High Ground, on Eastern in Highlandtown. He roasts his own (far better than Zeke's, better even than Bluebird), cleans his espresso maker (rare) and it doesn't have the attitude *cough*Patterson Perk*cough* that some other places have.

I would like to add The Coffee Junction in Catonsville 803 Frederick Rd Catonsville, MD 21228. Very Cozy place, with very nice people and baked goods!

Common Ground in Hampden has been my fave -- and home away from home -- for many years. Great coffee and muffins, fun and attentive staff, and laid-back atmosphere.

Spoons in Federal Hill is a great place, too. Locally owned and "green" with a great atmosphere!

Not exactly the best place to have coffee, but the best coffee I've had (regular coffee, nothing special) is Dunkin' Donuts. Admittedly, I've only been drinking coffee for about 5 years, but I've yet to have better coffee.

We got a lot of compliments for its coffee in the earlier post. EL

I know of three other great coffee houses to go in Annapolis and chill and almost always see a friend or neighbor: City Dock Coffee -- either location at City Dock or on Maryland Avenue; Hard Bean Cafe (and bookstore) at City Dock; and, believe it or not, Starbuck's on Main Street under the Maryland Inn. I usually hate Starbucks just because of the 'franchise of it all,' but this location kept the cozy -- brick floors, lounge-able sofas and seats in the back room and comfy tables in the main room. It's the former hot Annapolis location for blues and jazz, and the vibe carries on. But I can't believe Annapolis is the only place with great coffee houses!

Common Ground in Hampden should be on the list. The Danger Muffin is a winner. The staff is very good. The owner Glenn is on the premises to keep the operation running smoothly and there is a great lunch menu available.

two spots in charles village: one world cafe on university and carma's cafe on st. paul and 32nd. great coffee and fantastic food at both places. i'd recommend the homemade soups at one world and the homemade yogurt at carma's.

The Red Canoe! I submitted it when you asked the last time, but my comment didn't post for some reason. They have great teas, and savory muffins, and a nice room to enjoy it while you read.

Several people mentioned it, but because it's also a children's bookstore, I left it off the list. Not because it didn't deserve to be on, but because there were so many choices I had to narrow the definition of coffee house considerably. EL

Java Grande in Ellicott City is a more recent coffee spot, with great products. The owner encourages groups to take advantage of the large space for meetings too!

Hmmmm.... If going to Middle River is a "trek," I'd definitely leave off the Annapolis locations and replace them with Red Canoe! Sure, it's a bookstore as well, and may not fit the definition of "coffee house," but it's a damn fine place to get a cup of coffee. AND it's "local."

Oh, and...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PcoMrwEa5o

I'll do a post later today on places to get a great cup of coffee that aren't coffee houses. EL

As an ex Baltimore boy, I have to say that I will always miss Funks Democratic Coffee House in Fells Point. THey had the best ICed Mochas in the free world.

To represent Annapolis somewhere in this blog, Hard Bean Coffee and Booksellers at City Dock in Annapolis is the best!!! The Jazzy Java Rocks! And City Dock Cafe is terrible. The coffee always tastes burnt.

High grounds on Eastern ave in Canton definitely has the best coffee in the city, all roasted on site. The shop is "cozy".

Love Common Ground in Hampden. Used to go there all the time when I lived in Hampden.

Don't forget Spro coffee bar in the Towson library! Best espresso in town by properly trained baristas.

Yes, it will go on my list of great places that aren't coffee houses later today. EL

I love Karma Cafe in Charles Village on 32nd St. It's a small cozy little place. They're chocolate covered macaroons are fabulous. And it's outdoor area is great when the weather is warm and they offer free water and biscuists for your dog.

asqual coffee on maryland avenue has really terrific espresso. i think the ethiopian owners may be working some connections back home. a truly great place with sort of an unfortunate location.

Ditto to what Becky said above - the Hard Bean is great for just grabbing a cup and sitting outside looking at the water.

Get an E.L. top 10 Italian cold cut at Scittino's and then walk half a block to Cafe di Roma for dessert where the coffee is strong, al fresco, and punctuated with l'opera.

Elizabeth, Have you been to any or all of the coffee houses?

Some but not all, as you'll see if you go to earlier posts I linked to. EL

High Grounds in Highlandtown/Patterson Park has the best espresso I've ever had... no burnt aftertaste here! The owner and staff know most customers by name/drink and are always welcoming.

What no love for Smedley's in Fells???

Metropolitan in Federal Hill and One World Cafe up by the Homewood campus of Hopkins are my two favorites.

Alyssa, that is because they actually backflush and clean their espresso maker properly. Almost no where else does.

(And they are 2 blocks too far south and 2 blocks too far east to be in Patterson Park.)

Wow I am shocked. Blue House the retail store in Inner Harbor East has a wonderful cafe...best coffee and atmosphere. And Bonaparte's the French cafe next to the old Homicide Police Station.

