I like coffee, especially cappuccinos, so that is mostly what I evaluate. However, what one gets when ordering a "cappuccino" varies wildly; the drink I refer to, ~30-40g espresso with ~150-180 ml steamed textured milk, is often variously called a "cortado", a "flat white", etc.
This page primarily has recommendations for small and independent coffeeshops; if instead you want inexpensive or mass-market coffee, it's not hard to find. For pedants, this page additionally contains recommendations for non-coffee items.
There are many medium-to-large-ish chains, with varying levels of consistency and quality, for example La Colombe or Bluestone Lane. The line between "chain" and "small and independent but with multiple locations" is nebulous; I make no promises of semantic consistency. Cities/regions are in rough descending order of how confident I am in the recommendations.
Also, thanks to the various members of my coffee committee (in alphabetical order), Albert, Deepti, Gavin, Panda, Paroma, Pratiksha, Rachee, Sagar, Shoumik, Shriram, Suresh, and Vipul sending in their suggestions! Please get in touch if you have a scouting report to share.
Much like in Italy, Australia's base level of coffee quality is generally higher than what one is used to. In Melbourne and Sydney especially, any arbitrary cafe will generally have good espresso.
The local drink is the flat white, which is like a slightly less foamy cappuccino.
I really do mean arbitrary; places with (perhaps unexpectedly) good flat whites have been a laundromat, a fast food Mexican restaurant in a strip mall, and a mall food court.
Meanwhile, while the base level is generally good, the peak is not much higher; don't expect fancy third-wave coffee with tasting notes.
New Zealand coffeeshops are not as universally good; I liked Common Ground in Johnsonville, Wellington (in the community center/public library),
as well as Storehouse in Taupo.
NorCal ☕︎
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In Redding, Theory is a good option.
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In Crescent City (near the north border of Redwoods National Park), Paragon is good.
SoCal ☕︎
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In UCLA/Westwood, Espresso Profeta is a good option. Saffron and Rose is a good ice cream place nearby.
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In Irvine, Cassel Earth Coffee is in the atrium of an office building that is itself called "The Atrium".
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In Fullerton, Dripp is good, but expensive.
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In the San Diego area, Lofty is a good option with locations in Carlsbad, Encinitas, La Costa, Solana Beach, and San Diego itself. Bird Rock is another good option closer to San Diego. Also in the area is Prager Brothers bakery.
New Haven ☕︎
Hawai'i ☕︎
Hawai'i (the state) has a coffee growing industry, thanks to the volcanoes. Most of the growing happens on Hawai'i (the island), in particular Kona coffee. It's certainly possible to get mass-market coffee (Starbucks, Lavazza, etc) here, but it's worth sampling the local product.
O'ahu
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The best coffee I had in Honolulu was at Honolulu Coffee, with locations including the lobbies of the Prince Waikiki and Moana Surfrider hotels. They roast Kona coffee.
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Other places near Waikiki, though promising, were too crowded to evaluate properly.
Hawai'i ("Big Island")
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HiCO, with locations in Kona and Captain Cook, serves Hawai'i (state)-grown coffee. They serve coffee from a rotating series of Hawaiian roasters. This was my favorite cappuccino on the island (but not by much).
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Kona Coffee and Tea roasts and sells Kona coffee. They also sell Hawaii-grown natural wine.
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Scouting report: Close to South Point, across from the famous Punalu'u Bake Shop, is Ka Lae Coffee, which is a promising place for Ka'u coffee, another big coffee growing region on the island.
Kaua'i
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Java Kai, in Kapa'a, is the best cappuccino on the island (but I prefer their cafe latte). You might also be interested in the Kaua'i Coffee Plantation, but they serve only drip coffee.
London ☕︎
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Prufrock Coffee in Farringdon has (somewhat shockingly) table service at very reasonable prices. The coffee is excellent; they have a rotating selection of single-origin filter brews also.
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Ideal Espresso in Greenwich Market has an old-school lever machine, and brews good Italian-style dark-roasted espresso. Note that their stall can move around within the market.
Amsterdam ☕︎
Germany Rhein-Main Area (incl. Frankfurt) ☕︎
Mainz
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In Altstadt, Après is good.
Atlanta ☕︎
Italy ☕︎
Note: Italian coffee culture is somewhat different than the other places on this page. For example, Italians don't drink heated-milk drinks such as cappucinos after 11:00. Also, the standard price one should expect for an espresso is €1, and a cappuccino should be €1.50 (this is when standing at the bar; table service is more expensive). If the place is charging more than this, you either have no other option or are rich (airports, fancy hotels, etc).
