The Best Spots to Get Coffee on Campus

By Heather Mimikos

Even though Starbucks is constantly throwing out new drinks, it’s still easy to get tired of just Starbucks. As a self-proclaimed coffee lover and fun drink connoisseur, seeing how many coffee shops there were on campus was exciting, but also a little confusing. I wasn’t sure which one would become my favorite, because how could anything replace my favorite hometown coffee shops?

Literatea

As a freshman living in Pardee Tower, the TroGro Starbucks was an easy go-to. What I didn’t realize until later on was that there was a coffee shop even closer called Literatea. The play-on-words title alludes to its location: right inside the courtyard of the backside entrance to Doheny Memorial Library. 

Literatea is a small but mighty coffee shop. It’s a secretly great stop for freshmen, being so close to the dorms, but it’s also great for a pick-me-up study break after studying in Doheny. It also has a small space to study with couches and little tables. They have a variety of lattes and mochas along with their pastries, bagels and sandwiches

My personal Literatea favorite is their iced chai tea latte with oat milk—but as with all of the coffee shops, a milk substitute adds a little more than a dollar to your coffee order. Literatea is in the middle at around $1.39 extra, but it will always have a soft spot with me as one of the first new coffee shops I discovered on campus.

Café Annenberg

I ordered a lot more from this coffee shop my sophomore year when I had over half of my classes in the new Annenberg building (Wallis Annenberg Hall), but Café Annenberg was the next coffee shop I discovered. Its standout add-on that first drew me in was the different syrup flavors, specifically lavender. 

My favorite Café Annenberg drink (an iced lavender latte with oat milk) is usually only a rare special treat, because the added milk substitute (on the higher end at $1.59) and added syrup (all syrups are $1.49) makes the drink total $8.57. 

But running around in the new Annenberg building to my classes, I discovered the chocolate croissant (a comforting, home-y pick-me-up) and the chicken marinara sandwich. The cafe offers other sandwiches as a fun alternative to the TCC lunches. I will always be thankful for the coffee shop in the building where all my classes are, but it’s not my all-time favorite.

Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf

It took me a little longer to discover, because the Cinematic Arts buildings seem a lot farther from the dorms than Taper Hall or my Annenberg classes. But in the California-cold of winter, a new coffee shop had a new offer: the Winter Dream Tea. 

California natives (and some Arizona natives!) already knew about Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, but as a coffee-lover Seattleite, somehow I had never heard of them. Coffee Bean’s menu is extensive with tons of coffee categories: hot, iced, espresso, cold brew, blended, and all kinds of teas and seasonal drinks. They also have a lot of affordable breakfast options (I’m a personal fan of the Chorizo Breakfast Burrito) and tons of pastries like muffins, croissants, and even some seasonal pastries.

Coffee Bean also adds milk substitutes on the lower end at 90¢. They have a range of prices on drinks, with some of their teas being under $4. And if you’re a fall drink lover like me, they have tons of seasonal coffees including a Salted Maple iced drink. Another one of my favorite Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf perks is their ice, since it’s very similar to Chick-Fil-A ice (ice lovers will know!)

So if you’re looking for a new favorite coffee shop, I would recommend any of these options. I think these three have things that make them stand out like lavender syrup or the type of ice. All also offer unique seating — Literatea’s couches and courtyard, Café Annenberg’s four-story building with different seating, and Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf’s Cinematic Arts courtyard. There is definitely a favorite spot, a favorite drink, and a favorite coffee shop on campus for you!

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