No wonder you're shocked. Bluehouse is gone. And Bonaparte's isn't a coffee house. Feel free to post under the later entry asking for suggestions of places that aren't coffee houses. EL

What about MAd City Coffee in Columbia. Have had good, robust coffee experiences there...

Richard - thanks for the compliment! I wish bluehouse was still around to make this list, happily quite a few of the staff are currently working together to open a new cafe/event space in the city. And I promise, just like at bluehouse, the espresso machine will be cleaned at LEAST once a day.

For myself, since I can no longer get coffee at work, I will head to Red Canoe if I also want lunch, or Common Ground if I want a muffin. If I want stellar espresso or espresso based drinks, the bar at Woodberry Kitchen.

The Filling Station! They have two locations---on at Falls and Shawan Roads and the other on York Road in Sparks.

Is Red Emma's still open? When I lived in Mount Vernon I always wanted to walk in, but I figured the staff would smell the Republican on me and refuse my entry.

Red Emma's, of course. The coffee is so-sm but it is an awesome place to hang out.

RoCK, I'm no Repub, but they let me in there when I was in interview drag, and folks even talked with me. Anarchists don't bite, unless it is a negotiated and mutually agreeable kind of chomp.

EL.
I know this may not quite fit in but, I have been getting a lot of my coffee lately from Chesapeake Bay Roasting Company. They are a locally owned company that specializes in "green" coffee and it is wonderful. You should check out their site:
http://www.cbayroasting.com

Red Emma's is definitely still open, and you don't have to be left-leaning to be welcomed there. You just have to like coffee (all organic and fair-trade) - and we do, btw, obsessively clean our espresso machine - how can you not?

You clean the espresso machine at Red Emma's? Great! I'll try the espresso next time I'm in. That makes all the difference in the world (hint: espresso done right isn't bitter).

Well, as we talked about during the election, I'm actually a Ron Paul Republican, so I come pretty close to wearing an anarchist A on my blue blazer.

Wow, RoCK, what a coincidence, I'm a Ru Paul Democrat!

RoCK, may I respectfully suggest that you are confusing Libertarian with anarchist? While there is a strain of Libertarianism that claims to be anarchist, it really isn't anywhere close.

I'd rather go to the Red Canoe for some coffee than pretty much all the "coffeehouses" on this list (except Grind-On). If the criteria is "favorite place to chill and drink coffee" Red Canoe, hands down.

I never really knew what libertarian meant, but then I looked at Ron Paul's web site and saw that he is stridently anti-abortion. So much for liberty. I'm not sure that there is a coherent philisophy. Anti-free trade seems odd too. I need to make up my own party based upon Von Hilgenbocker's Five Principles of Freedom. For short let's call it the Party of Five.

Lissa, there are actually different strains of anarchists, including libertarian, communist and crazy. That being said, I understand your point, and I would agree that neither I nor Ron Paul is an anarchist. What I would say is that political philosophy is more like a circle than a line. At one end of the circle is anarchy and at the other end is totalitarianism. On the circle libertarianism is closer to anarchy than it is totalitarianism.

Ms Lissa, I don't think there is any confusing Libertarianism with anarchy. This is why Libertarianism is such a joke: no body can tell them to do anything. They want no rules. Think of a group of 4 - 6 year olds on sugar highs. Oh, I'm so politiced out. Never mind.

Anarchism takes work. Libertarianism is every man for himself. Huge difference.

I think even a circle is over-simplifying things, RoCK, but I suspect we agree more than disagree on this.

The Libertarianism I've seen just looks like unenlightened selfishness. RoCK is right about it looking like the party of five year olds. Come join the Party of Five. I'm working on getting my own island.

As always, Ms Lissa, you wisdom is great. Libertarianism is every man for himself so properly captures the nuanced difference. Libertarianism: I'm all that matters; as long as I get mine, how I want it, when I want it, NO ONE else matters. Just me.

A couple of things, I wouldn't say that libertarianism is about every man for himself. There is no prohibition in libertarianism against charity; rather, the prohibition is against coerced or mandated charity (i.e. redistribution)

That being said, there are some libertarians, particularly the Ayn Rand kind, who do believe in a survival of fittest philosophy. I would put myself more in the classic liberal philosophy of the founders. I believe in government, charity, and social obligations.

Finally, as to abortion, I think one can be a libertarian and be pro-life or pro-choice. The pro-choice argument is that it is my body and the government has no right to tell me what to do with it. The pro-life argument is that we have a government to protect certain natural rights with the right to life being one of those rights.

Living in Beverly Hills I find it hard each day to decide where to go, both Red Canoe and Grind-on are fantastic!!!

There seem to be at least 4 very different groups of people running around calling themselves Libertarians. The one I run into the most are the juvenile, selfish Ayn Rand kind. I find that about as attractive as "Malcolm in the Middle" reruns, and about as substantive.

