Visiting old coffee houses and cafes in the US is a fascinating way to see how much the coffee culture has progressed and how the trends have changed.
I found US pioneers of coffee-making in this article, so you have a to-do list for your next vacation.
But first, let’s address the elephant in the room.
By Jozo Salmanić – Croatian barista with 15 years of experience.
What Was The First Coffee Shop In America?
Over the years, many cafes claimed they were the first to serve coffee in the US of A.
However, they always fail to deliver evidence for that claim. And no, grandpa’s stories are not valid evidence.
Robert Thurston, author of the book Coffee: From Bean to Barista, claims that the London Coffee House in Boston was the first to serve coffee in 1669.
Other sources claim it was in 1676. No consensus here.
Now let’s take a trip to the oldest cafes and coffee shops.
Caffe Reggio – Oldest Coffee Shop In America That Still Works
Location: New York, New York (in a singing voice)
Website: https://www.caffereggio.com/
Founded in: 1927.
If you find yourself in Greenwich Village, your nostrils will sense the smell of old-school Italian espresso.
Follow your nose, and you will see Caffe Reggio, a NY cafe that is almost 100 years old.
You can sit on sidewalk tables and enjoy the grand mess of Greenwich Village. But my advice is to come inside and enjoy the trip through time.
More than 80 pieces of art await your admiration, and as a bonus, a majestic renaissance painting from one of Carravagio’s students.
Caffe Reggio boasts itself as the first coffee house in the USA to serve Italian cappuccino.
You can feast your eyes on the La Pavoni coffee machine that made Caffe Reggio famous. This commercial coffee machine was constructed in 1902. It is still working but now serves as an exhibit.
Fun fact: Domenico Parisi, the original owner, spent his entire life savings ($1000) on the coffee machine from Italy. In today’s money, around $35K!
What To Do After
After you finish your espresso and a hefty piece of chocolate cake, it’s time for a walk.
Washington Square Park is just 400 feet away.
Walk the endless lanes, visit events and exhibitions, or lie in the grass and stare into the sky.
Caffé Vittoria – The First Italian Cafe In Boston
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Webpage: https://www.caffevittoria.com/
Founded in: 1929.
Espresso culture came to America with ships that transported Italian workers to the land of the free. No wonder the Caffe Vittoria opened its doors in the North End, where most of Boston’s Italians lived.
This place served and still serves Italian-style coffee and sweets.
So, if you want a latte macchiato and a tiramisu, you come here, capisce?
The interior is a combination of a fully-working cafe and a history trip. Walls are full of posters and pictures, and retro espresso machines are everywhere you look.
Caffe Vittoria is so famous that they had to expand the original premises.
They decorated the added space similarly, so you won’t notice the difference.
Fun fact: Caffé Vittoria has a porcelain espresso machine in a transparent casing. Only two of these machines exist worldwide – the second is in Europe.
What To Do After
If you enjoy a good cigar after your meal, go to the cafe’s basement, where you will find a cigar bar and the last smoking lounge in the city, Stanza dei Sigari.
You can also visit The Paul Revere House and pay your respect to this patriot.
Café du Monde – Beignet, Anyone?
Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
Website: https://shop.cafedumonde.com/
Founded in: 1862.
Not all US coffee history is about Italians. Café du Monde is (still) located in the French Quarter, Louisiana, and has the same traditional menu.
You don’t change the winning strategy.
Technically, it’s a cafe stand, not a cafe.
But being more than 160 years old, it deserves a place on this list.
I will explain the differences between premises further in the article.
Besides strong black coffee, you can order a coffee-chicory mix, milk, chocolate milk, or coffee with milk… the basics, which is part of the charm of this place.
The only food you can eat here is beignets, French-style doughnuts shaped in a square. They have no standard hole in the middle and come in a 3-piece package.
But why chicory?
During the Civil War, coffee was scarce, so people started adding roasted and ground chicory root to coffee grounds.
The chicory softens the edges of bitter dark-roast coffee and gives chocolate notes to cafe au lait.
What To Do After
After a strong coffee and a portion of beignets, take a walk to Audubon Nature Institute.
You can see hundreds of species there, learn about the Mississippi river, and adopt an animal to help the work of Audubon Institute.
The White Horse Tavern – Oldest Cafe In America
Location: Newport, Rhode Island
Website: https://whitehorsenewport.com/
Founded in: 1673.
The list wouldn’t be complete without this gem.
The White Horse works for 350 years, and although not continually, it’s still admirable.
This tavern is a National Historic Landmark, but it has gone a long way from serving townsfolk and pirates. Now it’s a place for fine dining, and usually, you need to reserve a table.
Dining areas are on the first and the second floor, and there is also a bar with barstools and only three tables. The food is for the guests with deeper pockets, but the quality is supreme.
