Beatnik coffee houses?
 

We will be in San Francisco next month and want to go to a beatnik coffee house or two, can anyone suggest a good place?

Thanks.

Sigh~ I lived right around the corner from the Coffee Contata . If it is still there, on Union Street, it was pretty nice.

I searched "coffee contata" on aol, no coffee house came up. Thanks for the thought though. From your sigh seems like it was one of the good places.

Well, it was on Union Street but there is one on Haight Street now so they may have moved, since the name is the same.
Try Google.

Hi, me again. I also googled and found this review... Coffee Cantata
2024 Union Street

..." This was not a hippie place. Much more upscale as would be expected on Union Street. Great food beautifully served, my favorite for delicious salads and fritattas . I would take my mother there when she came to visit me. She loved it. Very trendy at that time, a cross between coffee house, fern bar and restaurant. The local big shots metting over lunch. One would often see famous stars, sports figures, and local newspaper people. A very interesting place...."

But I don't think it is on Union anymore, maybe it is gone. Yes, it was very nice, but everything was very nice to me then..in San Francisco :)

Take a stroll through North Beach and you're sure to find a place. I like Mario's Bohemian Cigar Store. Columbus and Washington I think. It's across the street from Washington Square Park.

Vesuvio's in North Beach on Columbus next to City Lights books-'tis the
"real deal".
R5

Hey~R5 :D

Hey Miz Scarlett!
Vesuvios also serves alcohol and may seem more of a saloon, but you can't beat the history.
R5

Also seek out Cafe/Caffe Trieste
in North Beach-so very cool, man.
R5

Seconding the Trieste on Grant Avenue. Expect it to be funkier than expected (I'm warning you about the bathroom right now). Order an "africano" - like a latte but much stronger and served in a little juice glass.

You need to check out this walking tour!

http://www.hotelboheme.com/sanfran/tour.html

Hearily endorse the print-out-and-follow-yourself North Beach tour suggested by Grasshopper above. This will show you the sites where it really happened, and a couple or three where it is still going on. Too bad that on a quick scan it doesn't mention my favorites, Coffee and Confusion, which I think was on Grant between the Coffee Gallery and La Bodega; the Old Spaghetti Factory (not to be confused with the later chain of the same name)in an alley on Green off Grant, more recently the Bocce restaurant; and the Savoy Tivoli on Grant. These blocks of Grant, between Union and Filbert, are where you can still get a bit of the old "feel."

You might also want to check out this site for North Beach, "San Francisco's Little Italy and Home of the Beat Generation." Note, if you scroll down to the left, that they have conducted walking tours for $15 each for groups of six or more (if you are less than six they may be able to combine you with another party to make six.)

Oops. Omitted the site promised above. It is:
http://www.sfnorthbeach.org/

I should probably consult my Time Out before posting this, but there is a cafe, I believe called Cafe de la Presse, not far from Chinatown. You can get international papers there and they make killer coffee.

This is not a coffee shop like you envision, but down near the water (not far from Ghirardelli square) was a place that made the best Cafe Latte I have ever had - not kidding. I took the trolley one morning to stroll around down there, and it was soooo good I came back the next day just to get another one. Plus there was an outdoor farmer's market right there (this was July) and I also got, both mornings, a HUGE pain au chocolat. mmmmmmmmmmmmm.

I would suspect somewhere near City Lights would be a beatnik coffee shop.

I'll verify the name of the Cafe and post again later.

this is making me hungry!

n.b. before I posted this I googled it for the heck of it, tada:

http://www.bestofsanfrancisco.net/ca...ressreview.htm

sigh. I simply love San Francisco. It's very high on my must-go-back list.

Thanks all,
We will only be in SF for a day.
North Beach and at least two of these coffee houses will be stops for us.
Would love to see the beatnik type poem readers in action.
Mike and Donnae

Cafe Trieste is a great coffee spot in North Beach. Great latte, cappucino, freshly squeezed orange juice... wonderful pastries! (From window gazing, I think that the pastries come from an Italian bakery around the corner on Columbus -- Maras?)

Just spent 5 nights in SF, and we (my husband and I) LOVED Cafe Trieste... one of our favourite coffee places ever.

Oh ya, and it has wireless internet - 2 hours free :-)
Darcie

And, I forgot the most important part... great atmosphere, a real neighbourhood place.

D.

Am I in a time warp? Are there still beatniks?

I was going to suggest Caffee Trieste in NB, but Razzle beat me to it. :-)