Elliana Lilling | Contributing Illustrator

It’s a tale as old as time: You pack your bag with all your required readings and head to a nearby coffee shop with good reviews online, only to find that the layout of the cafe makes it absolutely impossible to get any work done. You order an expensive latte anyway — you’re already here, might as well — but you end up chatting with a friend or getting distracted by your phone instead of having the productive day you had planned.

In an effort to combat this tragic phenomenon, my friend Grace and I have been going to a new coffee shop every Friday this semester to try some seasonal lattes and take some Canvas quizzes. Here’s my guide to local coffee shops, ranked on the quality of their coffee, work environment and, often, their breakfast sandwiches.

Maplewood Deli and Coffeehouse

Don’t let the name fool you — this is not a typical deli, and contrary to Grace’s concern when I told her where we were going, it does not smell like bologna. Unlike many other cafes in the area, this one has a long menu with plenty of breakfast, lunch, and snack options. On weekdays, from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. (well before I am out of bed), they offer special discounts depending on the day,, such as buy one get one free deals on drinks or free donut holes with your order.

Mostly, I liked this place because it felt like the type of homey, casual vibe that I look for in a coffee shop — somewhere I can sprawl out and really focus without worrying about taking up too much space.

Coma Coffee

Coma Coffee is located in the lobby of an office building and across from a strip mall — but as soon as you walk in, you forget about the outside a little. It’s a warm, bright cafe with plenty of fun drink options. (Last week, I got a strawberry milk cappuccino with rose petals, and it had a little swan in the foam.) 

Coma can be a challenging place to find seating, even though it has two floors, so you have to keep your fingers crossed. But if you do snag a spot, it’s a great place to lock-in for a few hours with a friend.

Fiddlehead Fern 

Stepping into Fiddlehead Fern is like being transported back to my home of San Francisco — the menu has avocado toast topped with microgreens, and CBD seltzers, the interior is sleek and minimalist, and you can’t walk in without spending $20. Plus, there are futuristic-looking water dispensers that took my friend probably five minutes to figure out how to use. (Probably a skill issue.)

In my opinion, Fiddlehead serves as a much better brunch-and-talk spot than a place to do work. It has one of the cardinal sins of coffeeshops: tables and chairs that feel a little bit unsturdy. The minimalist decor made it hard for me to feel like I could really settle in and get cozy, and the limited seating made me feel bad about taking up a table for too long. Overall, this is not a place I will find myself working in again.

Crema Coffee

Not to be confused with Coma Coffee, Crema Coffee is located in the Central West End, just a block from the north edge of Forest Park. This coffee shop is attached to the lobby of an apartment building, which made me feel a little like I was intruding as I watched people bring in their groceries to catch the elevator. But it also meant the shop was mostly empty, which was lovely on a Friday afternoon. I liked their coffee and breakfast sandwich, and the decor was cute, but overall pretty average. 

Northwest Coffee Roasters

I stumbled upon Northwest Coffee Roasters by doing exactly what you’re doing right now — reading a Student Life Best Of issue — and I’m happy to be passing it forward to the next generation of readers. 

If I were the type of person to say, “I know a spot,” and take you somewhere cool in an attempt to seem mysterious and alternative, this would be the plac. Fun fact: This cafe is actually owned by the husband of a WashU professor I took a class with last semester! Talk about buying local.  

Northwest has a moderately sized indoor space, but it expands down a long, covered outdoor patio area with big picnic tables to plop down at and get some work done. They take their coffee seriously over here. If you’re the type to order a drink with eight different flavorings (no hate, I am writing this while drinking something called a cookie butter caramel latte, whatever that means), this might not have everything you need. But if you’re even a little bit of a coffee snob, you should check this place out.

There are plenty of great seating options, and I really enjoy the general ambiance because it feels more unique than a lot of the generic coffee shops I go to regularly.

The Living Room

Honestly, half the reason I love this place is because of how perfect the name is. Shouldn’t the ideal coffee shop just feel like someone’s living room? 

This family-owned cafe has food that is a bit pricier than the other Maplewood cafe I mentioned, but they do a lot of fun seasonal recipes, like a butternut squash miso flatbread or a salted chestnut latte.

Two funky things about this cafe: They will make you pick a table to sit at when you order, and their public Wi-Fi is off on the weekends. So, either go on a Friday, be prepared to use your phone’s hotspot, or just bring a book.

In terms of the living room vibe of it all, I think they mostly hit the mark. There’s a variety of seating, plenty of natural light, and books available to borrow on the back bookshelf. 

Kaldi’s Coffee (Skinker and DeMun locations) 

Kaldi’s is such a WashU classic, whether you’re an underclassman without a car just venturing beyond the boundaries of campus for the first time, or a senior making it your neighborhood hangout spot. I can’t count the hours I’ve spent here studying, taking shelter from the cold on a snowy day, or eavesdropping on the conversations of people I vaguely know. 

If you don’t already know, Kaldi’s actually has two locations nearby — one on Skinker, right outside the East End, and another in DeMun, near Clementine’s and within walking distance from the South 40.

While the coffee at both locations is the same, the cafes do have a few differences. The DeMun Kaldi’s has an entirely vegetarian menu and is definitely smaller. Sometimes it’s harder to find a place to sit, but the more intimate space can give it a cozier feel. The Skinker location is larger, so you’ll almost always be able to snag a table. Since it’s closer to campus, you’ll usually run into someone you know.

I typically opt for the location on Skinker because, living so close, I could wake up at 9:55 a.m. and still make it to 10 a.m. coffee plans. But if you’re tired of seeing that guy from your subsection who keeps trying to ask you out, though, and want to feel more incognito for a few hours … I’d head to DeMun. 

Concluding thoughts

My No. 1 piece of advice for you is to not place too much weight on my suggestions — what works for me might not work for you, and the best part of this whole project was not finding the perfect place to do homework, — it was exploring St. Louis in a new way. 

So, grab a friend, pick a day, and find your perfect coffee spot.