Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The best coffee in Pittsburgh
Seven Pittsburgh cafés and roasters across the Strip District and Lawrenceville.
7 entries · verified August 2026
Pittsburgh splits neatly in two. The Strip District holds the highest concentration of established roasters and the more traditional coffee culture, including an Italian espresso bar (La Prima) that predates the entire third wave by decades and a 50-year-old roaster (Allegheny) still selling beans out of the same stretch of Penn Avenue. Lawrenceville is the experimental side: Espresso a Mano runs on reputation alone with no WiFi, and Standing Wave ties its roasting directly to river conservation rather than treating sustainability as a marketing line.
De Fer and Commonplace sit in between the two camps, roasting seriously while still pushing the drinks menu somewhere a purist wouldn't. If dessert matters as much as coffee, Butterwood is the one detour worth making, and the only stop on this list still open at 11pm.
Do the Strip in the morning when the market is open, and Lawrenceville after; the two neighbourhoods are a short drive apart, not a full trip.
De Fer Coffee & Tea
Strip District
Employee-owned café and roastery founded in 2017, roasting well and taking more risks on the drinks menu than most. The espresso tonic (espresso, lemon, honey, tonic water over ice) is the drink reviewers call out unprompted, and the industrial room has both indoor and outdoor seating.
Order: an espresso tonic
2002 Smallman St, Pittsburgh, PA 15222 · Website
La Prima Espresso Company
Strip District
In the Strip since 1988, serving authentic Italian-style espresso. Not third wave and not trying to be: sidewalk seating, an Italian bakery next door, beans roasted in Pittsburgh. Reviewers consistently praise the cappuccino specifically. Go for the standing-at-the-bar version of coffee.
205 21st St, Pittsburgh, PA 15222 · Website
Commonplace Coffee
Roastery, bakery and several cafés across the city, including North Side, Squirrel Hill and Point Breeze. The most infrastructure of any local roaster, and reviewers describe it as consistent across sites; the house-made honey cold brew comes up often.
1004 Washington Blvd, Pittsburgh, PA 15206 · Website
Espresso a Mano
Lawrenceville
The tried-and-true Lawrenceville favourite, open since 2009 and still the first name locals give. Ranked the #1 coffee shop in the city on Foursquare; reviewers praise the latte and the owner's evident passion for the craft, though there's no WiFi and mornings mean a line out the door.
3623 Butler St, Pittsburgh, PA 15201 · Website
Standing Wave Coffee Roasters
Lawrenceville
Roasts everything in-house with a genuine sustainability programme, reinvesting 5% of profits into local river-ecosystem preservation. Family-operated, with a second permanent location on the South Side; reviewers describe the atmosphere as inviting and the brews as exceptional.
4112 Butler St, Pittsburgh, PA 15201 · Website
The Butterwood Bake Consortium
Lawrenceville
Open until 11pm, which makes it the answer to a question the rest of this list cannot help with. A bakery first, with vintage decor and dried florals; the Lavender Creme de Violette and Blood Orange Poppy Tea Cake are the two flavours that come up again and again in reviews.
Order: whatever cake is in the case, plus a coffee
5222 Butler St, Pittsburgh, PA 15201 · Website
Allegheny Coffee
A small local roaster that holds page one against much larger sites, usually a sign the product is doing the work. Roasting in-house for more than 50 years; reviewers praise the aroma and range of the beans, though a few describe the espresso itself as merely average next to the roasted coffee for sale.
2005 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15222 · Website