Coffee? (Harrisburg, Linglestown, Whitaker: apartments, city hall, buy)

[eddiea]

Does anyone have recommendations for nice coffee shops good for studying or just hanging out. I just moved to Old City Hall and can't really find anything worthwhile nearby even though Harrisburg Univ. is a couple blocks away. Is midtown my best bet?

[DowntownHarrisburg]

There's a Starbucks in Strawberry Square. It's on the second floor near where the food court hallway, Whitaker Center, the parking garage, and the Hilton all meet. That's about downtown's only standard-issue coffee shop. There's a new coffee-shop-like-thing opening at Market & Third in September, but I know nothing about it.

Midtown has the best coffee shops if you don't mind the 10-minute walk. Cafe Di Luna (Third St between Boas & Herr) is my favorite. It's very small and the owner is very friendly. She loves to talk coffee! The place can only seat about 9 or 10 comfortably, but is perfect for studying or working. This place has a very loyal crowd, so if you spend more than a day or two here you'll get to know them.

You'll also want to check out Midtown Scholar. It's a used bookstore with a coffee bar located at Third & Verbeke. The nooks, sofas, and tables sprinkled throughout are usually populated with heavy-duty coffee drinkers starting in the afternoon. From time to time they'll get acoustic performers in the evening and they also host a lot of civic events.

If you don't object to driving, St. Thomas Roasters in Linglestown is well worth the trip. They roast in the restaurant so the building is saturated with that fresh-roasted coffee smell. You can also buy fresh-roasted beans. The staff will happily tell you on what day the bean was roasted so you can hit that three-day peak.

All three venues have WiFi. All three are locally-owned small businesses. All three have an outstanding selection of fresh coffee, though St. Thomas -- being a roaster -- takes the cake. I'd put Cafe Di Luna in a very close second, and Midtown Scholar a very close third. Honestly you can't go wrong with any of them. I highly encourage you to make several trips to all three.

There's also a bakery with coffee on Chestnut Street directly across from Pennsylvania Place apartments. I think it's called Ciao. They're closed whenever I'm around so I can't vouch for their coffee.