Where To Get Coffee In Salt Lake's West Side Neighborhoods

In a city that's seen its share of the rise of third-wave coffee shops over the past decade, Salt Lake can be a great place to explore inventive, locally roasted, and artfully crafted coffee. But the espresso shack is not an equidistantly distributed establishment, and there are some parts of Utah's capital city—particularly the west side—where the corner café isn't on many corners at all.

Sure, on the east side of downtown and in trendy neighborhoods like Sugar House, you can easily find many a place to enjoy a patio sit or a drive-through to get that espresso fix. But Salt Lake's diverse and historic west side communities ranging from Rose Park on the north end down through Fairpark, Poplar Grove, and Glendale are communities where it can still be hard to find a Seattle-style coffee joint. As is often the case, the search can be well worth the effort. Here, then, are the best places to get your caffeine fix while shopping local and keeping your money on the west side.

Mestizo Coffeehouse

631 W North Temple

Perhaps more than other locations, Mestizo is the real investor in establishing business and cultural roots in the city's west side North Temple (NOTE) district. This coffee house did more than bring lattes and cappuccinos west of the freeway, it brought art, culture, and served as a meeting place for activists and idealists alike to gather, inspire, network, and scheme, all while enjoying some of the best crafted espresso-based beverages and homemade food around.

mestizocoffeehouse.com

Kings Peak Coffee Roasters

412 S 7th W Suite 140

While it may not be considered traditionally west side, the location of Kings Peak Coffee Roasters is definitely not on the east side either. A geographical oddity unto itself, this distinctive coffee roaster and café is a destination errand, as it occupies a patch of veritable no man's land next to the Modern West art gallery and the FFKR offices. But anyone who's been, knows this quirky location is more feature than bug, as the atmosphere lends itself to the kind of place you'd rather spend a morning than a minute. They take serious pride in the craft of their espresso-based beverages as well. From homemade syrups that flavor and sweeten their seasonal drinks (but not too sweet) to the sourcing and roasting of their coffee beans, and artfully crafting their lattes, this family-owned and run establishment takes serious pride not only in their product but in the professional pursuit of excellence for their shared love and craft.

kingspeakcoffee.com

Maud's Café

422 W 900 S

Maud’s Cafe is open 7:00 AM – 5:00 PM Monday through Friday

Maud’s Café is a boutique community café that offers an 8-12 week employment training program for the youth from Volunteers of America, Utah’s Homeless Youth Resource Center, Young Men’s and Women’s Transition Homes, so it's already got a lot of heart as a mission-based model for a coffee shop, and that makes it a local business you can feel great about supporting. But this comfortable and roomy café is an inviting and inspiring space. The coffee is quality, featuring the celebrated Utah-based coffee roasting company, Caffe Ibis, and the espresso and milk craft beverages are great, too! This is the perfect place for a professional meet and greet, a quick one-on-one, a lunch-break latte and reading break, or whatever escape fits your mood.

maudscafe.com

Buzzed Coffee Truck

Weekends on the corner of 1000 N and Victoria Way W

From their own website, "Buzzed Coffee Truck was founded on the principle that every community in Salt Lake City should have convenient access to fair-trade, specialty coffee and espresso." It's right, then, that they would be a consistent (if just a semi-permanent) curbside fixture in Rose Park. Even better, a few feet away is a great westside donut shop, Mr Donut. I don't need to tell you how well coffee and donuts go together. It's the perfect one-two punch for a weekend morning coffee run.

buzzedcoffeetruck.com

Roots Coffee & Co.

774 S 300 W

Likely the newest newcomer of the bunch listed here, Roots is a charming coffee house that moved into the spot next to famed Ruby Snap cookies in the building Chocolate Conspiracy used to occupy. They seem to be the only coffee shop in town that uses and sells local, small-batch roaster Pando coffee, but they also use Millcreek Coffee Roasters beans as well. Roots is known for their horchata latte, which I recommend iced, but they make a terrific cortado as well.

rootscoffeeutah.com

While it's true many of these java joints hug the eastern border of what's considered westside Salt Lake City, they are the bleeding edge of coffee culture that residents can continue to push westward by giving them their business and increasing demand.