Coffee Shops in New Orleans Worth the Trip

New Orleans doesn’t do coffee quietly. It’s dark and often blended with chicory, poured half and half with hot milk, and served next to a plate of beignets buried in powdered sugar. That ritual is a big reason coffee lovers from across the US and Canada put the city on their list, right alongside jazz and gumbo. Coffee has been part of life here since the city was founded by the French in 1718, and the river kept the beans coming.

The first recorded coffee shipment, 1,438 bags, landed in 1802. By the 1840s, coffee had helped turn New Orleans into the second-largest port in the country. The chicory habit came later, during the Civil War, when blockades choked off supply. The port still matters today: in the first seven months of 2024, it handled nearly 22% of the green coffee imported into the US. The coffee shops in New Orleans now range from beignet stands more than 160 years old to roasters pulling single-origin espresso, and these are the ones worth going out of your way for.

What Makes New Orleans Coffee Different

Order a coffee here and you’ll notice the difference right away. It’s darker and richer, and there’s a good chance it has chicory in it. A few things shaped that cup.

The Chicory Story

• Why it started: During the Civil War, Union naval blockades cut off the port. To make their coffee last, locals mixed in roasted chicory root.
• The French connection: The French had already done the same thing during their own civil war, when coffee was scarce. They found chicory added body and flavor.
• Another theory: Not everyone buys the Civil War story. Bobby Winston, co-owner of French Truck Coffee, credits Acadians who migrated from Canada down to New Orleans.
• What it tastes like: Chicory gives coffee a roasted, almost chocolatey depth. It’s especially good with milk.

Café au Lait, the New Orleans Way

• Scalded, not steamed: The local version uses milk heated to just below boiling instead of steamed milk.
• Half and half: At Café du Monde, it’s an even mix of coffee and whole milk.
• The pairing: Café au lait comes with beignets. The powdered sugar balances the slight bitterness of the chicory.

A City Built on a Coffee Port

• Early days: Shipments came first from Cuba and the Caribbean, then from Central and South America.
• The boom years: By 1857, more than 530,000 bags a year were arriving in the city.
• Today: The port counts 14 coffee warehouses with over 5.5 million square feet of storage, plus six roasting facilities within 20 miles.

The Vietnamese Coffee Connection

• How it arrived: Since 1975, New Orleans East has become home to tens of thousands of Vietnamese refugees, and they brought their coffee culture with them.
• The chicory twist: Families brewed Café du Monde’s coffee-and-chicory blend for their iced coffee, and it stuck. The result is strong, sweet with condensed milk, and slightly bitter from the chicory.
• Shared roots: Locals often point to the French heritage both cultures share as the reason the two styles fit together so well.

The Classics: Coffee and Beignets

If you only have one morning in the city, start here. These two stands have been feeding the city café au lait and beignets since the 1800s.

Café du Monde (French Market)

Café du Monde served its first coffee in 1862, in the middle of the Civil War. Back then it really was just a coffee stand. The Fernandez family bought it in 1942 and still runs it today. The menu is barely longer than it was back then: coffee and chicory, beignets, and not much else.

• Where: 800 Decatur St, in the French Market near Jackson Square
• What to order: Café au lait, hot or iced, and an order of beignets
• Hours: 7:15 AM–11 PM Sunday through Thursday, and until midnight on Friday and Saturday
• Good to know: There are nine stands around the metro area, including City Park and the airport. If the French Market line looks long, City Park is a calmer option.

Morning Call (Mid-City)

Morning Call opened in the French Market in 1870 and was Café du Monde’s rival for over a century. It moved out in 1974 and later ran shops in Metairie and City Park. In 2018 it lost the City Park lease to Café du Monde in a public bid. It reopened in March 2021 at Canal Boulevard and City Park Avenue, with the old arch and marble counters brought along.

• Where: 5101 Canal Blvd, at City Park Avenue
• What to order: Café au lait and sourdough beignets
• Good to know: The coffee is still made with the French-drip method. The beignets usually come with shakers, so you sugar them yourself.

Specialty Coffee Shops Worth the Detour

New Orleans was slow to pick up specialty coffee, but it has caught up. These shops roast their own beans, pull careful espresso, or simply make the kind of drink you’ll still be thinking about on the flight home.

French Truck Coffee

French Truck started with founder Geoffrey Meeker roasting on a five-pound roaster in his laundry room. The first shop opened on Magazine Street in November 2014. The name comes from the little Citroën trucks the company once used to deliver coffee around town.

• Where: The original shop at 1200 Magazine St, plus a French Quarter café at 217 Chartres St and more around the city
• What to order: The New Orleans iced coffee, a sweet, chicory-laced au lait over chipped ice
• Good to know: Their coffee-and-chicory blend was developed with Commander’s Palace. Look for the bright yellow and blue.

Congregation Coffee Roasters

Congregation takes its name from the word for a group of alligators. It was founded in 2015, and Food & Wine named it Louisiana’s best coffee roaster in 2018. It closed in 2023, then came back under new owner Patrick Brennan of the Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group.

• Where: 240 Pelican Ave in Algiers Point, and 900 Jefferson Ave Uptown in a historic former pharmacy
• What to order: The iced horchata latte or the honey tahini latte
• Good to know: The Algiers Point café is a short ferry ride across the river, which makes it worth the trip in the most literal sense. Their Tail Walk blend is their take on coffee and chicory.

