So coffee is the new buzz in the East Bay… have you seen the cover story in this week’s East Bay Express:  Surfing Coffee’s “Third Wave” by Luke Tsai?  It focuses on the profusion of new coffee connoisseurs setting up shop in the East Bay… Local 123, Sub Rosa, Remedy, and Awaken Café.  To date I’ve been to Sub Rosa (fantastic tiny shop with gorgeous expresso drinks, located next door to Manifesto bike shop and 1234 Go Records on 40th Street) and the Remedy coffee cart serving Ritual Coffee on Telegraph near 44th, run by Todd Spitzer (I went before the cafe was open…it’s open now and is getting rave reviews on Yelp). More on these in future posts…

But today I went to a great spot, sadly not mentioned in the article… Farley’s East.

I’ve been a big fan of the original Farley‘s since back in the 90’s when I worked full time on Potrero Hill in San Francisco.  Farley’s had fantastic coffee and espresso drinks, an incredible magazine rack featuring unusual art and culture rags, rotating art exhibits, and wonderful eats including just about the best banana bread I’ve ever had.  It was my daily morning ritual.  Luckily, they’ve maintained the quality and the vibe in their East Bay transplant.

They’ve got the same great magazine selection, rotating art each month, wonderful food and drinks (today I had a brie/pear/cranberry/walnut panini on the most incredible bread… yum!), and a real spirit of community involvement (their motto is “community in a cup“). They feature a different non-profit each month… this month highlighting the good works of Oaklandish, including a fundraiser held for them in early December.

Please check them out… you won’t be sorry.