From the Pacific Northwest to the South to New York City, restaurants everywhere are stepping up when it comes to coffee. Coffee nerd consensus has long held that restaurant coffee is, generally, lousy. But, as is becoming clear across the country, it doesn’t have to be that way.
Quality coffee can be an investment of time and money that doesn’t bear all that much in returns for a small business. Equipment can run up to $20,000, and only a trained barista can reasonably be expected to pull a perfect shot of espresso. But some restaurants are getting around these barriers to entry by partnering with roasters (Canlis and Intelligentsia, for example), and abandoning the more technologically trying espresso menus (Robert Newton of Seersucker and Nightingale 9 in New York City). Still other restaurateurs have decided that excellent coffee is essential (Lula Cafe in Chicago). What follows is a look at the debate over restaurant coffee: the pros, the cons, and how some restaurants have gotten serious about coffee.