As a San Francisco-based flight attendant, I’ve become an expert on the best spots to grab a coffee at SFO. I’ve tried all the coffee spots in our airport in order to share with you, fine reader, the best local cups of joe available at SFO.
I consider caffeine to basically be a part of my job description, so I definitely know how to stretch a dollar, and where you can buy the best, local coffees at our airport.
SFO cafes only use reusable, compostable, and recyclable to-go cups as part of the airport’s plastic-free policy.
Choosing where to get your airport caffeine fix can be risky business. Local airport prices are 15% higher than street prices, and travelers may not be able to guarantee whether they’ll like drinks from cafes they're not familiar with. It’s all too easy to shell out $10 to end up with a cup of disappointment.
Our local airport boasts a surprising amount of businesses local to the Bay Area, which means you’ll be able to find options you love from home. Here are the airport cafes that I love to visit on my way to boarding a plane.
Equator Coffees
(Terminal 1 Food Hall, daily from 4:30am-10pm)
Equator Coffees was founded in 1995 with headquarters just 27 miles north of SFO in San Rafael, CA. The California coffee chain is women-founded and also the first roaster with a B Corp certification in the state. Outside of the airport, I love their memorable Round House location, which is parked right next to epic views of the Golden Gate Bridge. Follow their red tiger logo all the way to Terminal 1 for your coffee needs day and night, or grab a coffee along with a sandwich at Terminal 3’s Klein’s Deli, my favorite place to eat before a flight.
(PS - Equator just reinforced their support for the queer community after Philz Coffee decided to remove their pride flags. Even more reason to support this California brand!)
Bacon Bacon
(Terminal 3 Food Court, daily from 04:30am to 10:30pm)
If you wouldn’t go to a hamburger place for coffee, this Terminal 3 restaurant may make you change your mind. Bacon Bacon has a downtown cafe near the panhandle, a food truck, an airport hamburger and shake stop sandwiched in the Terminal 3 Food Hall. I don't know why their salted caramel latte is so good, but their coffee reinforces my belief that anything with bacon is better. If you’re not in the mood for their bean juice, try their burgers, beers, breakfasts, or burritos. Bacon Bacon also caters to gluten-free and vegetarian travelers.
Cafe X (several locations, 24 hours)
The small Cafe X booths may be easy to miss, but the crowds of passengers surrounding and filming the booths will not be. Cafe X, branded as “world’s okayest robot barista”, was founded in San Francisco. Cafe X serves Onyx Coffee beans, also used by The Coffee Movement. Obviously, a small booth with a robot pales in comparison to what we love about a coffee shop experience. That’s why Cafe X is largely limited to airports or lobbies for a grab-and-go experience. You can try unique coffee and matcha concoctions 24/7 in Terminal 1, Terminal 3, and at Terminal 3’s baggage claim.
Photo credit: roastingplant.com
Roasting Plant Coffee (Terminal A, pre-security, 7am-11pm)
I’ve eyed Roasting Plant Coffee several times while exiting security near the SFO BART station. Was the mass of glass tubes really weird, or was I just jet-lagged?
After some research, I found out that Roasting Plant Coffee uses a unique machine called the Javabot, which jettisons beans through its tubes to create a custom cup of coffee in under sixty seconds. That makes sense for a company aiming to provide the freshest cup of coffee possible. Roasting Plant roasts their beans in-house and allows clients to choose up to four beans for their coffee of choice. You can try them in their original NYC location, on the London Bridge, or simply near security in Terminal A at SFO.
Peets (Terminal 2 6am-1pm, Terminal 3 4:30am-10pm)
I love how SFO promotes a global coffee chain that has its roots in the Bay Area in lieu of yet another Starbucks or Dunkin. Peets was founded in Berkeley in 1966 by Alfred Peet, who is from the little village I grew up in (it’s a small world, isn’t it?). Born from Peets’ belief that Americans drink “inferior coffee”, the coffee chain aims to minimize the distance from roasting the beans to drinking them. As of yet, Peets has over 380 coffee shops in the United States alone, with nearly 70% located in our home state. I like Peet’s because it provides travelers with the opportunity to buy the same drink anywhere from walking around their neighborhood to jetsetting around the world.
I’ve visited them in my college library in Atlanta, in the Philadelphia airport as a new-hire flight attendant, and now at my new base in San Francisco. Try visiting them yourself near gate D15 or E3 today.
Hopefully, these airport cafes will give you the caffeine kick you need before boarding. May both your flights and coffee roasts be smooth wherever your travels take you.
