Hey everybody! So, I was in Jacksonville for 4.5 days this past week for a Messiah with the Jacksonville Symphony. Probably my favorite thing to do when exploring a new (or old!) city is to find coffee shops. I don’t do work at home super well, so finding the right vibe, seating, and coffee is imperative to my day-to-day success (and happiness!). Below are my thoughts about the 5 coffee shops I had the pleasure of going to during my visit, and if you ever visit Jacksonville, I hope this helps!
-E
BREW (Five Points)
-BREW in Five Points is a great coffee shop. They have a very nice selection of pastries (big fan of the cinnamon roll) and delicious coffee. I would suggest the regular coffee or an espresso drink such as a latte. Their baristas are fun and make a perfectly textured/temperatured milk and foam. Definitely check this place out if you have time, and they have plentiful table and bar seating.
Urban Grind Coffee Company (Downtown)
-Urban Grind in Downtown JAX is super cute. This is definitely my type of coffee shop. It’s definitely family run (I overheard them discussing needing to run home to get more espresso beans haha!) which I love, and the vibe is so cool. As you’ll see in the pictures, they have a very vibrant, indie looking shop with very attentive, kind staff. They have a great selection of pastries (blueberry muffin was delicious), but lack seating. There are a few chairs and a few stools looking into the street inside, but they have a beautiful courtyard which (I’m assuming) they share with the other businesses in their quad nook. The courtyard is super beautiful and is a great place to hang out and socialize or do some work. The other thing I want to mention is their super cool “The Coffee House Chronicles,” which is basically a book you can write a note in about your experience, a missed connection, your existential thoughts. A very cool addition to this highly recommended coffee shop!
Vagabond Coffee Bodega (Downtown) -Vagabond Coffee Bodega is a very odd, niche place in downtown Tampa not far from some of the other shops in this post. Vagabond was probably my favorite coffee of all five, but it most definitely is not a place that you sit and relax or work in. This dive-bar-like coffee shop definitely needs some major work aesthetically, but perhaps it works? They sell cactuses, have a cold beer fridge for their non-alcoholic cold drinks in which they turned the sign around backwards, so it doesn’t seem so obvious. I had a very kind, talkative barista who was very talented. They had a wide variety of available drinks including cold pressed espresso for those of you looking for your sparkling americano. I definitely recommend this place, but make sure you have a destination to work at after grabbing your coffee!
Black Sheep (Five Points)
-Black Sheep is a fabulously decorated, delicious brunch spot. This isn’t really a coffee shop you can just sit and do work in, but if you’re looking for some delicious brunch, you must come here. I highly suggest the French toast and a side of bacon, but there are tons of yummy breakfast and lunch options. As for coffee, the regular coffee is quite good, though I would say the espresso situation is lacking. It was much too bitter and frankly a bit burned. The milk was not textured or tempered well, so after a marvelous brunch I ended up going to Brew for coffee. I would suggest going to Brew then brunch, or brunch then Brew to get your food/coffee fixes!
The Brick Coffee House (Downtown)
-Brick Coffee House in downtown is a very odd place. It has typical plastic dinner seating in a pretty cramped space. This is not a place that you can sit to do work in as it is a bit too small and can become rather noisy. I would say that if you’re looking for a quick bite to eat from a local place downtown, this wouldn’t be a bad option, but this is really a dinner that happens to do coffee. They do have crafted beverages, but I wouldn’t really suggest them. I would not go back here, but if you work downtown and need a quick coffee and sandwich, this place will do the trick.
