Hybrid Coffee Shops

Owners Josh Rosen, Colin Tunstall and Morgan Collett opened Saturdays in 2009 to combine their shared love of both surfing and urban environments. Designed as a respite from a city’s frenetic energy, each of the four stores (two in New York and two in Japan) exudes ’60s surfer cool with a modern twist, featuring light wood accents, exposed brick and eye-catching wall art. While sipping the shop’s exclusive La Colombe coffee blend, customers can browse its proprietary line of beachwear (Saturdays was among GQ’s Best New Menswear Designers in America in 2012), surfboards from brand names like Mccallum and Christenson, and a selection of design-focused art and literature. facebook.com/pages/saturdays-surf-nyc

Having worked in a bike store since high school, Remy Nelson was well aware of the interconnected cultures of bicycles and beer, “Tips often came in the form of brown bottles, before we were even legal to drink them!” he says. At Mojo, his bicycle shop/café in the heart of San Francisco’s NoPa neighborhood, he serves local draft beers like Death & Taxes (brewed in nearby Santa Rosa) while bicycles are repaired, tuned up and sold in the back. With no professional cooking experience, Nelson crafted his menu according to his own preferences, with sandwiches like Le Marocain (turkey, harissa aioli, melted Swiss cheese, red peppers, cucumber and romaine) and Croque-Mojo (a nod to his French background) served alongside Ritual and De La Paz coffees. After its success with a French-inspired prix fixe supper club, Mojo currently hosts weekly pop-ups at the café, like Burger Wednesdays, and Rice Paper Scissors—a Vietnamese fusion menu—on Thursdays. mojobicyclecafe.com

In addition to running the dance school upstairs (for which the café is named), owner Vicky Magaletta prepares casual Argentinean dishes from 4 p.m. onward. Choices include stuffed seasoned beef empanadas, anchovy tostados (traditional sandwiches made with very thin bread), an array of fresh-baked desserts and South American maté served hot or cold. Most of Café Tango’s events—such as open mike poetry readings, Thursday cooking classes, and Friday blues and jazz concerts—take place in the evenings. So Magaletta decided to share the space during the day with a new local favorite, Union Square Donuts, which hawks its doughy treats, along with bracing Counter Culture coffee, from Thursday to Sunday. Although the flavors are somewhat esoteric, like maple-bacon and cherry-hibiscus, these raised doughnuts are made the old-fashioned way: Each one is rolled by hand, and made with Cabot butter and whole milk. facebook.com/UnionSquareDonuts

After five years in New York, fifth-generation Chicagoan Mike Salvatore knew the time had come to return to the Windy City. Salvatore, his wife, Melissa, and their newborn son, Bennett, returned to the Midwest to open Heritage Bicycles in the Lincoln Park area. Heritage sells vintage-inspired custom bikes hand-crafted in Chicago, making theirs the first completely Chicago-made cycles since Schwinn’s halted production in the city in the 1970s. In addition to paraphernalia like bike racks, helmets and even jewelry made from recycled bike parts, Heritage sells Stumptown coffees, TeaGschwendner’s organic loose-leaf teas, house-made sparkling sodas, and treats like glazed buttermilk doughnuts from the Chicago shop Glazed and Infused. The airy, whitewashed seating area is popular among laptop users and, for added entertainment, café-goers can watch master bike makers building, crafting and repairing in the adjoining garage. heritagebicycles.com

Located in the center of historic Lexington, this bike shop–café specializes in high-end custom bicycles, with each one-of-a-kind piece specially designed and fitted to its rider’s personal needs. The in-store café features locally roasted George Howell coffee and a rotating list of espresso drinks brewed through a Chemex or AeroPress, with or without High Lawn Farm milk. Fresh-baked Moochie’s Macarons are available in flavors such as lavender-honey and pistachio, along with pastries from Charlestown’s Sorelle Bakery. In the coming months Ride plans to expand its menu to include locally baked bread with hummus and almond butter, and Sophia’s Greek Pantry yogurt with fresh fruits and granola. The café has become a town landmark, with locals crowding in for homemade hot chocolate in the snowy winters, and chilly chocolate milk when the weather turns warm. ridestudiocafe.com

After learning that San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood lacked a Laundromat, Susan Schindler, a former caterer, abandoned her plans to open a nightclub and started the BrainWash Café instead. Customers running the spin cycle can order beer, wine or locally roasted America’s Best coffee, and place a food order from an expansive all-day menu that starts with scrambled eggs and cinnamon French toast for breakfast, and transitions into lunch and dinner with fried fish tacos topped with tomato-chile sauce. The nightclub idea didn't totally disappear: Each night, BrainWash hosts live entertainment, with a spoken word open mike on Mondays, standup comedy on Thursdays, and local bands on Fridays and Saturdays. brainwash.com

Perennially in search of a place to hang out after class, yoga instructors Nikki Koch, Julia Huffman and Dana Bushman decided to open an all-level studio featuring Counter Culture coffee, yeast doughnuts from Brooklyn's Dough in flavors like passion fruit and chocolate-cherry, and a happy hour. The bar serves wine and cider on tap and signature cocktails like the We Are 138 (Bulleit bourbon, elderflower liqueur, fresh lemon, and honey simple syrup). Locals come in multiple times a week for comedy shows, punk rock bands, karaoke, and the occasional turn on the club’s Big Buck Hunter arcade machine. cobraclubbk.com

