Just blocks from the river is Zotz’s, a mom-and-pop with a cozy, funky vibe. This is no sleek, minimalist modern coffee shop (all the better): the armchairs are cushy, the cavern-like walls are covered with art, and there are books, games, and doo-dads a’ plenty. Grab a pastry with a classic latte or mocha.

Rue de la Course is considered by many to be New Orleans’s original coffee house, a shop founded in 1990 that once boasted eight local locations. Now there’s just the one all the way Uptown on Carrollton Avenue, housed in a soaring, historic former bank building. It’s still teeming with regulars meeting up for a cup of coffee, and the open-air upstairs full of university students. A great place to people-watch, and it’s open well into the evening.

This cozy coffee shop is located between two of New Orleans’s historic cemeteries: Odd Fellow’s Rest and St. Patrick’s. A fenced-in patio overlooks marble mausoleums — inside, the living feast on vegan doughnuts, coffee cake, and vegan zucchini tamales, sipping on lattes and Americanos. Sacred Grinds is haunted and proud of it.

This Mid-City joint is easy to spot from the street with its unusual architecture, but it's what's inside that makes it a must-try. Sweet and savory baked goods made in-house accompany a robust coffee menu, with espresso drinks, Chemex and V60 pourovers. Everything's made with high quality products in house, so you can't go wrong. As a bonus, it’s one of few shops in town that makes it’s own chai blend.

Church Alley is a charming community-driven cafe in Mid-City, one that consistently shows up in a big way for its neighborhood. It’s also vastly expanded its food offerings, which include beet and apple salad, tahini avocado toast, and smoked ham and cheddar scones, as well as monthly drink specials.

The Bean Gallery is a longtime Mid-City favorite serving Turkish coffee and specialty teas, outlasting many of the shops that have come and gone over the years. It’s open early and closes late, and there’s lots of seating indoors and out to enjoy drinks and the relatively large food menu of paninis, bagel sandwiches, avocado toast, and sweets.

Coast Roast Coffee, first started in St. Roch Market, has grown with its own roasting operation, an outpost Uptown on Magazine Street (with a particularly pleasant patio out front), and a new location in Metairie. Find exceptionally creative drinks, fun breakfast pop-ups on the weekend, and a vast menu of grab-and-go food items at all times.

New Orleans coffee vet Tom Oliver opened Coffee Science on S. Broad near the courthouse at the beginning of 2018, joining a growing number of new businesses in the area. While primarily about world-class coffee, the shop also serves pastries, sandwiches, and salads, as well as a revival of a few of Kaldi’s most popular iced coffee drinks. Coffee Science consistently hosts the best pop-ups in the city on Sundays.

Park Island Brew is a newer favorite, opened in 2020 on Gentilly Boulevard by Kevin Davis and business partner Chachera Brantley. The lovely corner building has become a neighborhood gathering place for its intricate espresso drinks — like the new rosemary lavender shakerato — and sweet treats.

This sunny Warehouse District shop from Jonathan Riethmaier, co-founder of the New Orleans Barista Social Club, boasts a Seraphim in-counter brewing system with automated pour-overs and specialty drinks. Mammoth is now a roaster as well, with plans for an upcoming roasting facility and expanded cafe. The tea program is one of the best in town.

This LGD coffee shop is a great spot to do work fueled by an array of breakfast/lunch items (including vegan and gluten-free). Everything — drinks and a substantial food menu — is made fresh to order. Plus, it may be the most stylish coffee shop around with its art deco design and mid-century decor.

With a few locations around town plus a successful foray into roasting, this LGD shop is still innovating in the New Orleans coffee world. Check out the coffee cocktails like the espresso gimlet, a double shot of espresso layered on top of a combination of lemon, lime, and simple syrup. Visit any of Mojo’s locations for a wide variety of locally roasted signature beans, a four-pack of 32-ounce cold brews, and even milked oats. Bonus: the location on Magazine is open late.

Backatown serves up beans from one of the country's only Black-owned coffee roaster, Bean Fruit in Pearl, Mississippi, bringing a stylish, colorful stop to the city’s historic former Storyville area. Enjoy espresso coffee drinks as well as soup, paninis, and house-made sweet potato pie (a family recipe of the owner) daily. This lovely spot serves seriously great, reasonably-priced sandwiches.

French Truck is one of the city’s most well-known brands, thanks in part to the identifiable shops and trucks. The LGD location fronts French Truck’s roasting facility, which provides beans for its own cold and hot coffee drinks as well as a thriving wholesale operation.

There are tons of coffee houses in and around the French Quarter, but this place is a true New Orleans classic. Often raucous, always colorful, and sometimes less than savory, Envie draws a very loyal crowd, in part due to its rare late hours — it’s open until 11 p.m. — and outdoor seating, great for French Quarter people-watching.

A Marigny longtimer beloved by its neighborhood, Orange Couch is a bright, modern spot that attracts a mix of artists, students, retirees, tourists, and writers (it’s a favorite of hometown hero and famed author Maurice Carlos Ruffin). There’s a handful of sidewalk tables and a takeout window on Royal Street, making it a great option for a coffee with friends or grabbing something for a stroll in the pretty Marigny.

Pond Coffee is for the real coffee heads —an if-you-know-you-know kind of place. The sweet stand was opened by two baristas in 2020, connected to Small Mart’s beloved corner shop located on the border of the Marigny and Bywater. It’s popular for chai, matcha, lavender lattes, and cappuccinos, made exclusively with oat milk. Small Mart is a must-try for food, even if just a cookie or pastry, but the vegetarian Indian-inspired menu and bagel sandwiches are worth a separate visit.

This neighborhood coffee shop with a mission (it raises money for Bethel Family House, a faith-based addiction recovery center), serves kolaches — nola-ches — pastries, breakfast sandwiches, frappes, and coffee drinks in one of the friendliest atmospheres in town (it’s also wheelchair accessible, not a guarantee in New Orleans). As a major bonus, it’s open late, until 9 p.m. daily.