Coffee. Atmosphere. Location. Employees. All are excellent in making Espresso A Mano one of my favorite coffee shops to visit. I will go out of my way to get to this shop. It has a thick urban vibe that inspires creativity fueled by its namesake. I have this habit of ranking a coffee shop based on its mocha (Yeah, I know . . . Pour over really is the way to measure. I get it.). This shop's mocha is delicious and distinct. A blind taste test would have me identifying this shop's mocha every time, and it's that kind of distinct mark that speaks to the greater uniqueness, which is Espresso A Mano.
Why four stars and not five? Because people will sit and hunker down to work for hours. I don't have a problem with this and actually love this about this shop and most coffee shops, in general! 5 stars if you find yourself lucky enough to get a table. But 4 stars in actuality because it really is a coin flip walking in - and if you DID go out of your way to sit at Espresso A Mano and couldn't get a table . . . That just sucks.
But we can't have our cake and eat it too.
It's a small shop with a small shop feel and we don't want this to change. So, it's worth the coin flip to sit in this trendy, exposed-brick-looking-out-to-city-life-while-working-next-to-Banksy-(probably)-shop.
It's one of my favs. Their drinks are great. You can pick up some Chemex filters if you've run out. You can buy a great croissant to pair with your coffee . . .
Espresso A Mano is a total winner.