Modern Coffee

Modern Coffee sits inside the Leamington Building on 19th Street in downtown Oakland. Kristen and Martina have run the place since 2009, women owned and women operated, and the room reflects it: small, warm, and largely free of the production theater that defines a lot of Bay Area coffee. The drink list runs straightforward espresso alongside a few signatures the regulars know by heart, including a masala chai and a burnt cinnamon latte that have outlasted trends. Mornings bring downtown Oakland workers, county and federal staff from the buildings nearby, and regulars who walked in once a decade ago and never stopped. The pace is quick but never hurried. Order the burnt cinnamon latte if you want the drink Modern regulars order without thinking. Order a straight cappuccino if you came in for an honest cup before the rest of downtown wakes up.