Three coffee shops today, to be exact. New Orleans and coffee.  They’re inextricably linked. We apparently even have a coffee festival every November!  We have a festival for everything.

Tonight I present you with the first of a limited and sporadic series of posts about the coffee shops I frequent.  I don’t frequent them according to hipness, price, or probably even quality. I always get decaf lattes in the winter and decaf iced mochas in the summer, or sometimes tea.  I’m no aficionado. I frequent them according to convenience of location.

So today, as I mention, there were three.  Stop one was Still Perkin’.  On Prytania.  No photos today, but you can see the view out of the window here.  It’s perfect because it’s extremely close to my main tutoring location.  And it has cushiony chairs.  And it’s never completely full.  And it has fantastic natural light.  And great bagels from Laurel Street Bakery. And it’s quiet, so it’s perfect for getting work done.

Stop two was PJ’s near Magazine and Jefferson.  Seemed kind of expensive today, but I needed a free table and CC’s was completely packed.  PJ’s is pleasant with a couch and an old home interior.  It never seems to be completely full.  It has nostalgic connotations because once upon a time years and years ago my sweetheart and I came here every Sunday morning, before we got smarter about our finances.  But it’s very different now and a little too crisply decorated.  And they always seem to have run out of good pastries. And there’s a television on mute with closed captioning playing comedies that I don’t remember the names of.  That’s not very hip.

Plenty of room. Cool interior window suggests that the floor plan is different now. There are mantles and other lovely historic features. The TV? Not so lovely and historic.

Lastly today was CC’s. I had to go back because I’d scheduled a meeting there.  Thankfully I found an open table.  It’s always, always crowded with students, teachers, med school folks, etc. etc.  Lots of laptops.  Lots of intensity.  Kind of dark.  I remember tutoring students in chemistry there last year and it was so dark that I would have to hold my little solar calculator up to the ceiling to get it to work.  I don’t know why I schedule meetings here except that it’s on a corner so it’s easy to provide directions.  I’m not enamored with the decor or the snacks or anything about the place, but I still find myself there along with the rest of the crowd.  Sadly I have no pictures of CC’s either.

Now I’ll throw in one of my more favorite ones, even though I didn’t go there today.  Cafe Rue de la Course on Magazine. On one of the hipper blocks of Magazine.  Great old tables and chairs, green library reading lamps if you’re lucky (I think there are about four left in the whole place) and a feeling that everyone in there is working on their novel or on an interesting entrepreneurial venture.  But really they’re probably just studying or trying to get some work done just like you. Great buttercream cake and sandwiches.

Rue. Just love the feeling of this place. It's always easier to get your work done if you're at Rue. Even sitting on the rickety cane chairs.

Coffee may be in my future tomorrow too.  I have a lot of computer work to get done, and it’s so much easier to do in a coffee shop where naps are not an option.

What kind of coffee shop is your favorite?