Wake Me Up! (Top 5)

I love coffee shops.  Yep, there is a coffee shop for every occasion: when I need to work but want to pretend to be writing a novel or editing a script, when I want to drink a cup of coffee by myself in peace while people watching, when I am meeting friends, when I need a quick pick-me up before work, or when I want a specific type of latte and cannot focus on anything else until I get it.

No matter the occasion, I have searched high and low (okay, really the five mile radius around my apartment) for the perfect latte, which because it is me - changes daily.  Of course, this is when I am not drinking my four-pump, no water Chai from Starbucks!

Here are my top local spots (order varies only slightly depending on day): (1) Urth (obvious, I know); (2) Paper or Plastik; (3) Graffiti (best cookies ever); (4) Balconi Coffee Company (almond latte with pulverized almonds); and (5) Bricks & Scones (salted caramel latte).

Shout out to Susina (for white chocolate latte) and new and hopeful up and comer, Go Get 'Em Tiger. Oh, and best local black coffee in my opinion is Le Pain Quotidien (though Intelligentsia is a close second).