If you visit The White Horse in colder months, you will enjoy the warmth and atmosphere that their famous overgrown fireplaces create. You must try beef Wellington, and Wild Mushroom Farro is to die for.
What To Do After
Take a walk by the ocean to clear your thoughts.
Newport cliff walk offers a 3.5 mile walking route. Admire the view, hear the song of the waves, and breathe the clear and salty ocean air.
Ye Coffee House – The Oldest Coffee Shop In Philadelphia
The oldest coffee shop in Philly was opened somewhere between 1700 and 1703. It was called Ye Coffee House, and also served as a post office.
Wait, what?
To understand better, we must go back 300-ish years ago. Coffee isn’t that popular in the USA, and business premises were always expensive. That’s why many coffeehouses were at the same time diners, grocery shops, inns, and even post offices or banks.
As the popularity of coffee varied, coffee houses were opened, closed, and became inns or stores. Nobody bothered to write the exact dates of opening, closing, or tearing the building down. That’s why some parts of coffee history are still in a fog.
Fun fact: Ye Coffee House had a surface of around 720 square feet. It’s uncertain when it was closed, but it operated for 40 years, at least.
And now, on to some really interesting info.
What’s The Difference Between A Coffee Shop And A Cafe?
Hospitality terms sometimes can sound misleading. What’s a tavern?
Can a restaurant also be a cafe?
Let’s shed some light.
What Is A Coffee Shop?
A historical coffee shop was a place that sold brewed coffee and served as a center of social life. You could see artists, noblemen, or regular people there, just talking, sharing news, or playing cards.
Nowadays, the coffee shop is the premise that focuses on brewing and selling coffee. Besides different brewing methods, coffee shops usually offer tea, soft drinks, and snacks. However, the food choice is often limited.
Thus, a coffee shop cannot be considered a restaurant.
What Is A Cafe?
The term Café comes from French, and it means coffee. Some cafes serve only coffee, but those are rare. Other ones have rich food menus and can also be considered restaurants or bars.
The word Cafe is usually not translated because it does wonders for marketing. A cafe latte sounds much better than coffee with milk, and Cafe du Monde is better than “People’s Coffee shop” (literal meaning).
Cafes differ a lot around the world.
US, European, or Asian cafes are almost nothing alike.
What Is A Bar?
In the USA, a bar is a business premise that focuses on selling alcohol.
Bars may or may not have coffee or food on the menu. Even if they have it, the choice is usually limited.
Italian bars are different, as they offer coffee drinks, alcohol, and usually some pastry.
In Italian bars, it’s not unusual to see whole families enjoying coffee together.
What Is A Tavern?
In medieval times, taverns were the place to go.
Do you want to drink ale, eat a simple dish, gamble your hard-earned money, have a fistfight with your neighbor, or seek ladies of the night?
You go to the tavern.
Nowadays, a tavern is best described as an upscale bar.
More different drinks, better choices of better food, and higher prices. The tavern can also be considered a restaurant or a cafe, and The White Horse Tavern is the perfect example.
What Is An Inn?
Inns were places for travelers and merchants to spend the night. Kinda like taverns, but the food was better, and you could get room to rest. They usually had stables to accommodate your horses.
Nowadays, they have evolved into hotels. No stables anywhere near.
If your hotel is far from the city center and offers limited service or content, you can call it an inn.
Let’s end this guide with the place that started it all.
The Story About The First Coffee Shop In The World
The first coffee shop in history was opened around 1475 in Constantinople (now Istanbul).
The shop was named Kiva Han, from the Turkish word “kahvehane” – coffee house.
There is no firm evidence that Kiva Han was the first coffee house.
It became a widespread story people like to believe, just like the legend of shepherd Kaldi and dancing goats.
However, it did exist.
What Kind Of Coffee Was Served In Kiva Han?
Of course, it was coffee made in an ibrik, also known as Turkish coffee. You would put the finely ground coffee in the copper vessel, add cold water, and slowly boil the coffee.
The result was a thick, bitter concoction, so Turks added sugar, cardamom, and cinnamon to coffee.
It will take around 150 more years for coffee to become popular in Europe and then the rest of the world.
But more about that in another article one day.
3 Additional Links For Coffee History Lovers
https://southstreetseaportmuseum.org/coffee-houses-of-old-new-york/ – Find out how NY accepted the coffee revolution.
https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/designing-for-typologies/a3742-20-oldest-coffee-houses-around-the-world/ – Abigail R. Kurian shows us the oldest coffee houses around the world.
https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1998/08/27/a-tip-on-the-origin-of-the-word-tip/ – Charles Perry talks about the origin of the word “tip.”
Photo by Jessica.
