The city of Houston, Texas is home to the 2025 SCA Expo, which means a great many Sprudge readers and coffee fans are planning to travel there in the coming weeks. But whatever your reason—or timing—for a trip to H-Town, all roads lead to Greenway Coffee‘s David Buehrer.
Buehrer (@greenwaybarista) is a Houston-born entrepreneur and career coffee pro, and a co-founder at several leading Houston coffee brands, including Greenway Coffee (roastery), Blacksmith (an all-day coffee bar and restaurant), Coral Sword (a nerd’s dream gaming cafe), and Prelude Coffee (an espresso bar). His love for the city is deeply felt, and his knowledge of Houston’s food and drink galaxy is legendary. No person has more informed my own enjoyment of the city of Houston than he has.
And so, in the style of last year’s very popular Klaus Thomsen’s Guide to Copenhagen, I sat down to interview Buehrer about his very favorite stuff in Houston. One interview turned into multiple phone calls and dozens of text messages along the way. Houston is just one of those places: it is vast, it contains multitudes, and David wants to convey so much about this wonderful city to our readers.
To help connect you with the best Houston has to offer, we’ve doubled-down on this guide as part of our ongoing partnership with Apple Maps. Users can find a spiffy coffee-focused version of this guide directly on all Apple Maps Guides—just search “Houston Coffee.”
Guide Format
“For the visitor experience in Houston,” Buehrer tells me, “I really think you should think about things in three buckets. There’s what you can do near the convention center, there’s what you can do with a nearby ride share, and there’s what you can do if you rent a car. These each offer a different range of experiences and that’s just kind of how Houston works.”
“Houston is huge,” he adds. “Our Asia Town district has a population the size of the city of Portland, Oregon. The city is huge and populous and there’s so many cool things to do.”
In accordance with Buehrer’s advice we’ll present this guide in three zones: near the convention, Uberable from the convention, and further afield for those who rent a car. Coffee recommendations are featured throughout the guide, but so are food and additional drink options, because that’s just how Buehrer’s brain works.
Visit David’s Cafes
These are my recommendation, not his, who was very polite and low-key about suggesting you spend time in Houston at his own establishments. So please allow me to recommend them.
Blacksmith is a really incredible destination for food and coffee, and during the event they’ll be featuring guest roasters including Square Mile and Scott Rao’s Prodigal. Guests should expect, per Buehrer, “a normalized experience of what we do, in order to make sure our staff are well-equipped to serve a lot of coffee people.” There’s also a special Saturday evening event at Coral Sword, the annual board game night party hosted by Jenn Chen—we’ll have more about this in our upcoming SCA 2025 event guide.
If you come to Houston without visiting Blacksmith you’re doing it wrong.
Close To The Convention Center
Fifth Vessel
“This is a great walking-distance cafe from the convention center,” says Buehrer. “They microroast on a Stronghold roaster, and they feature a number of international roasters in small supply. They’re good people and the cafe is independently owned and operated.”
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Prelude Coffee
This is one of Buehrer’s cafes, so he’s a little shy about recommending it—please allow me, then, to include it as a close-by convention center option. But note this spot only has hours Monday-Friday. If you need a convention diversion on Thursday, or are attending the event Friday and want to take a walk, definitely include this on your list to try delicious Greenway Coffees.
Three Keys
“This is another must-visit with a location inside Finn Hall, near the Convention Center. This is close by to Prelude Coffee as well, which makes it an easy coffee crawl.”
Barbacana
“This place has a crazy cool fish sandwich,” Buehrer says, “and it’s downtown and within walking distance of the Convention Center. The chef here, Christian Hernandez, opened his own restaurant after cooking for a place that won a James Beard Award and another place that has a Michelin star. This is very worth going to.
Finn Hall Food Hall featuring Papalo
“This food hall has awesome options,” Buehrer says, and is an easy walk from the Convention Center. “Go to Papalo on Friday, that would be a great place to get lunch and it’s the ultimate taco experience in downtown. They grind their own corn and nixtimalize their own tortillas, which is pretty hard to beat.”
Not Far By Uber/Lyft
“Taking a quick Uber or Lyft from Downtown gives you access to so much cool stuff,” Buehrer says. Houston is vast but these are all around 15 minutes/$15 in a car from the Convention Center.
BlendIn Coffee
“A super great spot, with a Brewers Cup winning decaf coffee. This is an awesome spot to experience and try, and many convention-goers will have this high on their list.”
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Little Dreamer
“Little Dreamer just opened, and Matt Twomey is a career pro in Houston’s coffee scene. I highly recommend this shop.”
Un Caffe
“This is really a triple-double, double trouble situation out here: go to Un Caffe, then visit gift boutique All The Feels and stop at a cool plant shop called Flora Culture, and you’ve got a great way to experience a bunch of cool Houston things all at one time in Midtown. The owner at Un Caffe is a career coffee pro and he makes really creative drinks with roasting in-house. They host a ton of events and he’s a huge community generator.”
Simply Coffie
“Located in the Greater Heights area, this is another owner-operated micro roaster in Houston who has a really refined menu and the way he brews coffee is uniquely his own style.”
Dolce Neve Gelato
“This is the best gelato on the face of the planet. Visiting is mandatory. You see it around town at a lot of great restaurants for a reason. They make a perfect pistachio gelato, easily the best I’ve ever had in my life.”
Pudgy’s Cookies
“Incredible Gen Z big fat hype cookies, but done in a style that’s really spectacular and culinary. You can also find ice cream from Underground Creamery there, which is a cult local ice cream mark that does weekly flavor drops online. If you need a pint of ice cream and a big old cookie this is the spot.”
