For a light lunch or a strong cup of coffee, Boomtown Coffee is one of the hippest coffee joints you’ll find in Houston. Using local products when possible for any of their food items and developing relationships with growers for their beans, Boomtown is a great place to check out.

The Café

While the menu isn’t too extensive at Boomtown, there are a few small dishes that are delish. If you’re there during the breakfast hours, try the parfait, the vegetarian daily quiche, or the boomtown taco (also available without the egg to make it vegan). If you wander through during the afternoon, we recommend the chicken salad croissant, hummus sandwich, and grilled cheese with the soup of the day.

The Coffee

One thing we love about this coffee shop is their selection of coffee, providing unique flavor in everything from your espresso to your drip. The Spindletop from Brazil is used for milk-based drinks, and provides notes of chocolate and rum with its rich coffee taste. The Bella Carmona, on the other hand, has standouts of dark fruit, chocolate, and berries, and is much more gentle in its flavor. Another favorite in the Kenya AA, which has an earthy undertone combined with chocolate and citrus, and feels as though you’re actually drinking a piece of the world itself.

The Downsides

There aren’t a lot of downsides to this coffee shop, and the things we’re about to list might not matter to you at all. First though, this place gets really packed, and searching for a table can be difficult and force you to take your coffee to go. That being said, it’s not always the most quiet establishment around, although it certainly is trendy—hipsters flock to Boomtown, which is great if you’re a millennial who doesn’t mind by surrounded by the non-mainstream mainstream.

The Seating

Now that we’ve mentioned a few downsides, here’s why Boomtown Coffee is still pretty cool, coffee and food items aside. The tables are a perfect size for spreading out your homework or papers, working on your laptops, or piling up your stack of books that you plan on perusing while sipping your latte. In addition, there’s a small outdoor seating area that, if you can find a table, is quite cute. Finally, the environment of this place is awesome; laid-back vibe, relaxed atmosphere, and really comfortable. Oh, and the Wi-Fi, while not the fastest in the world, is reliable and gets the job done.

The Business

One more reason to love this place is that it’s a small business that was started by a local in 2011. Starting as an underdog in both the business and coffee world, Boomtown has proven its worth in Houston. If you want to support a local business rather than the Starbucks around the corner, Boomtown’s a great option.