Explain anti-abortion libertarians who are also in favor of post-natal abortion (death penalty).

I just can't come up with a coherent philosophy that could be applied to government.

On Owl Meat Island, all disputes will be settled by a dance-off.

Owl, who knew he could dance?

A dance off and a restaurant blog. What are two places you could hear the phrase "you've been served"?

Who knew he could rock a racerback ladies top?

Oh, good one RoCk

I much prefer Patterson Perk to High Grounds. High Grounds has the worst hours (coffee shop not open on Sundays?) and I had a rude encounter there before.

I guess it depends on if you are looking for a place to hang and be seen or a place to drink great coffee, Baltimoar.

Actually, I'm just trying to grab a hot drink to take with me on my morning walk with the dog. I linger as little as possible in the sweatpants I rolled out of bed in and the messy tangles on my head that might pass as hair. But yeah, I'm a scenester at Patterson Perk.

High Grounds is a Cristian coffee shop, hence no Sunday hours.

I meant christian.

I think Dan R. stole this blog topic for his radio show today.

Elizabeth, there a cute, quaint, no place like home coffee shop in West Baltimore thats to just die for. You need to check out Peace & A Cup of Joe. Not only is the food and coffee great but the atmosphere is so like home you would want to never leave. And the staff is right on time...

Not only does B-I-P sound like a shill, but what on earth does the staff being on time have to do with anything? Every place I've worked, staff was expected to be on time (management was frequently another issue entirely).

I'm sorry for your misinterpretation of "staff being right on time" what I was relaying is that the staff is fantastic, friendly, welcoming, kind, and full of energy. Peace & A Cup of Joe is a great place to have lunch and coffee. Sometimes there may be a wait for your food but it's well worth it...

this coffee shop is a great place to have a cup of coffee, the atmosphere is very comfortable. The staff is very friendly, the food is wonderful, and they use Zekes coffee. If you have not been by Peace & A cup of Joe, you should. By the way they have free WIFI…

Peace & A Cup of Joe is a hot spot for coffee, poetry, live music, students to study, and some fun and games. They play hold to Love Poet Inc poetry events every last Thurs and Fri, and every 1st Monday. The owner is great he takes pride in his establishment and makes sure that every one is welcome his motto is When you’re not at Home You’re at home with Peace & A Cup of Joe…

Peace & A Cup of Joe is a great place to chill, me as an artist can't finda better place to enjoy a cup of Chia, have a business mtg. with clients, or just relaxing... And the food isn't bad it's very very good, try their chicken salad...

Shill alert.

Please, God, don't let there be 37 more customers with access to Peace and A Cup of Joe's wifi. That would make this a 100-comment post and we would have to memorialize it.

Agreed, Lissa. All of a sudden 4 non-regulars appear all touting Peace & A Cup of Joe. Puhleeese!

BTW, if you're going to shill you really ought to mention where this place even is!

if you're going to shill you really ought to mention where this place even is!

So I can avoid it.

Must ......go.........to..........Peace........&............Joe

To be clear, new commenters are great! We need more of them.

Folks who do a drive-by shill, they are a completely different matter. Although, haven't we had one or two shills turn into interesting humans?

I have yet to find a coffeeshop in baltimore that I'm totally in love with. I liked the old daily grind(when you could still smoke, bring your dog, and it was open late), I really liked funks too.......and the one world cafe that was on charles street in fed. hill. For as much as everyone says they are "anti starbucks" it seems like that's what most coffee shops aspire to now and it sucks.

I'm not anti-Starbucks at all. I think they have very good yummy fattening drinks and some lovely breakfast/dessert items. But, I'm not wild about their coffee anymore.

I used to be (in love with them), but they were the first coffee house that appeared anywhere near my little part of Baltimore county that didn't have coffee sitting in pots on burners that had been there for hours and hours. I remember taking my son (who's now almost 17) to Starbucks and having fresh brewed coffee and him having hot chocolate and a pastry and we felt so well...urban?

IMHO, Starbucks doesn't get enough credit for being the role model for every other coffee house.

Hear, hear, Joyce W.!

One more cup of coffee for the road
One more cup of coffee 'fore I go
To the valley below

I wish elizabeth did reviews outside of baltimore sometime...theres great places in the suburbs too!

if you're ever driving up 95 sometime, Coffee Coffee is an awesome coffee shop only a minute off the interstate in Bel Air. all locally roasted coffee, great atmosphere!

Keep an eye out for when I ask for suggestions for the next week's Top 10s and post then. I'm always happy for tips. EL

I know a great little spot, but I'm not telling any of you folks on them interwebs about it. I certainly don't want it to get crowded now do I ?

:)

Common Ground-
Now I'm craving a Danger Muffin...
Also their salmon cream cheese is awesome!
Also? If you just want a plain ol' cup of GOOD coffee? Damn affordable!!