Waco's coffee shop scene offers a charming mix of cute cafes and stylish hangouts popular with college students. Since I started attending Baylor football and basketball games with Kel in 2021, the city has grown on me.

With each visit, I've explored more of Waco's restaurants and cafes—from craft pour-overs at Dichotomy Coffee & Spirits to Magnolia Press by Chip and Joanna Gaines. Here's where to sip, savor, and enjoy the city's cafe culture.
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Waco Cafes
1. For Keeps Coffee & Bakery
For Keeps Coffee in Waco is a third-wave shop founded by Cameron and Danielle Philgreen. It combines their creative backgrounds (as wedding photographers and real estate investors) with a passion for high-quality coffee.
This multi-roaster cafe emphasizes ethically sourced coffee beans and offers a variety of single-origin pour-overs. An on-site bakery crafts fresh pastries daily. This past winter, the chocolate gingerbread loaf was a nice complement to my vanilla bean pistachio cappuccino.
I adore the minimalist design aesthetic at For Keeps Coffee. This local favorite has plenty of seating, yet it's always full when I drop by.
The parking lot is tiny, so it's usually easier to head straight for street parking on N 37th Street. 3619 Bosque Blvd, Waco, TX, forkeepscoffee.com
2. Bitty & Beau's Coffee
It took me a little too long to discover Bitty & Beau's Coffee, given it's in the heart of downtown Waco, a block south of the Brazos River.
According to their website, "Bitty & Beau's Coffee is a human rights movement disguised as a coffee shop, where people with intellectual & developmental disabilities are valued in the workplace. It's a place where diversity isn't just appreciated, it's celebrated."
The founders' family inspired the business. Bitty and Beau are two of Amy and Ben Wright's four children who were born with Down syndrome. A third was born with autism. What began as a single coffee shop in Wilmington, North Carolina, has expanded to 18 locations nationwide.
When Kel and I visited Bitty & Beau's, the friendly staff welcomed us warmly. The pastry case was chock-full of bagels, cookies, Rice Krispies, and fresh muffins.
I ordered a cold brew with foam, and Kel got a refreshing watermelon iced tea and a lemon cranberry muffin. In addition to standard espresso drinks, they serve chai and matcha lattes (hot or cold), frappes, and fruit smoothies.
The next time you're craving coffee or tea in Waco, consider the difference you can make in people's lives by spending a few dollars at Bitty & Beau's. 110 Franklin Avenue, Waco, TX, bittyandbeauscoffee.com
3. Fabled Bookshop & Cafe
If you're a coffee lover looking for a quiet place with a cozy atmosphere, head for Fabled Bookshop & Cafe, a few blocks south of Bitty & Beau's. A J.R.R. Tolkien-inspired mural adorns the side of the building, and a six-foot-tall wooden owl greets guests inside the front door.
After posing with the owl for a photo, Kel made a beeline for the books while I visited the coffee counter. Delicious drinks, like the Harry Potter-inspired Muggle Mocha, are named after literary characters.
Channeling my childhood reading, I ordered the Hunny Pot Latte, a spiced honey latte with ground cinnamon inspired by Winnie the Pooh. Milk Bottle Cookies are available if you're hungry. 215 S 4th St, Waco, TX, fabledbookshop.com
4. Pinewood Coffee Bar
The coolness factor at Pinewood Social is off the charts, from the vinyl records spinning behind the bar to housemade syrups like salted rosemary maple (yes, please!)
This roaster, coffee shop, and public house (i.e., bar) focuses on the basics and does them well. They even bundle whole bean coffee with records to listen to while you sip your brew at home.
Inside, you'll likely find Baylor University students and others on laptops around the bar. I haven't had much luck getting a seat inside, but when the weather is nice, there's a lovely tree-covered patio to enjoy. Customers can bring a packed lunch to eat at Pinewood if they order a drink. 2223 Austin Ave B, Waco, TX, pinewoodwaco.com
5. Magnolia Press Coffee Co.
No story about Waco would be complete without mentioning Magnolia, the wildly popular retail and hospitality brand that Chip and Joanna Gaines created.
A few months before I visited Magnolia Table for breakfast, I grabbed a winter spice latte and chocolate cake at Magnolia Press Coffee Co at The Silos. Despite chilly, wet weather, the line was still out the door. The coffee shop, which opened at the Silos in 2020, is enormous. It fills a space in a historic building previously used for yoga and CrossFit.
