Raleigh, North Carolina
The best coffee in Raleigh
Eight Raleigh cafés and roasters, concentrated downtown and in Glenwood South.
8 places
Raleigh's coffee is easy to navigate: downtown and Glenwood South hold most of it, and they are adjacent. The city also has a deep roasting bench for its size — Black & White, Larry's, Pine State, Oak City and Counter Culture all roast in the area.
Start downtown, walk into Glenwood South, and you will have covered the city.
1.Black & White Coffee Roasters
Downtown
The strongest local roaster and the obvious downtown starting point.
2.Iris Coffee Lab
Glenwood South
Traditional espresso done well alongside genuinely inventive seasonal drinks.
Order: the cherry-marzipan latte or the rosemary latte
3.Cortado Coffee
Glenwood South
Smooth espresso and, as the name promises, the best cortado in the district.
4.Pine State Coffee
A local roaster turned café, sourcing from Ethiopia, Guatemala, Peru and New Guinea. The most interesting bean list in the city.
5.Jubala Coffee
A long-standing Raleigh name that locals still put at the top of their own lists.
6.Idle Hour Coffee Roasters
Roasting locally, and one of the downtown stops worth building a walk around.
7.Larry's Coffee
An established Raleigh roaster whose beans you will meet in other people's cafés.
8.Oak City Coffee Roasters
Rounds out the local roasting options.