Portola Specialty

Many credit Ritual with being the first truly gourmet coffee shop in the city. Now, 11 years and five bustling S.F. locations later, they still brew arguably the best cup in town. Because people have been known to get hooked on their meticulously sourced blends, a coffee club was launched to make sure out-of-towners can get their hands on the good stuff.

Many credit Ritual with being the first truly gourmet coffee shop in the city. Now, 10 years and four bustling S.F. locations later, they still brew arguably the best cup in town. Because people have been known to get hooked on their meticulously sourced blends, a coffee club was launched to make sure out-of-towners can get their hands on the good stuff.

We love Four Barrel not just for excellent espressos, almond milk lattes, and Americanos, but for their very genuine commitment to community, both local and global. Putting their massive warehouse space to good use, they host regular workshops (pickling classes with Bar Tartine's Cortney Burns sounds especially fun) and make it a point to only source beans from small family farmers all over the world. In a pretty brilliant move, the café doesn't have wifi, so people are forced to converse face-to-face rather than hide behind laptops. There's also a location in Alamo Square and the Mission.

We love Four Barrel not just for excellent espressos, almond milk lattes, and Americanos, but for their very genuine commitment to community, both local and global. Putting their massive warehouse space to good use, they host regular workshops (pickling classes with Bar Tartine's Cortney Burns sounds especially fun) and make it a point to only source beans from small family farmers all over the world. In a pretty brilliant move, the café doesn't have wifi, so people are forced to converse face-to-face rather than hide behind laptops. There's also a location in Alamo Square and the Mission.