Sightglass is a San Francisco grown and thoughtfully designed coffee company with humble roots starting as a coffee cart in SoMa. Since then, the sibling-owned roaster has grown to have a few brick and mortar cafes around their home city, and most recently, a spacious marketplace and roaster location in LA (incidentally right by another SF favorite, Tartine).
Sightglass prides itself in meticulous sourcing and local roasting (with roasters in both cities). Their attention to detail is reflected not only in the product, but also in the spaces and the packaging. The name itself is, according to their website, inspired by the sightglass in their vintage PROBAT coffee roaster, a little window into the magic of roasting coffee. The cafés are popular for a reason, an inviting space to celebrate coffee, always fresh, and often paired with something delicious. Not to mention photogenic as hell. Whether you’re a norcal or socal person, as long as you’re a coffee person, Sightglass is an easy favorite.
the details
| Address | SoMa: 270 7th St, San Francisco |
| Website | https://sightglasscoffee.com/ |
| Yelp | SoMa, Lower Haight, Mission, Hollywood |
| @sightglass | |
| Hours | 8am – 3pm every day (COVID hours) |
| Price | $$ – your standard indie coffee shop prices |
| Aesthetic | a delicate balance between modern warehouse and with details that hint at old world charm |
good to know
Go here for: everyday coffee needs
Order this: vanilla ice cold coffee on a hot day, or if you’re indecisive and in a hurry, just go with a quick cup drip coffee – the selection rotates day to day
Amount of time to spend: great for stopping by to-go, or sticking around to hang out, all of the locations have plenty of seating
When to come: any time you need a pick me up
Getting here:
- SoMa: probably best reached via Civic Center BART or MUNI. Parking is free on Sundays, otherwise limited to 1 hour.
- Divisadero: closest to Duboce St & Noe St MUNI station, or even closer via bus (24) at Divisadero and Oak. There’s metered parking on Divisadero and 2-hour street parking in the side streets.
- Mission: this location is not particularly close to any BART or MUNI station (it’s about a 15 minute walk from the 24th Street Mission BART station) and the parking situation isn’t great either. The closest bus station is about 10 min away at Mission and 20th.
- LA: parking isn’t too bad in this area, but as more shops open up it might get to be bad. There should be plenty of street parking on the residential streets.
Other things to note:
- SF locations have pastries from Neighbor Bakehouse. LA has pastries and breads baked in house.
- SF is mostly coffee, tea and pastries, while LA location has food (including Roman style pizza) and feels a bit more like a dine in café.
- They also sell coffee beans and coffee ware online, and have a coffee subscription service for true fans.
- There is no wifi and no outlets, so not great for working.
Last visited: October 2019
Last updated: November 2020
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