Pittsbugh is packed with lovely coffee shops! I have a running list below with notes about my oppinion of the coffee quality (☕), general atmosphere (🌊), work environment (💻 ), and number of wall outlets (🔌 ).

Shadyside

The Coffee Tree Roasters

The local coffee chain The Coffee Tree Roasters has several locations around Pittsburgh. The one on Walnut is among the largest coffee shops in Shadyside in terms of table space. Facing the coffee shop from the outside, you’ll see a large garage door that opens up into a long room with a warehouse feel.

I’m not a huge fan of the coffee here, but the staff is normally friendly. Because of the large table space, this is also a great place to come if you’d like to guarantee having a place to sit for a meeting. Lots of wall outlets too if you need a charge.

Coffee: ☕ ☕
Atmosphere: 🌊 🌊 🌊
Work environment: 💻 💻 💻 💻 💻
Outlets: 🔌 🔌 🔌 🔌
Internet: 🌐 🌐 🌐 🌐 36.98 Mbps up / 123.51 Mbps / down (two visit average)

Caveat: Coffee Tree Roasters has had labor strikes due to poor work conditions for baristas. Take this into consideration, and offer a tip via Venmo, if you can. There isn’t a way to tip directly through their payment system.

Round Table Coffee

Nestled along a lively row of restraints and shops along Ells worth Ave, Round Table Coffee is a great place to visit if you’re planning to get some work done. This coffee shop has an impressively quiet and intense work atmosphere, and you can normally find ~10-15 people huddled over their laptops. There is plenty of table space and outlets to charge your work session.

If you’re looking for a relaxed coffee and a chat with a friend, this might not be the best place. The coffee here is decent, with a few limited pastries. However, the staff is kind and helpful, with some of the most inviting baristas I’ve met in Pittsburgh.

Coffee: ☕ ☕ ☕
Atmosphere: 🌊 🌊
Work environment: 💻 💻 💻 💻 💻
Outlets: 🔌 🔌 🔌 🔌 🔌
Internet: 🌐 🌐 🌐 55.82 Mbps up / 26.70 Mbps down (1 visit average)

East Liberty

Redstart Roasters

Next to the Duolingo headquarters in East Liberty, Redstart Roasters is a bird-themed coffee shop with lots of natural light and a mid-century vibe. Redstart is focused on sustainable sourcing of coffee beans, and only sells beans certified from the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center. There’s also a quirky collection of bird posters covering the walls.

This coffee shop has a great atmosphere, with a large wood table set up for work, and smaller chairs that are good for a chat. The baristas are friendly, and normally chat with different folks visiting the coffee shop. If you’re looking for a strong internet connection, Redstart might not be the place for you — I normally need to connect with a hotspot if I need a video feed or high bandwith. Outlets are also somewhat limited, but there are normally enough to get by if you need a charge.

Coffee: ☕ ☕ ☕ ☕
Atmosphere: 🌊 🌊 🌊 🌊 🌊
Work environment: 💻 💻 💻
Outlets: 🔌 🔌
Internet: 🌐 1.22 Mbps up / 0.40 Mbps down (1 visit average) I also need to hotspot frequently.

Margaux

Margaux in East Liberty is a chic cafe at the corner of Highland and Penn Avenue. It serves as a coffee shop and cafe during the day and transitions to a bar in the evening. The interior has large windows with bannana tree plants scattered throughout the room - art covers the walls, and the place has a spatous cosmopolitin vibe. Though it can be a bit pricy, coffee and food is good, and it is easy to find a place with outlets if you’ll be on your computer. During weekdays there is normally plenty of seating, with a good balance of folks on their computer and having chats with others.

Coffee: ☕ ☕ ☕ ☕
Atmosphere: 🌊 🌊 🌊 🌊 🌊
Work environment: 💻 💻 💻 💻 💻
Outlets: 🔌 🔌 🔌 🔌
Internet: 🌐 🌐 🌐 🌐 [no bandwidth recording yet, but internet is always speedy]