From the Wayne Avenue coffee corridor downtown to the neighborhood cafés in Oakwood and Kettering, plus the south Dayton shops in Centerville — here's where we send people for a great cup in Dayton.
We're a seasonal shop, open Saturdays only.
You'll find us at the counter on Saturdays, from just after Labor Day through the Saturday before Christmas, 10 AM to 2 PM. The rest of the year we're closed. Order ahead and we'll have it waiting, or see hours and location.
Dayton has quietly turned into one of the best coffee cities in Ohio. Between the roasters clustered along Wayne Avenue, the neighborhood cafés tucked into Oakwood and Kettering, and the newer shops south of town, there is a genuinely great cup within a few minutes of wherever you happen to be standing.
We should say up front: we run a coffee shop. House Blend Cafe is on Franklin Street in uptown Centerville, so read this list with the appropriate grain of salt. But we drink a lot of coffee, we know most of the people behind these counters, and these are the shops we send our own regulars to when they want to explore.
If you only have one morning, spend it here. Wayne Avenue is the heart of Dayton's coffee scene, and you can park once and walk to four excellent shops.
Press keeps it deliberately simple: a full espresso bar, brewed coffee, tea, locally made pastries, and a clean room that is easy to work in. They roast everything they serve under their own label, Wood Burl Coffee, so the beans on the shelf are the same ones in your cup.
Reza's is a roasterie and family café in one. They travel to buy beans directly from the farmers who grow them, roast on site, and serve them in a warm, lived-in space that feels like someone's dining room.
Ghostlight is a true neighborhood gathering place: excellent espresso, drip and tea, baked goods, and a second Midtown location. It is the shop locals mention first when the conversation turns to favorites.
A community-oriented shop built around ethically and socially produced goods. Come for a pour-over, stay for the people.
A micro-lot roaster working with organic, fair trade, single origin coffees roasted to order. If you like tasting the difference between one farm and another, this is your stop.
Founded in 1973 in Englewood, Boston Stoker is the veteran of Dayton coffee and still one of its best known names: locally roasted beans, classic specialty drinks, baked goods, and several locations around the area.
Coffee and chocolate under one roof. Winans has been hand making chocolates for generations and roasts its coffee in Piqua, Ohio, which makes it an easy stop when you want a bag of beans and a box of something sweet.
Coffee and bakery inside the main library downtown, and a second chance employer with a real mission behind the counter. They also have shops in Centerville, Beavercreek and Xenia.
A coffeehouse with adoptable rescue cats in a separate lounge and an art gallery upstairs. Coffee, cats and a good cause is hard to argue with.
A café, bakery and event space in one of Dayton's prettiest historic neighborhoods: seasonally inspired sweet and savory pastries, a full espresso bar, coffee from Carabello Coffee, and organic teas.
Founded in 2017 by local baristas who wanted a shop of their own, Tastefully Roasted stays local on purpose: local sourcing, local businesses, local community.
A European style café with a light menu, scones, coffee and tea. The kind of place that quietly becomes your afternoon habit.
From French pastries to affogatos, Epic covers the whole day: a quick drip on the way to work or a slow affogato on a Sunday afternoon.
Yes, this is us. We are on Franklin Street in uptown Centerville, and we run the shop a little differently: net proceeds support children in need in Centerville schools through the Centerville Noon Optimist Club. Order ahead from your phone, choose pickup or dine-in, and build your own drink from scratch if nothing on the menu is exactly what you want. Read more about how it works.
The Centerville outpost of Coffee Hub, with the same phenomenal coffee, made-from-scratch food and mission of second chances that made the original a local favorite.
A roastery with a coffee shop attached, which is the best possible arrangement: taste a roast and take a bag of it home in the same visit.
Good coffee, better moments. That is their line, and the shop lives up to it: cozy, friendly, and easy to order ahead from.
If you make a day of it, finish in Centerville. Plan around one thing: we are a seasonal shop, open Saturdays only, from just after Labor Day through the Saturday before Christmas (10 AM to 2 PM). Order ahead before you leave your last stop so your drink is ready when you walk in, and know that every cup does a little good for kids in our town.
