Motoring Coffee
Coffee shop · Union Street ·
Coffee, matcha, and pastries amid rotating vintage cars.
Coffee, matcha, and pastries amid rotating vintage cars.
"Car enthusiasts and office employees looking for their third place have a new Union Street cafe to consider with the opening of Motoring Coffee. An offshoot of the Los Angeles-based Motoring Club and its related cafe, Motoring Coffee pours coffee and matcha drinks in a classic car environment. While you’re checking out the rotating cafe car — which, at opening, is a 1986 Porsche 911 — order the shop’s single-origin cold brew or a matcha latte, and spring for a pastry or two provided by Saltwater Bakeshop." - Paolo Bicchieri
"This car-themed coffee shop with an original location in LA just landed in Cow Hollow. There’s a vintage red Porsche hanging out in the middle of the warehouse-y space, with some seats if you want to hunker down and tap away at a laptop. Aside from espresso drinks and matcha, there are a few pastry options, plus breakfast sandwiches coming soon. We recently checked out Motoring Coffee. Read our review here." - ricky rodriguez, julia chen 1
"There’s a shiny red Porsche parked in the middle of Motoring Coffee, so you can walk around and say things like “Wow, look at that Porsche” while you wait for your perfectly fine vanilla latte (a plus: no charge for alternative milks here). The Cow Hollow coffee shop doubles as a garage for vintage cars in a warehouse-y space on Union. There are a few tables (one is balanced on the back of a truck), and bike races and F1 are projected on the wall. The coffee and matcha are good—though not really worth the potential 30-minute wait on weekends—and pleasant to sip on while tapping away at a laptop or overhearing the table next to you discussing their carbon fiber wings. For all the serious car people, this place has a membership-only club that gets you access to car-related social events and a bigger coworking space in the back. photo credit: Albert Law photo credit: Albert Law photo credit: Albert Law Pause Unmute" - Julia Chen
"The aroma of coffee greets visitors, but my attention was immediately stolen by a 1986 Porsche 911 in iconic Guards Red and, peeking past it, a six-person communal work table balanced on the bed of a 1998 Honda Acty K truck. This 2,000-square-foot San Francisco cafe is the second location of the Los Angeles–based Motoring Club (founded in 2019 by Michael Rapetti) and is part coffee shop, part private club — designed for working, hanging out, ogling cars, and snacks. The team works with Coffee Manufactory out of Los Angeles and is finetuning bean sourcing and blends roasted by Manufactory; beyond standard drip, espresso, flat whites, and lattes they serve specialty drinks like the Burnt Rubber (a cold brew with black sesame syrup, activated charcoal, foam, and a dash of black sesame seeds that look like tire tread) and offer a matcha program through a partnership with Nekohama Matcha. Motoring makes organic syrups in-house, doesn’t charge extra to swap to almond or oat milk, and includes retail with branded cups, beans, clothing, a curated vintage jacket section, plants for sale, and a rotating car up front (priced as “Market Price” on the menu). A glass wall and doors at the back lead to the private membership lounge — a larger co-work area with more cars to geek out over, including a vintage Rolls Royce limousine converted into a meeting room — though membership isn’t required to enjoy the main cafe; the space will also host quarterly markets, pop-ups, and F1 projections. Motoring Coffee (1525 Union Street) is open daily from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m." - Dianne de Guzman
