The Five Best Places in St. Louis to Have a Cup of Coffee

Jennifer Silverberg

Coffee mugs at Half & Half in Clayton

​Today is National Coffee Day. Of course, at Gut Check International Headquarters, every day is coffee day, but if we must dedicate this one gorgeous September Thursday to the beverage that fuels our work, then so be it.

Already this week, we honored Kaldi's Coffee Roasting Company in the Riverfront Times Best of St. Louis 2011 as having the Best Coffee. Today, we celebrate the five best places in St. Louis to have a cup of coffee. Note that this doesn't necessarily mean the coffee itself is outstanding -- though in all but one case, it is. In fact, in three of the five spots on our list, the coffee is Kaldi's.

5. The Courtesy Diner (3155 South Kingshighway; 314-776-9059)

OK, yeah, so, the coffee at this south-city institution has all the subtlety of enriched uranium, and its main flavor profile is "hot," but the people watching more than makes up for it. Bored? Insomniac? Need inspiration for your novel? Get a seat at the counter after the bars close but before the sun rises, and prepare to be amazed.

4. Kaldi's Coffeehouse (187 Carondelet Plaza, Clayton; 314-726-2900)

How do you differentiate between the various locations of Kaldi's? Isn't the Best Coffee always the Best Coffee? Well, the location in downtown Clayton has something the others don't -- the Clover, an expensive device that brews one cup of coffee at a time. The resulting brew has such a depth of flavor and richness of body that you won't mind paying a little more for your cup. This Kaldi's would rank even higher if the space wasn't so charmless.