Settlers of Cafes

My girlfriend insisted on going to fi-di again. It's fun! We will see people, she said. I followed. I regret. We stumbled on this Starbucks just south of Chinatown which had power outlets. 1) wifi 10 / 10 It works. 2) seating 4 / 10 There are seats for around 10 people. Combine that with the fact the area is very touristic. The coffeeshop was very loud and full of people who were energetically talking about their day adventure. 3) power outlets 6 / 10 There were power outlets underneath the bar tables looking outside. 4) vibe: 4 / 10 We were the only people working on our laptops. Almost everyone else was taking a break from their day. Also there were a lot of tourists popping in for a bit of rest and a coffee. Overall: 5 / 10 We stayed there for around 3 hours. I don't recommend such a small and busy coffeeshop for work specially if you need to focus.

Located farther west in Outer Richmond, La Promenade is an excellent cafe to work at. The spacious cafe is divided into two rooms, the front section is more lively and the back section looks more like a quiet library. 1) wifi 10 / 10 It works, and it is great. I can even play dota at this cafe. 2) seating 10 / 10 There are plenty of seats in this cafe. There are larger tables in case you have a lot of stuff to spread around you. There are ofcourse smaller tables for smaller groups or individuals. There are even two couches at the back if you want something more comfy. 3) power outlets 9 / 10 There are some power outlets in the coffeeshop but there could be more. 4) vibe: 10 / 10 The music is just loud enough to be heard but not to distract. Most people are busy working. People in some tables are discussing work. Overall: 10 / 10 So far this has been my favorite coffeeshop. It is the perfect coffeeshop to spend a full day at. Their selection of food and dri...

Cup-A-Joe is just a few blocks away from all the fi-di craze. You can walk there in 20 minutes from Union Square. This small corner cafe makes a fine spot for spending a few hours with your laptop. 1) wifi 7 / 10 Wifi has been a bit dodgy here. 2) seating 9 / 10 There are two large tall tables for work and smaller tables inside and outside the cafe. The cafe is small but not so crowded most of the time.I have always found a seat at one of the large tables. On the downside half of the seats face away from the large windows and cause light reflection from the monitor screen. 3) power outlets 10 / 10 There are power outlets near both tables. You will be fine. 4) vibe: 8 / 10 This cafe attracts a balanced mix of people who want to work and people who want to hang out and have a coffee. Overall: 8 / 10 Cup-A-Joe Coffee House doesn't stand out in any particular category. It is not one of those cafes you will remember to go next time. But it has everything wor...

I was on the fence about including this particular Starbucks in my website. A Starbucks inside a mall is clearly intended for the shoppers. As is with many cafes in fi-di, when a lot of people go to a cafe for work, they either add more seats to accommodate, or remove wifi and/or power plugs to get rid of the new crowd. So far almost every time I have been to this Starbucks, I have been the only one there to work. And it should stay that way otherwise they are going to take away my precious power outlets. 1) wifi 10 / 10 It works. 2) seating 7 / 10 There are some small tables and some bar tables looking outside at the Union Square. It can get pretty crowded in the evening when people go shopping. Generally you will be able to find a seat withing 10 minutes or so. 3) power outlets 4 / 10 There are power outlets near two of the small tables. There are two more at the sides of the big window looking over the Union Square. It is  hard to get those if you are there ...

Cafe Francisco is located near Fisherman's Wharf. It is one those older cafes that resemble european cafes. It has both indoor and outdoor seating and is a good spot for a casual sunny weekend work day. Walk up the street two blocks and you'll be at Fisherman's Wharf and piers for a nice walk. 1) wifi 10 / 10 It works. 2) seating 8 / 10 There are 4 booths inside and a bunch of regular chairs and tables. It can get crowded at brunch time on the weekends. 3) power outlets 5 / 10 There are 3 outlets in the cafe. Two in the booths and one at the corner of the window. So you will be rolling dice when going there on the busier hours. Later in the day it gets less crowded and odds of getting a power outlet higher. 4) vibe: 7 / 10 The cafe owner works there and is chill with customers working there for hours. Still most people are there to eat, drink and chat. I like it better when I see at least a few other people working. So the score for vibe is just below...

Another favorite spot of mine is the Peet's Coffee on Fillmore and Sacramento. It has a good seating area. It can get crowded to the point that finding a seat is difficult. Good news is that there are other cafes within one block, so worst case you swing by another one. 1) wifi 10 / 10 It works. 2) seating 8 / 10 The coffee shop has both indoor and outdoor seating. It is on a busy street so in the peak hours it gets pretty full. You might have to wait a bit or take a seat without a power outlet sometimes. 3) power outlets 9 / 10 There are plenty of outlets in this coffee shop. The bar table that extends along the windows has power outlets underneath and is perfect for longer work hours. 4) vibe: 8 / 10 Half the crowd are there to work and the other half are drinking coffee and taking a short break from San Francisco's craze. You will feel comfortable working there and there is some background noise from other people's talks. Overall: 9 / 10 It is ...

Cafe Murano is a no-fuss, cozy and quiet cafe near Fillmore. Despite its small size, it always has enough space to sit. Apparently one block is all it takes to keep the SF people away. The only downside is the working hours. They close at 3:30pm. 1) wifi 10 / 10 It works. 2) seating 9 / 10 Its a small cafe and also a quiet one. There are always a few people working there but I have never seen it crowded to the point where I couldn't find myself a seat. There is a tall table with high chairs that can seat 3 people (my to-go spot). If that is taken, you can take the normal seats. 3) power outlets 9 / 10 Th ere are power outlets around the cafe. Unless you sit in the middle area, you can find a power outlet to plug your laptop. 4) vibe: 8 / 10 Most of the people at this cafe go there to work. You see them in their laptops or books. I like the vibe, but if you prefer some organic background noise, you will get bored here. Overall: 9 / 10 While nothing about Ca...

Today it was sunny and warm and we (my girlfriend is also a cafe settler) decided to explore the piers so that we could have short walk at lunch and for our breaks. I was very pessimistic about the chances of us finding a good coffee shop at the piers. We tried the Peet's Coffee at the ferry building. And it wasn't bad at all! 1) wifi 10 / 10 It is a Peet's. So it wifi works great. 2) seating 7 / 10 The seating area is huge. Not all of it belongs to Peets but as part of the Ferry building, it is ok to use the rest of the area (see pictures). Because it was a weekday we were able to grab a table by the power outlets. So everything worked just fine. Note that on the weekends the ferry building is quite popular and it is even the location for the farmers market. So it won't be easy to find a good place. And even if you do the place is going to be to crowded with kids running around. 3) power outlets 3 / 10 There were two power outlets in the entire cof...

Hello fellow Cafe Settlers! And welcome to my blog! What is a "Cafe Settler" you ask? Good question! Read on! As a self employed techie, I love working from coffee shops around San Francisco. I have a small home office that I work from a few days a week. But I like working from coffee shops to break out of my solitude; plus it is a good change of scene. I have lived in the bay area for 5+ years and have been working from different coffee shops consistently. There is a huge work-from-cafe culture here. In every coffee shop you will see people lost in their laptops working on cool new concepts. Let's call them - us - cafe settlers :) Finding a good coffee shop takes some time and can be a pain. You can get a general idea about coffee shop from Yelp and Google maps. Menu, food pictures, location and hours are pretty accurate on those websites. However there are other information about a cafe that make is suitable for working longer hours on your laptop: 1) Does i...