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Catalina Coffee
“1000% recommended to visit Catalina, who are one of the true OGs of specialty coffee in Houston. If you want to see the history of specialty coffee in Houston you have to go to Catalina.”
New Heights Coffee Roasters
“Up in the Heights, they’re doing fun creative drinks and working really hard right now to make some awesome signature beverages for Expo. I definitely recommend visiting.”
Josephine’s
“This is a Gulf Coast seafood restaurant,” Buehrer explains, “and if you’re coming to this area and want to eat local cuisine, this style of seafood is every bit as important as Tex Mex or BBQ, which the rest of Texas is famous for. Gulf Coast food is so relevant to our region in Houston, and the Gulf of Mexico gives us seafood that is very flavorful. The salt water content here is high, and so you get oysters and gulf shrimp with so much intense flavor because of the salination.”
Josephine’s has daily hours, takes reservations, and offers a Happy Hour from 5-6:30pm on weeknights.
ChopnBLok
“This spot is great for people who are eating together with different dietary,” Buehrer says. “It’s a Senegalese spot, but very chef-driven and affordable. You can find a bunch of gluten free and vegan options here, but also great proteins that are non-vegan. The chef is up-and-coming and doing great stuff, and there’s a great beverage program, too.”
Coltivare
“It’s the Chez Panisse of Houston,” Buehrer says. Enough said, right? Well—let’s continue. “Ryan Pera is the chef here; they’ve been open for 11 years now, and they do amazing wood fired pizzas with a huge open garden you can sit in. A lot of what they serve here is actually grown in the garden onsite, and in April that’s just the perfect time to sit outside in Houston and eat, before the big heat wave comes. The veggies will be great. This is a quintessential restaurant in Houston and not far from downtown at all by Uber.”
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EMA
“They got the Bib Gourmand last year, and they’ve got an amazing food, pastry, coffee, and tea program all working together and fleshed out. Nicolas Vera is the chef, he’s very well-regarded and has worked a lot of great places. Stephanie Velazquez is the pastry chef and her stuff has gotten a ton of very deserved visibility. And Arlene Mendoza is the beverage director and coffee roaster, she’s an awesome and talented beverage pro.”
“You cannot go wrong with visiting Ema,” Buehrer notes, adding, “but you do need to know that the lines can get quite long. I recommend you go in the mornings from 7-10am for coffee and pastries. If you visit after 10am the food options expand with more savory dishes, but be prepared to wait.”
Worth A Longer Drive
Houston is a car culture, similar to places like Los Angeles, Denver, or Miami. Many of the destinations most worth visiting are far away from Downtown, and so visitors might choose to rent a car in order to take it all in. If you’re cruising around on your stay, here’s places worth driving to!
Kohiko
“Nicolas Tanaka and his sister just opened this place—he used to work at BlendIn, and she used to work with us at Blacksmith. They are huge advocates for the coffee community and multi-time latte art championship winners. They’re doing such a great job with the new cafe and it deserves a drive.”
Aga’s Restaurant
“Not far from Kohiko there is Aga’s, which is this amazing, super cool Pakistani/Northern Indian restaurant that is totally worth going to. They can take a huge group no problem, it’s perfect for big events and the food is just unbelievable. I mean, you can get pitchers of mango lassi. What more do you want?”
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Thien Thanh Banh Cuon
“Vietnamese food should be a huge thing on your itinerary,” Buehrer says. “This is a countryside style Vietnamese restaurant, and it’s cash only. They make their own rice flour noodles in house. They do a turmeric soaked grilled fish dish that’s just so, so good. It’s a place where everything on the menu is incredible. I would budget around $25 per person, but you can honestly over-order here and be happy.”
Linda’s Tropical Fruits
This has become a place I take everyone visiting Houston. Linda imports all this amazing ripe awesome fruit to her shop, and then she makes delicious cafe drinks with those fruits. The last time I went she made me a sapodilla coffee smoothie drink that was just insanely good. In April, mangoes will be in season, so go get her mango cream drink. It will be a 10/10 experience.”
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Peking Impression
“Worth the wait, worth the duck. You may need to argue with the staff about how many ducks they are willing to sell you but that’s fine. It is the most perfect Houston peking duck experience.”
Pho Binh
“There are several Pho Bin locations, but the one on Bellaire is the one to go to, in the Kim Sun parking lot. Get a dry chicken pho, and get some kind of beef noodle soup.”
Duc Phuong Thach Che
“Mind-blowing che. You should feel really good about doing this. Go here.”
La Tazza Coffee
A Colombian coffee importer turned retail cafe, with delicious coffees brewed well in-house and an awesome tea. It’s out in the suburbs so if you’re out there, it’s a great option.”
Cafe Tales
“On the west side, close to Asia Town if you’re making it out that way—this is another Colombian-owned and -operated cafe and it’s very cool what they’re doing, with locations in Colombia and Houston.”
Even More Incredible Stuff
With 2.5 million people, including cultural enclaves from just about every corner of the planet, it’s functionally impossible to author anything approaching an “authority” guide to the city of Houston (and you should be very wary of anyone claiming to do so). The city is vast and endless and that’s very much part of its whole deal.
Buehrer is still texting me ideas for this guide. He has more stuff you should know about. I’ll keep adding things here—you should check every single one of these out.
TwoTone
Las Perras Cafe
Agnes & Sherman
Taqueria Laredo
Waygood Coffee
Pearland Coffee
SGD Tofu House
Mimo
Katami
Kata Robata
Burger Bodega
Craft Pita
Tiny’s Milk & Cookies
Tiny Champions
Nancy’s Hustle
Dish Society
The Rice Box
This feature is #updating with more recommendations.
Jordan Michelman (@suitcasewine) is a co-founder at Sprudge Media Network.