An outpost of San Francisco’s cult Ritual Coffee Roasters serves espresso drinks to customers lingering among the flora and fauna at this beautiful garden shop. Garden chairs are sprinkled throughout an ever-changing array of plants and housewares, from garden furniture and pottery to indoor vertical gardens and seasonal bloomers. floragrubb.com

While video stores are a rapidly dying breed, Fayes Video has been business in since 1998. There are regulars aplenty, many of them movie buffs who geek out on the carefully curated selection of around 8,000 titles (in both DVD and VHS). Plenty of locals’ wake-up rituals include a bracing Illy espresso or a cup of Fayes’ secret house blend coffee, which co-owner Michael McConnell calls “a Sumatra French Roast with an extra punch.” The only seating is a bench out front, on which—according to neighborhood lore—many love affairs have begun. Snacks include Rip van Wafels caramel-filled Amsterdam waffles, Awesome Bars granola bars, and treats from the nearby Butter Love Bakeshop, such as peach-rhubarb “cuppies” (cupcake-size pies) and savory galettes in flavors including cherry tomato–Parmesan. facebook.com/pages/Fayes-Video-Espresso-Bar

Aaron Ultimo fell into the coffee business by chance, when he agreed to help a friend open a shop after college. After developing a passion for coffee, he helped launch Spruce Street Espresso and was later approached by the owner of the South Philadelphia Taproom to open this coffee and beer shop. “Beer people are often coffee people and coffee people are often beer people,” says Ultimo. “Customers often purchase beer as they wait for coffee, or grab a coffee as they buy a beer.” Brew sells small batch local beers like Manayunk Dreamin’ Double IPA and international varieties like Gueuze Tilquin sour lambic from Belgium, while baristas prepare Guatemalan espresso and iced Ethiopian Haru coffee nearby. Ultimo also offers locally sourced snacks like bagels and croissants with peach butter and fig jam from West Philadelphia’s Four Worlds Bakery, Coco Love’s “bruffins” (brownie muffins), and an award-winning cheesesteak. brewphiladelphia.com, ultimocoffee.com

Whether it’s worship, a snack or solitude you’re seeking, the Church of Sweden in Midtown provides all three—with a slice of New York history on the side. Originally located on Water Street in 1873, the church was meant to serve seafarers and Scandinavian immigrants. At its current light-filled Midtown Manhattan location, traditional open-faced sandwiches with toppings like egg and anchovy or Swedish cheese, bracing coffee and house-made cinnamon buns are served to tourists, locals and office workers alike. Prepared daily, the buns are tightly coiled with a traditional sweet-spiced filling, then topped with crunchy sugar crystals.

In the three short years since he started peddling loaves by bicycle, Josey Baker has become one of the most lauded bread bakers in America. Now, he’s teamed up with Four Barrel, a local coffee favorite, at The Mill, an espresso bar/bread bakery in San Francisco’s Alamo Square neighborhood. Customers can savor breads like dark mountain rye and country sourdough, toasted, buttered, and topped with cinnamon sugar and house-made jam, while watching bakers hard at work (the ovens can bake 100 loaves at a time!). In the coming months, Baker will be milling his own grains for an even more obsessively artisan product. The espresso bar features artfully prepared drinks and retail items like Chemex pots and Four Barrel beans. themillsf.com

“When we first decided to open a coffee and motorcycle shop, we wanted to create a place where anyone could come in, talk about bikes, grab a coffee and maybe learn something more about motorcycles” says See See’s co-owner Thor Drake. His clientele ranges from motorheads ogling one another’s rides to Portlandians looking for a good cup of coffee and a bite to eat. Vintage motorbikes adorn the space, and the walls are lined with helmets and biker magazines. Up front, Stumptown espresso drinks, wine and beer are served alongside snacks like mushroom-Manchego biscuits from the nearby Crema Bakery, and local favorite Zenner’s hot dogs. The back retail area sells customized See See apparel, biker’s paraphernalia, spare parts and tires. In addition to See See’s retail and café aspects, the shop also hosts a variety of events, like art shows, mini bike races, and even 21 Helmets, a custom helmet show. seeseemotorcycles.com

A pair of avid bikers, Chad Shafer and his wife, Heather Jones, recently bought the nine-year-old South Mountain Cycle after falling in love with the atmosphere and the coffee. The shop repairs and sells bicycles and accessories including speedometers, GPS, shoes and helmets, in addition to organizing biweekly community rides. The adjoining café, which has a strong following among local riders, features entirely organic coffee and milk from nearby Longacre’s dairy. Fresh-baked chocolate-dipped biscotti from Bucks County Biscotti are available daily, as are buttery croissants, muffins and decadent brownies from Philadelphia’s LeBus Bakery. facebook.com/pages/South-Mountain-Cycles-Coffee-Bar

Red Lantern owner Brian Gluck calls the bike shop–bar–coffee shop combination “crossover galore.” Red Lantern specializes in commuter bicycles (largely single-speed and three-speed models) sold in the retail area, with a repair shop in the back. The bar/coffee area caters to a mixed crowd that Gluck describes as “high end, low end and everything in between.” Staff members roast coffee beans in-house and prepare alternative nut milks from almonds, cashews, walnuts and sunflower seeds. Muffins in flavors like blueberry–sweet plum and carrot-raspberry–cream cheese are sourced from Park Slope’s Blue Sky Bakery; a nearby bakeshop, Mister Sister, provides vegan baked goods. For something stronger, Red Lantern’s cocktails—like the Black Flag (cold-brew coffee concentrate and PBR)—echo the hybrid nature of the spot. redlanternbicycles.com