As I've come to expect from anything Joanna Gaines touches, the branding and interior design are attractive. An assortment of pastries made fresh daily was on display.
My default is chocolate, so I chose the Magnolia Press chocolate cake with buttercream filling, which felt like a fancy Hostess snack. The hot, spiced latte on a cold and dreary day served to warm me up before we drove the 90 miles back to Austin. 418 S 8th St, Waco, TX, magnolia.com
6. The Cafe at Hotel 1928
Five blocks north of the Silos is another Gaines' Fixer Upper project, the Hotel 1928, which opened on November 3, 2023. The beautifully appointed hotel features a cafe with seating overlooking the two-story library, in a living room-like space with a fireplace, and a room with windows.
Whether staying at the hotel or dropping by to look inside the common areas and dining spaces, The Cafe at Hotel 1928 is worth a few minutes of your time. Drip coffee, espresso drinks, matcha lattes, and tea are available, as are a small selection of pastries and light bites. 701 Washington Ave, Waco, TX, hotel1928.com
7. Be Kind Coffee
Be Kind Coffee, founded in 2021 by Waco native Will Suarez and Alex Sanchez, is a third-wave coffee shop committed to fostering community through kindness. It's right there in the name.
The cafe offers a vegan-friendly menu, including specialty lattes like the honey oat milk-based Be Kind Latte and an on-site bakery known for its chocolate chip cookies.
Suarez's design background and Sanchez's food photography experience contribute to the shop's fun branding and atmosphere. Together, they aim to create a welcoming space where quality coffee and compassion go hand in hand.1534 Washington Ave, Waco, TX, bekindcoffeecrew.com
Note: Be Kind Coffee's second location in Union Hall is temporarily closed.
8. Dichotomy Coffee & Spirits
For more than 10 years, Dichotomy Coffee & Spirits has occupied a renovated storefront in downtown Waco. A mix of modern and vintage elements defines the space. The interior features exposed brickwork, floor tiles reminiscent of the original shop, and furnishings by local artisans.
The coffee house serves a range of espresso-based drinks, including macchiatos, cortados, cappuccinos, lattes, and batch brew coffee, all made with beans from local roastery Apex Coffee Roasters.
Unique offerings like the "1885"—a combination of espresso and Dr Pepper over ice—highlight their innovative approach to coffee. A rooftop deck provides views of downtown and delivers a distinctive coffee experience in Waco. 508 Austin Ave, Waco, TX, dichotomycs.com
9. Street Dog Cafe
Street Dog Cafe is on a mission "to bring awareness to helping dogs get foster placements or adopted into their forever families." This breakfast and lunch spot provides drip coffee and espresso drinks with housemade syrups.
When Kel and I stopped by this new coffee shop in East Waco for breakfast on a Wednesday morning, we ordered an assortment of goodies to fuel our drive home:
- Cappuccino
- Chai latte
- Parmesan herb biscuit
- Breakfast cookie (nuts, seeds, cranberries, and peanut butter)
- Vegetarian quiche
Street Dog Cafe sells custom desserts, including a chocolate cake with espresso buttercream frosting and strawberry rhubarb pie. 406 Elm Ave, Waco, TX, streetdogcafe.com
10. Milk Bottle Cookies
I'm including Milk Bottle Cookies on my list as we're superfans. Since 2021, we've stopped by to pick up cookies a half-dozen times. Chocolate-dipped strawberry, red velvet, chocolate chip, marigold, and "Cup of Dirt" cookies—we've tried them all.
The first cookie we tried, "Better Than Sex," remains our favorite. As Milk Bottle Cookies' Instagram account describes, it's "chocolate dough packed with Heath bar bits, dark chocolate nibs, and wrapped in creamy vanilla buttercream, topped with more Heath dust and a drizzle of caramel."
The menu offers espresso drinks, pour-overs, cold brew, chai, milk (of course), and tea to enjoy with your cookies. 218 S 11th St, Waco, TX, milkbottlecookies.com
Whether you’re in town for a Baylor game, a weekend getaway, or just passing through, the best coffee shops in Waco offer more than a caffeine fix. They reflect the city’s creative energy and sense of community, one cup at a time.