Is Somerville part of Boston?

No. Somerville is a separate city north of Cambridge and northwest of Boston, a town since 1842 and a city since 1872. With 81,045 people on 4.1 square miles it is the most densely populated municipality in New England. The Red Line reaches Davis Square, and the Green Line reaches Union Square and Ball Square.

When did Diesel Cafe in Davis Square, Somerville, open?

Jennifer Park and Tucker Lewis opened Diesel Cafe on Elm Street in Davis Square in 1999. It brews Intelligentsia coffee and Black Cat espresso, serves a Vietnamese coffee and a Spanish latte made with condensed milk, and its bread comes from its sister bakery, Forge Baking Company. It opens daily 07:00–19:00.

Where can you get Vietnamese coffee in Somerville?

Pound House at 703 Broadway in Ball Square opened in May 2025 and brews Robusta from a farm in Vietnam in a gravity press, with bánh mì on the menu. Diesel Cafe in Davis Square also lists a Vietnamese coffee with sweetened condensed milk.

Cafés in Somerville: Union & Davis Squares, Boston

Somerville is its own city, north of Cambridge and northwest of Boston: a town from 1842, a city from 1872, with 81,045 people on 4.1 square miles, the densest municipality in New England.¹ Its cafés gather in squares, chiefly Davis Square in the northwest and Union Square in the southeast.

Davis Square, named for the grain dealer Person Davis and made an official square in 1883, is where six streets including Holland Street, Elm Street, Highland Avenue and College Avenue meet; the Somerville Theatre has shown films there since 1914, and Tufts University borders the neighborhood.²

Local tip: Taking the Green Line? Get off at Ball Square for Pound House and True Grounds on Broadway, or at Union Square for Bloc on Bow Street, then walk to Davis Square for Diesel.

At a glance

32Cafés listed

17With opening hours

06:00Earliest opening

22:00Latest closing

Opens earliest: Brianna's Café, from 06:00 (Daily 06:00–15:00).

Closes latest: Mr. Crêpe, until 22:00 (Mon–Fri 07:00–22:00 · Sat 08:00–22:00 · Sun 08:00–21:00).

Most listed streets: Broadway (6), Highland Avenue (2), Medford Street (2).

Most common features: wi-fi (22%), vegetarian options (22%), card payment (19%).

Getting to Somerville’s squares

Davis station on the Red Line opened in December 1984.² The Green Line Extension, completed in 2022, added five stations in Somerville: Union Square opened on March 21, 2022, and Ball Square, at Broadway and Boston Avenue, on December 12, 2022.¹³⁴ The Somerville Community Path, built on an old Boston and Maine rail line, leads walkers and cyclists out of Davis Square.²

Diesel Cafe and Davis Square

Jennifer Park and Tucker Lewis, then 21 and 29, opened Diesel Cafe in a large storefront on Elm Street in 1999; by 2015 the business had two more Somerville outlets and 90 staff.⁵ Diesel brews Intelligentsia coffee and Black Cat espresso, lists a Vietnamese coffee and a Spanish latte with condensed milk, and gets its bread from its sister Forge Baking Company.⁶ It opens daily 07:00–19:00 and has Wi-Fi.

Nine Bar Espresso at 11 Holland Street was a walk-up window with no indoor seating in 2023, when a medium iced vanilla latte with oat milk cost US$6.75 and a matcha latte with oat milk US$5.25.⁷ Mr. Crêpe on Davis Square stays open until 22:00 most nights, and Revival Cafe + Kitchen on Elm Street opens daily at 07:30.

Union Square and Bow Street

Union Square station sits on Prospect Street, about 900 feet south of the square’s main intersection.³ The square includes Prospect Hill, where the Continental Union Flag likely first flew on January 1, 1776.¹ Bloc, at 11 Bow Street, has a massive bank vault at the back of its coffee bar.⁸ It opens daily 07:00–18:00 and has step-free access.

Forge Baking Company on Somerville Avenue opens daily 07:00–19:00 with Wi-Fi. Brianna’s Café on Medford Street opens at 06:00 every day.

Ball Square and Highland Avenue

Pound House opened at 703 Broadway in Ball Square in May 2025, a Vietnamese coffee shop brewing Robusta from a farm in Vietnam in a gravity press, with bánh mì, the Vietnamese baguette sandwich, on the menu.⁹ It opens daily 08:00–15:00. True Grounds, a few doors along Broadway, has outdoor seating.

Highland Avenue, running east from Davis Square, has 3 Little Figs, open daily 08:00–14:00 with Wi-Fi, and New Leaf Espresso, which opens at 07:30 on weekdays. Zaruma Gold on Woodbine Street, off Highland Avenue, opens daily 08:00–17:00 with Wi-Fi and outdoor tables.

Cafés in Somerville: Union & Davis Squares

At a glance

3 Little Figs

Bloc

Brianna's Café

Café Rustica

Diesel Cafe

Forge Baking Company

Komugi Bakery & Cafe

Kuya Jay's Ube Kafé

Mr. Crêpe

New Leaf Espresso

Nostalgia Vintage Cafe

Pound House

Revival Cafe + Kitchen

The Buzzin' Bean

Zaruma Gold

Armory Cafe

Shirley

Ball Square Cafe

Blue Shirt Cafe

Cafe Belo

Fortissimo Coffeehouse

iYo Cafe

Juliet

Knight Moves Cafe Somerville

Nine Bar Espresso

Ola Café

Somerville Cafe e Pastelaria

Style Cafe

The Biscuit

True Grounds

Wicked Cafe

Yego Coffee

Coffee chains in Somerville: Union & Davis Squares

Starbucks

Caffè Nero

Tatte Bakery & Cafe

Peet's Coffee

Getting to Somerville’s squares

Diesel Cafe and Davis Square

Union Square and Bow Street

Ball Square and Highland Avenue

Sources

More of Boston

North End

Downtown & Chinatown

Back Bay

South End

Kendall Square & East Cambridge

Central & Inman Squares, Cambridge

Harvard & Porter Squares, Cambridge

Somerville: Union & Davis Squares cafés: questions

Is Somerville part of Boston?

When did Diesel Cafe in Davis Square, Somerville, open?

Where can you get Vietnamese coffee in Somerville?

Own a café in Somerville: Union & Davis Squares?