bright, very open, and bonus, standing booth by the window. Downtown parking with a close and spacious garage, no plugs. 


Devout, Fremont
Space has lots of plants and standing area by the windows. BONUS their cookies are my ideal cookie: kind of hard, a bit salty. Yummy. Kind of empty downtown parking, PLUGS.


Blue Bottle, Palo Alto
(oops, I don't have any photo of the space but here's their pretty floor!) I used to come here super often when I was working at Stanford. The tiles on the floor are very pretty and their outdoor space is awesome. I always wonder who is paying for the Hanhaus office rental space and what new companies will be big in a couple years. Downtown parking, not too hard to find spaces but 2 hour limit. No plugs.



Living Room Coffee Craft
My friends own this place! I legit had a dream about the mochi waffles their head chef bakes, theyre sooo good. LOTS OF PARKING! Plugs. 


Philz, Sunnyvale 
I used to live 2 min walk away and go every week! Work and church are still super close to this Philz so I'll come to get really really really strong coffee and stand at their booth by the window. The only downside is that it's always too cold for me so I wear socks and a sweater even in the summer. Downtown parking, can usually find space, PLUGS!

 

Tags: personal

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