here’s my subjective ranking of the best espresso/coffee in the san francisco bay area, complete with a google map.
[googlemap width=”640″ height=”480″ src=”http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=112896448665808697633.00048fe8838715e9e8af6&ll=37.823616,-122.306671&spn=0.2689835,0.371824&z=11&output=embed”]
key: more crema = better. empty cup = not so good. Sorry about the funky anti-aliasing.
excellent:
- ritual (san francisco/napa, ritual)
- blue bottle (oakland/san francisco, blue bottle)
- remedy (oakland, ritual)
- subrosa (oakland, four barrel)
- local 123 (berkeley, flying goat)
- bica coffeehouse (oakland, de la paz, barefoot, ritual) (update 10.23.10: had a great barefoot red cab espresso)
- contraband coffee bar (san francisco, contraband)
enjoyable:
- modern coffee (oakland, verve, barefoot, rotates)
- barefoot coffee roasters (san jose, barefoot)
- cafe zoe (oakland, ecco caffe)
- roy’s station (san jose, verve)
- cafe 504 (oakland, blue bottle)
- four barrel (san francisco, four barrel)
- equator coffee cafe (san rafael, equator)
not bad:
- bar bambino (san francisco, ?)
- awaken cafe (oakland, taylor maid)
- cafe gabriela (oakland, blue bottle)
drinkable but not pleasant:
- farley’s (san francisco/oakland/emervyille, farley’s blend from sunshine? in san leandro) Recently had a not good one from the 65th st emeryville location. doh.
- peerless (oakland, peerless)
- woody’s cafe (oakland, ?)
- crepevine (oakland/berkeley, ?)
- riva (berkeley, ?)
- starbucks (starbucks)
- peets (peets)
- uncommon grounds cafe (berkeley, uncommon grounds)
not drinkable:
- none yet. Maybe I have a high tolerance?
credit for working the google maps/wordpress hack: http://digwp.com/2010/01/google-maps-shortcode/ if you want to try this, don’t forget to add the &embed at the end of your link.
Barlata 