Cherry Coffee Roasters

Cherry is owned and run by women. Founder Lauren Fink started it as a pop-up inside Stein’s Market and Deli before opening the Uptown café in 2016. It sits in a former firehouse, with exposed brick and rotating local art.

• Where: 4877 Laurel St, Uptown
• What to order: A coffee flight if you can’t pick just one, or the house chai latte
• Good to know: They roast their own beans and source ingredients from local vendors like Mauthe Family Dairy.

Mojo Coffee House

Mojo has been around since 2006 and roasts its own beans. The coffee is excellent, but the big, airy room and friendly baristas are what turn visitors into regulars.

• Where: 1500 Magazine St, Lower Garden District
• What to order: A flat white
• Good to know: It opens early and closes late, and it’s a favorite spot for laptop work. Non-coffee drinkers can pick from teas, tea lattes and lemonades.

Mammoth Espresso

Former barista Jonathan Riethmaier opened Mammoth in 2016, and the place is built around getting espresso exactly right.

• Where: 821 Baronne St, Warehouse District
• What to order: One of the signature drinks, like the Metairie Mule, the cardamom latte or the espresso tonic
• Good to know: There’s also a tea menu and a few New Orleans desserts.

HiVOLT Coffee

HiVOLT mixes Art Deco style with a menu that goes well beyond coffee.

• Where: 1829 Sophie Wright Pl, Lower Garden District
• What to order: The honey cayenne latte, which is sweet and spicy at the same time
• Good to know: Look for the Japanese Oji drip tower on the counter. Soy, oat, almond and macadamia milk are available for a small upcharge.

Fourth Wall

Fourth Wall is a coffee shop by day and an event space by night. It’s set inside the Beaubourg Theatre building, which dates to the 1840s.

• Where: 614 Gravier St, Central Business District
• What to order: The sea salt maple vanilla latte or the chili mocha, with a croissant
• Good to know: The plant-filled courtyard is one of the best places downtown to sit with a coffee. Local art lines the walls, and much of it is for sale.

Backatown Coffee Parlour

This Black-owned coffee shop sits in the old Storyville district, between the French Quarter and Tremé. It has a vaulted room, jazz playing and plenty of seats inside and out.

• Where: 301 Basin St
• What to order: A sweet potato scone or the crawfish quiche with your coffee
• Good to know: It’s a block from St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, so it pairs well with a cemetery tour.

District Donuts Sliders Brew

District is a donut shop that also takes coffee seriously. It roasts its own beans under the name Cool Kids Coffee Roasters.

• Where: 2209 Magazine St, Lower Garden District
• What to order: A cappuccino and a donut in the morning, or sliders in the afternoon
• Good to know: The shop donates $1 from every bag of beans it sells to local nonprofits.

Pond Coffee

Pond was opened by two baristas in 2020 as a pop-up inside Small Mart, a Bywater deli. Ask local baristas where they get their coffee and this name comes up a lot.

• Where: Inside Small Mart, 2700 Chartres St, Bywater
• What to order: An iced lavender latte
• Good to know: Pond brews beans from Louisiana roasters. Grab one of Small Mart’s New York bagels while you’re there.

Vietnamese Iced Coffee Worth the Drive

Some of the best coffee in New Orleans isn’t in a coffee shop at all. Head to New Orleans East and you’ll find the city’s Vietnamese community pouring iced coffee that’s every bit as local as café au lait.

Dong Phuong (New Orleans East)

Dong Phuong was the first Vietnamese restaurant and bakery in New Orleans. People drive across town for its French bread, and its king cakes regularly top “best in the city” lists during Carnival.

• Where: New Orleans East
• What to order: Iced or hot French-drip chicory coffee with condensed milk, after a bánh mì
• Good to know: It’s a drive from the French Quarter, but it’s one of the most New Orleans cups you can get.

A Quick Coffee Crawl by Neighborhood

Neighborhood	Where to Go	What to Order
French Quarter	Café du Monde, French Truck (Chartres St)	Café au lait and beignets
CBD / Warehouse District	Fourth Wall, Mammoth Espresso	Chili mocha, espresso tonic
Lower Garden District	French Truck (Magazine St), Mojo, HiVOLT, District Donuts	New Orleans iced coffee, flat white, honey cayenne latte
Uptown	Cherry Coffee Roasters, Congregation (Jefferson Ave)	Coffee flight, honey tahini latte
Mid-City	Morning Call	Sourdough beignets
Algiers Point	Congregation Coffee Roasters	Iced horchata latte
Storyville / Tremé	Backatown Coffee Parlour	Sweet potato scone
Bywater	Pond Coffee	Iced lavender latte
New Orleans East	Dong Phuong	Vietnamese iced coffee

Last Call for Café au Lait

New Orleans proves that a coffee city can hold onto its traditions and still move forward. You can start the morning with chicory and powdered sugar at a stand that’s been open since the Civil War, then spend the afternoon working your way through single-origin flights, honey cayenne lattes and Vietnamese iced coffee across the river and out east. Plan a route, wear something that can handle a little sugar, and leave room in your bag for a few pounds of beans on the way home.

If you want more coffee information, recipes, and seasonal coffee trends, make sure to check our blog daily and explore the Lovers.coffee marketplace for everything you need to make your moments even sweeter.