Excelsior Coffee
Cafe · Mission Terrace ·
Black and brown-owned coffee shop with motorcycle theme
Black and brown-owned coffee shop with motorcycle theme
"Lea Sabado and Andre Higgenbotham opened this Excelsior neighborhood shop in 2019 with a healthy following of motorcycle fans excited to see a Black and brown-owned business in a very white coffee scene. The shop makes a mean chai, but more relevantly this is the only specialty shop in the area with strong but not overly dark roasts." - Paolo Bicchieri
"This family-run coffee shop opened its doors in 2019, but it already feels like a neighborhood staple that’s been going strong for decades. This friendly yet usually quiet caffeine stop brings standout espresso drinks—and ube brownies, donuts, and other pastries from Ube Area—to the Excelsior. As a neighborhood fixture, they also host latte art throwdowns, local food pop-ups, and the occasional block party." - julia chen 1, lani conway, ricky rodriguez, patrick wong
"This family-run coffee shop has been around since 2019, but it already feels like a neighborhood staple that’s been going strong for decades. This friendly yet usually quiet caffeine stop brings standout espresso drinks—and ube brownies, donuts, and other pastries from Ube Area—to the Excelsior. They also host latte art throwdowns, local food pop-ups, and the occasional block party." - julia chen 1, patrick wong, lani conway
"Two things to know about me: I drink a lot of coffee. I also drink a lot of coffee from this Excelsior spot. The nearly two-year-old cafe makes a damn good latte, which you can get alongside delicious ube brownies from Ube Area and bags of beans to go. They also frequently collaborate with local pop-ups, like Rize Up Sourdough, and exceptional cinnamon roll makers Astranda Bakery. What I love most about Excelsior Coffee is their engagement with the neighborhood community - they recently hosted a socially-distanced block party complete with classic cars, motorcycles, and food from spots like Senor Sisig and Mama Soco Birria." - lani conway
"On a Saturday morning I drove into the heart of the Excelsior District and found a gleaming black-and-gold coffee shop with a dozen motorcycles parked out front — a new-school coffee spot in an old-school neighborhood that’s become known for roasting and brewing great coffee and for being deeply tied to the motorcycle scene. Riders fuel up here on the signature Clutch Espresso and breakfast burritos before heading out for weekend adventures; the owners, Lea Sabado and Andre Higginbotham, bring their passion for vintage motorcycles and cars into the space and even sold personal vehicles (Sabado sold her 1964 Ford Falcon) to invest in a La Marzocco espresso machine that Higginbotham services himself. They offer a full range of espresso, pourovers, cold brew and an old-school $3 drip for regulars, plus horchata, matcha, and hojicha lattes; pastries include offerings from local bakeries and Chef Toby Shimizu of Pacific Smoke supplies banana bread and breakfast burritos featuring kalua pork and other Guamanian flavors. After years using beans from Alex Roberts of RoastCoin Oakland, they now roast their own in collaboration with Rai Littlejohn of Deathless Coffee, favoring a “slow and steady” roast that caramelizes sugars and produces a medium body with chocolate tones — shots that wake you up with a jaw-cracking hit and then a smooth mouthfeel. The interior’s black-and-gold design, vintage motorcycles on display, community events, mobile coffee cart, and plans for a happy hour all reinforce a welcoming, unpretentious neighborhood cafe that’s equally a motorcycle hub and a serious coffee shop." - Becky Duffett
