Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It’s the OKC, The 405, the Big Friendly. It sits humbly smack-dab in the middle of the state of Oklahoma, a place with complex history that still feels mysterious to coastal dwellers. There is nowhere else in the world quite like it.
Oklahoma City’s strive for innovation has cultivated an intimate downtown full of cultural richness, and locals are quite rightly proud of this place. Made up of 14 distinct districts, OKC boasts several art districts, the vibrant Asian District, a U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Site, and numerous nationally recognized restaurants, bars, and entertainment options. Most of the city can be accessed through streetcar circuits, which means you can visit one of the many local restaurants for breakfast, see the Museum of Art, take a boat ride through Bricktown, and catch a basketball game easily in one day and still have time for a night out.
In just the last five years alone, the city’s efforts to attract more people have worked. Today it’s one of the most attractive places in the country for new homeowners, offering enviable urban affordability while simultaneously boasting James Beard Award recognized restaurants and some of the nation’s finest street art.
All of these factors make for a pretty much perfect city in which coffee culture can thrive, and today the coffee scene in OKC is thriving. Thanks to a supportive local community and economy, many of the coffee shops brew local roasters like Sincerely Coffee Roasters and Prelude Coffee Roasters. Oklahoma City is big on showing off unique experiences and its homegrown charm, including its caffeinated experiences.
Here’s just a few of our favorite places for coffee in Oklahoma City!
Perets Desserts & Coffee Bar
Nestled on the second floor of a secret entrance of the historic Paramount Pictures Building, Perets is one of the city’s only late-night coffee shops. Open until 11:00pm six days a week, Perets Desserts & Coffee Bar serves up a cozy menu of espresso-based drinks, teas, and most notably a dedicated affogato menu.
Recently celebrating its second anniversary, Perets serves up a slow and cozy escape for guests to enjoy a handmade dessert and listen to jazz. Arriving after dinner, the cafe was filled with people gathering around velveteen couches with empty bowls. General Manager, Jordan Serio, counts an average of 200 affogato sets sold per night and upwards of 500 on weekends.
With the mix of Rose Rock Microcreamery ice cream and Onyx Coffee Lab espresso pulled from a Synesso s200, it would be a shame to miss out on the shop’s most popular caffeinated treat. The people’s choice favorite affogato is called “Sopapilla for Mia”, which combines a rich cinnamon ice cream, caramel drizzle, cinnamon sugar topping, and pie crust wedge, topped with Onyx Monarch espresso. It’s delicious.
Cafe Kacao
At the end of the Asian District on Classen Boulevard, Cafe Kacao is a lush green Guatemalan and Latin-inspired restaurant that enjoys one of the city’s most decorated walls of accolades and awards, including multiple Best Breakfast accolades.
Established in 2011 by the Del Cid Family, chef Veronica Zelada Del Cid brought to life Guatemalan staples and a Latin fusion menu that has people lining out the door to get a taste of Cafe Kacao’s award-winning brunch and cafe menu. The inside of Cafe Kacao is lively with a brightly tiled bar, music, and the Spanish word for “welcome”, Bienvenidos found throughout the space.
The café filtrado is a rich Guatemala San Guayaba Amarillo from Juan Diego and Sincerely Coffee Roasters. If you want the full Cafe Kacao experience, try the pupusas and the Abulita or horchata latte. Cafe Kacao is a must-visit when in Oklahoma City, but it’s also very popular. The lines are worth it. Your best bet to get a taste is to arrive upon opening or joining the waitlist on Yelp.
Junction Coffee
You may have already been pleasantly surprised at OKC’s unique dining and coffee experiences, but nothing can prepare you for sipping espresso from a 50-year-old red double-decker bus from London, roaming the streets of downtown. (The bus is lovingly named Maebelle.)
Serving folks since 2015, Junction Coffee makes its weekly rounds to the people every week from three different locations. Typically the red bus can be seen at Kerr Park, the Myriad Gardens, and a rotating local neighborhood, but if you want to ensure a visit during your OKC trip be sure to check out the schedule. Espressos here are pulled on a Unic Stella di Caffe, a modular multi-boiler machine that allows for boiler isolation, something that came in handy during a major snowstorm a few years ago.
There’s also a charming brick-and-mortar location for Junction Coffee, which can be fittingly found in Automobile Alley. It opened in 2021, and offers a permanent home base for Junction Coffee fans to enjoy their favorite drinks, open six days a week.
Culture Coffee
Culture Coffee opened just one month before COVID shutdowns shuttered much of OKC. The fact that this cafe survived, and is now thriving, a testament to the connection it’s made in OKC’s Innovation District, which is located just five minutes or so east of downtown in the historic JFK/Page Woodson neighborhood..
Today Culture Coffee is a prominent Black-owned hub for quality coffee, and has become a daily stop for many neighbors and supporters. They also work with local coffee suppliers, Sincerely Coffee Roasters and Prelude Coffee Roasters, and have plenty of pastry and light breakfast options. If you want comfort food on a Saturday, you can try their sister restaurant, Bistro 46 food cart, which is parked out front each weekend.
Culture Coffee also is known across the city for its unmatched seasonal specials, like limited-edition cereal milk lattes and rotating house-made syrups such as maple pecan. This is a must-visit for coffee lovers in Oklahoma City, and very worth your time just outside of downtown.
Prelude Coffee Roasters
Tucked away on the second-floor loft of 8th Street Market, Prelude Coffee Roasters is another staple name in the city.
Here you can order espresso-based drinks, fresh whole-leaf tea from Urban Tea House, or one of the roaster’s prized single-origin coffees. My favorite order here is the cafezinho, a sweetened black coffee served with a familiar chocolate treat from Brasil.
Coffee and tea aficionados will appreciate the emphasis placed on precision when it comes to crafting drinks. If you’re more on the tea side of caffeine, there is just as much care put into brewing your cup of tea as the coffee options. I recommend you come by with time to sip and savor the stillness of the loft. If you make an afternoon of your visit, wander downstairs for a steaming bowl of pho or see what is on tap at Prarie Artisan Ales.
Brianna Fox-Priest is a freelance journalist in Japan covering coffee, video games, and Japanese pop culture. Read more Brianna Fox-Priest on Sprudge.
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Brianna Fox-Priest
May 8, 2024
