When did Caffe Trieste open in North Beach, San Francisco?

Caffe Trieste opened at 601 Vallejo Street in North Beach in 1956, as the first espresso house on the West Coast. Its founder, Giovanni Giotta, came from Italy in 1951 and roasted his own beans, and Francis Ford Coppola wrote much of The Godfather there. It is open daily 07:00–22:00 and takes cash only.

Where can you get bubble tea in San Francisco's Chinatown?

Chinatown has more bubble-tea shops than any other San Francisco neighborhood. Cool Tea Bar at 103 Waverly Place serves daily 11:00–19:00, By Me Boba Tea is in Ross Alley, and Sweetheart Cafe at 909 Grant Avenue and Lady Luck Cafe at 956 Grant Avenue are both on the 900 block. The Central Subway's Chinatown station opened in November 2022.

Cafés in North Beach & Chinatown, San Francisco

Q: Can you buy a coffee drink at Graffeo on Columbus Avenue in San Francisco?

No. Graffeo, at 735 Columbus Avenue in North Beach since 1935, sells beans rather than drinks: a signature blend from Colombia, Costa Rica's Tarrazú and Papua New Guinea, roasted light or dark, plus a decaf. After Walter Haas III bought a majority stake in 2025, the owners began planning some form of coffee service at the roastery.

North Beach took its Italian character from the immigrants who rebuilt it after the 1906 earthquake, and restaurants, cafés and bakeries still line Columbus Avenue and Washington Square.¹ In the 1950s its cafés and bars were centers of the Beat Generation: Lawrence Ferlinghetti founded City Lights Bookstore at Broadway and Columbus, and the columnist Herb Caen coined the word beatnik here.¹

Chinatown, southwest of Columbus Avenue and centered on Grant Avenue, is the oldest Chinatown in North America and one of the largest Chinese enclaves outside Asia.²¹ Its cafés run to bakeries and tea counters, and Chinatown has more bubble-tea shops than any other San Francisco neighborhood.

Local tip: Caffe Trieste and Caffè Greco take cash only, so bring bills; Trieste stays open until 22:00 every night.

At a glance

48Cafés listed

17With opening hours

06:30Earliest opening

23:00Latest closing

Opens earliest: V Cafe, from 06:30 (Daily 06:30–20:30).

Closes latest: Plentea, until 23:00 (Daily 11:00–23:00).

Most listed streets: Columbus Avenue (7), Grant Avenue (7), Kearny Street (5).

Most common features: bubble tea (19%), takeaway (17%), wheelchair access (13%).

Caffe Trieste and the Columbus Avenue cafés

Caffe Trieste opened at 601 Vallejo Street in 1956 as the first espresso house on the West Coast. Giovanni Giotta, who had emigrated from Italy in 1951, took over a small business called Piccola Cafe, renamed it after the city of Trieste and roasted his own beans.³ Francis Ford Coppola wrote much of the screenplay for The Godfather there, and Saturdays have long brought opera singers.³ It is open daily 07:00–22:00 and takes cash only.

On Columbus, Caffè Greco at 423 has outdoor tables and is also cash only, Mario's Bohemian Cigar Store Cafe at 566 serves 11:00–21:00, and Réveille Coffee Co. at 200 has Wi-Fi and opens at 07:00 on weekdays. Caffè Roma, which roasted its own beans, closed its Columbus Avenue café on September 30, 2017.⁴

Graffeo, the roastery on Columbus

Graffeo has roasted coffee at 735 Columbus Avenue since 1935, when the Italian immigrant Giovanni Graffeo opened a small grocery selling roasted coffee.⁵ It sells beans, not drinks: a signature blend of coffees from Colombia, Costa Rica's Tarrazú and Papua New Guinea, roasted light or dark, plus a decaf, all on a custom-built fluid-bed roaster.⁵

In 2025 Walter Haas III bought a majority stake from Luciano Repetto, who stays on as a partner and owns the building, and the new owners began planning some form of coffee service at the roastery.⁵

Chinatown's tea counters and bakeries

The Dragon Gate at Grant Avenue and Bush Street was dedicated in 1970. Grant is lined with shops for visitors, while Stockton Street holds the produce and fish markets.² On Waverly Place, the Tin How Temple, founded around 1852, is the oldest Chinese temple in the United States.² Cool Tea Bar at 103 Waverly Place serves daily 11:00–19:00, and By Me Boba Tea is in Ross Alley, the narrow lane known for its fortune cookie factory.²

On Grant, Sweetheart Cafe at 909 and Lady Luck Cafe at 956 serve bubble tea, and Home Coffee Roasters at 455 Grant opens at 07:30 on weekdays. Happy Donut at 145 Columbus Avenue never closes. The Central Subway's Chinatown station opened in November 2022, putting the neighborhood one stop from Union Square on T Third Street trains.⁶

Cafés in North Beach & Chinatown

At a glance

Cafe Francisco

Caffe Trieste

Compton's Coffe House

Foundation Cafe

Home Coffee Roasters

Kiss of Matcha

Little Jane on Grant

Mario's Bohemian Cigar Store Cafe

Paper Son at Soon and Soon

Pat's Cafe

Plentea

The Station

V Cafe

Chica

Cool Tea Bar

Good Luck

Happy Donut

901 colombus cafe

Beacon Coffee and Pantry

Belmo Cafe

By Me Boba Tea

Cafe Capriccio

Cafe Destijl

Caffè Greco

Cavalli Cafe

Chapel Coffee

Coffee Bar

Coffee Cultures

DeLise Dessert cafe

Fiddle Fig Cafe and Coffee

Fora Think Space

Hole in the Wall Coffee

iCafe SF

Jinshan Cafe

Red Bay Coffee

Schilling & Co Cafe

Coffee chains in North Beach & Chinatown

Starbucks

Peet's Coffee

Blue Bottle Coffee

Andytown Coffee Roasters

Réveille Coffee Co.

Latte Express

Caffe Trieste and the Columbus Avenue cafés

Graffeo, the roastery on Columbus

Chinatown's tea counters and bakeries

Sources

More of San Francisco

Financial District & Embarcadero

Union Square & Tenderloin

Hayes Valley & Civic Center

SoMa & Mission Bay

Mission District

Haight-Ashbury & Cole Valley

Sunset District

North Beach & Chinatown cafés: questions

When did Caffe Trieste open in North Beach, San Francisco?

Can you buy a coffee drink at Graffeo on Columbus Avenue in San Francisco?

Where can you get bubble tea in San Francisco's Chinatown?

Own a café in North Beach & Chinatown?