As a result, my recommendation is a cappuccino in the morning and a cafe macchiato (espresso with a bit of foamy milk) in the afternoon. Italian espresso is much more drinkable than most other places on this list, so this plan wasn't an issue for me. You can still request milk drinks in the afternoon, but be prepared for some eye-rolling.
Also, I have only listed the places that especially stood out to me in some way. It is in almost all cases perfectly fine to walk into an arbitrary "caffetteria" for coffee.
Now, my actual recommendations:
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In Milan, I enjoyed "La Caffetteria" ("coffee shop") at Mercato Centrale, which is attached to Milano Centrale railway station. They also have good "Maritozzi".
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In Florence, I liked Cafe Gilli, which is an existence proof that even fancy cafes ("since 1733") adhere to standard Italian espresso pricing.
Spain ☕︎
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In Barcelona, Nomad Roasters seem to dominate the coffee scene. I unfortunately could not visit one of their own cafes, but have heard a positive report (thanks, Shiori!). I did get to visit CafeCosmo (which uses Nomad beans) which is also an art gallery, and I saw people working there as well. They have another location, CafeCometa, which I have not visited.
Also, Cloudstreet in the Eixample is a nice little pastry shop.
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In Madrid, Martin Tostador, near Atocha Station and also near Embajadores, is good.
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In Sevilla, Virgen Coffee, a tiny cafe near the "Setas de Sevilla" sculpture, and Ofelia Bakery are both good.
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In Córdoba, Martina Cakes. As the name suggests, they have a selection of cakes in addition to coffee.
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Scouting report: Pratiksha reports that Fresh Roasted Coffee in Barcelona is good.
Pratiksha also recommends:
Chicago ☕︎
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Intelligentsia is from Chicago and has multiple locations there, including in the Loop, in addition to a few others around the US (including the aforementioned one at JFK airport).
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Metric is a good option further west.
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Sparrow is a good option in Naperville.
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Scouting report: Gavin recommends Dark Matter Coffee.
Portland ☕︎
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Stumptown is probably the most famous Portland coffee, with locations in not only Portland, but also New York, LA, and Kyoto.
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Oblique is located in an old Victorian warehouse, in accordance with the Portland aesthetic.
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Scouting report: Shoumik and Paroma recommend Case Study Coffee.
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Forage is a good option in Medford, OR.
Austin ☕︎
Philadelphia ☕︎
Zürich☕︎
Scouting report from our Zürich coffee correspondents, Gavin and Albert:
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Collective Bakery and Mame, which are both affiliated with former world barista champions.
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Miró, a roaster with a cafe and roving coffee carts.
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Near ETH, Cafe Leonhardstreppe. Near Google (and Zürich HBF), Bean Bank gets an honorable mention from Gavin, but a demerit for being too snobby.
Bonus scouting report from Gavin for other European cities:
Vancouver ☕︎
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Scouting report: Rachee and Sagar recommend Medina Cafe.
Salt Lake City☕︎
Montreal ☕︎
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My Little Cup is inside the McGill metro station (where else in North America will you find this nice a cafe inside a metro station??).
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Crew Collective is a cafe located within an old bank building, which also contains a coworking space.
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Scouting report: In Quebec City, Deepti recommends Cafe Olive.
India ☕︎
Note: Indians mostly drink filter coffee. You can get this basically anywhere, so this list focuses on fancier and more westernized (i.e., cappuccino) places.
Chennai
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Scouting report: Shriram recommends Beachville Coffee in Mylapore.
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Backyard in Gandhi Nagar is a co-working space which includes unlimited filter coffee and chai.
Mumbai
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KC Roasters in Bandra is the best cappuccino I have had in Mumbai.
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Blue Tokai is a good default option, with cafes in a few cities around India. There are six Mumbai locations.
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In Kala Ghoda, Kala Ghoda Cafe has good lunch options as well as coffee.
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In Churchgate, where there used to be the long-running Tea Centre, there is now Queen's Deck (neither has a website I can link to). I have visited the Queen's Deck incarnation and can say the tea is good (especially the Assam selections), but I am told it's not quite as good as the old version, especially in the food department. I didn't like the pre-mixed chai; get a black tea and add the milk yourself.
Toronto ☕︎
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Dineen Coffee Co and Bulldog Coffee are good options in downtown Toronto. Bulldog offers a (presumably Instagram-optimized) "rainbow latte", which I didn't bother with.
Budapest ☕︎
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Scouting report: Shriram recommends Cafe Gerbaud and Central Cafe.
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Arioso is colocated with an interior decorations store and flower shop. There's also a Langos place right around the corner.
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Fekete has a great interior courtyard to sit in, and they serve brunch.