When I’m in a new city for business, I’m always at odds with figuring out where to go set up for a few hours between meetings to get work done. Sometimes you need a place for taking a video/audio call, and other times you need a place to sit down and recharge both mentally and electrically.
Other Cities:
Cafes to Work At — San Francisco, CA
If you have suggestions, additions, or comments please feel free to reach out. I will add here that I am only going to list places that I have been to and personally validated
Boulder Coffee
100 Alexander St (South Wedge)
Hours: 7AM — 10PM (Sat,Sun open at 8AM)
Pros: Good for laptop work, outdoor area for calls
Wifi: Free, low speed (~4 mbps), Secured but need to ask for password
Coffee: Lots of roasts to choose from, but don’t offer pour over — only brew
Outlets: Outlets with power strips scattered about the location
Bathroom: Clean, but small so if you need to give into one of the more notorious effects of coffee you might need to contort yourself a bit.
Seating: Many small round tables, a few large ones, and a couple of couch areas. Most wall proximate spaces have outlet access, but floor space tables do not
Ugly Duck
89 Charlotte St
Hours: 7AM— 5PM (Sat,Sun 8AM — 5PM)
Pros: Great coffee, terrific atmosphere, has Kombucha and unique drinks
Wifi: None, but you can buy a $5 all-day wifi pass from Spectrum (~45 mbps)
Coffee: Great pour over, coffee from gimmie coffee so the roast isn’t as fresh but good technique. Also have a single origin for espresso drinks, and unique coffee drinks (mixology for coffee)
Bathroom: not used recently
Seating: Space is smaller, but great outlet access at all tables and seats — longer community tables that make efficient use of the space
Spot Coffee
200 East Ave, Rochester
Hours: 7AM — 10PM
Pros: Huge space with a variety of seating, consistent hours
Wifi: Free Wifi (haven’t used it recently to update the speed / security)
Coffee: Selection of brew and espresso, not great but consistent — also have other drinks like shakes and smoothies and food. This is around the corner from Ugly Duck so a good spot to go when they close.
Bathroom: not used recently
Seating: Huge space with every kind of seating imaginable. Good for groups, or private individual work. In a city like Rochester in the Winter this is a good choice for a place to take conference calls / meetings indoors.
TODO: Ediths
RIT Javas
90 Lomb Memorial Drive (RIT Campus)
Hours: 8:30AM — 4PM
Pros: Great atmosphere, RIT free wifi is super fast (600+ mbps)
Wifi: Free wifi all across RIT as a guest on their network, crazy fast (600+ mbps)
Coffee: It’s a campus cafe, so while some of the drinks are pretty creative and overall there’s nothing to complain about.
Bathroom: Clean, small but big enough to do what you gotta do
Seating: Space is really terrific, lots of 4 tops, long community tables, smaller chairs and even couch/benches. Lighting and ambiance are great.
TODO: [RIT] Barnes and Noble Starbucks
