The best coffee shops in Tacoma
Roasters, neighborhood cafés, and the ones worth crossing town for — sorted by where you already are.
Editorial Illustration- Local roasters
- Valhalla, Bluebeard, Anthem
- Best for laptops
- Downtown
- Best for a slow hour
- Proctor
The short version
- Tacoma roasts its own — Valhalla and Bluebeard are the names locals cite first.
- Downtown is the best district for working out of a café; Proctor is the best for sitting still.
- Hilltop's cafés double as community spaces and are worth the trip on their own.
- Hours shift constantly at independent shops. Check before a special trip.
The roasters
Valhalla Coffee Roasters and Bluebeard Coffee Roasters are the two names that come up most when Tacomans talk about coffee — both roast locally and run their own cafés. Anthem Coffee & Tea is the larger local group with several South Sound locations.
If you want to take something home, buying beans directly from a roaster's own counter is the version of this city's coffee scene that travels.
Downtown and the waterway
Downtown is where you go to actually get work done: Bluebeard sits in the Sixth Avenue–adjacent stretch and Corina Bakery gives you pastry with the coffee downtown. The museum corridor cafés are convenient between institutions but treat them as a break, not a destination.
Hilltop
The Red Elm Cafe has functioned as a neighborhood living room on the hill for years, and Manifesto Coffee sits along the MLK corridor. Alma Mater's café attaches to an arts venue, which changes the crowd depending on what is on that night.
These are community rooms as much as coffee shops. That is the reason to go.
North of downtown: Proctor, Old Town, and Sixth Avenue
Proctor has the concentration of bakery-plus-coffee stops that make a Saturday morning there work. Metronome Coffee sits near the Dome District, and Campfire Coffee brings an outdoors-oriented shop to Old Town. Sixth Avenue is caffeinated at all hours because it has to be.
What we do not print
Hours, prices, and whether a shop has outlets or Wi-Fi today. Independent cafés change all three without notice, and a guide that states them confidently is a guide that is wrong within a month. Check the shop's own listing before you build a morning around it.
Our picks
Roasters to seek out
Valhalla Coffee Roasters
Tacoma
Local roaster with its own cafés.
Bluebeard Coffee Roasters
Tacoma
Small-batch roasting, minimal room.
Anthem Coffee & Tea
South Sound
Larger local group, several locations.
Neighborhood rooms
The Red Elm Cafe
Hilltop
Community café with a long history on the hill.
Manifesto Coffee
Hilltop
On the MLK Jr. Way corridor.
Campfire Coffee
Old Town
Outdoors-oriented shop and roaster.
Coffee with pastry
Corina Bakery
Downtown
Bakery counter downtown.
Metronome Coffee
Dome District
Neighborhood café east of downtown.
Common questions
Does Tacoma have good coffee?
Yes — it has several independent roasters, including Valhalla and Bluebeard, plus neighborhood cafés in Hilltop, Proctor, and along Sixth Avenue.
Where can I work from a café in Tacoma?
Downtown has the highest concentration of cafés set up for sitting a while. Confirm with the individual shop — seating and Wi-Fi policies vary and change.
What is the most famous coffee shop in Tacoma?
There is no single answer, but Valhalla and Bluebeard are the two roasters most consistently named by locals, and The Red Elm Cafe is the best-known community café.
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