The Bean Cafe

615 South Street, Philadelphia
http://www.beancafephilly.com/

I've met some people who really and deeply hate The Bean. I think some people just deeply hate anything that involves young people who look like (or actually are) hipsters.

If you don't have -- or have, but can get over -- a fear of kids with sloppy hair and glasses, this is actually a nice coffee shop. It's quiet, they have free wi-fi, employees who aren't sickeningly cheery, and tasty baked goods. And as this place is right on South, the people watching can be pretty good (lousy on Monday morning, better on Friday night). They used to give you a fortune cookie with every drink, but lately they've been skimping on those. This saddens me.

That said, I'm not a coffee drinker and have never had the coffee. Better than McDonald's? Probably. As good as Crescent Moon? Probably not. Also, the bathrooms? If you panic about touching doorknobs, you're going to want to take care of your bathroom needs before you come.

Crescent Moon Coffee & Tea

Mullica Hill, NJ
http://www.cmcoffee.com/

Supposedly this place has the best tasting coffee and the best coffee selection in the area, but I'm not a coffee drinker so I really have no idea if that's true. It does smell really good though, for what it's worth. I do frequently get their hot chocolate and it's the best I have ever had, hands down. They have an impressive selection of teas for the non-coffee drinkers (like me) and they aren't too pricey ($1-3). The food in general ranges from ok (greasy sandwiches) to amazing (quiche! mac 'n cheese! soups! lavender eclairs! salads with lots of stuff in 'em!), but the desserts are always delicious. If you go, you really should get something from the baked goods case.

There are only a few drawbacks to this place (and at least one is out of the owners'/employees' hands):
1. Kids. Babies. Loud.
2. There's a guy working there who deeply and passionately loves Dave Matthews Band. So much so that he thinks listening to 4 hours of it is really enjoyable. It is, in fact, the opposite of enjoyable.
3. They've started limiting their allowed internet use. Their wireless access used to be unlimited and free, but now you have to buy something and you only get 2 hours with every purchase. Which means I can no longer buy my $2 cup of tea and productively work for 4 hours. Which isn't terrible but is kind of inconvenient when I have a hard enough time throwing money at a coffee shop when I could just work from home for free.