These coffee shops are all within a ten minute drive from TU. Graphic by Julianne Tran

Favorite coffee shops near TU

With so many surrounding coffee shops, here are five places for any of your caffeine needs.

Out of the 17 coffee shops in the TU area alone, how do you find the best one?

Out of all these, I personally like to frequent five of them due to their proximity to the campus.

The first shop is University of Tulsa’s very own located in the McFarlin library. This location is good for a quick stop in between classes or heading back to your dorm room. On top of good customer service, their speed is topnotch. Your order can be churned out in three minutes or less, which is good when you are in a hurry. They have many options including tea, soda and energy drinks on the side. The downside of this location is that if you are craving coffee past 3 p.m. you are out of luck. For those of us who get out of class after three and need a pick-me-up, you will need to venture off campus.

The next closest coffee shop is 918 Coffee on 11th Street. This is one of my personal favorite locations due to how spacious it is inside and their mocha frappe mixture. It is a perfect place to get studying done or catch up with a friend. They offer unique flavors in their frappes and lattes, such as Reese’s (my husband’s favorite), Lavender Lace and Raspberry Truffle. One pro for this location is that they offer a discount for students! However, a con to consider is that they recently started charging extra for decaf coffee in certain drinks. 918 also has a small selection of vegan and gluten-free food items if you are wanting a light lunch.

Moving north is She Brews Coffee House, formerly the location of Fair Fellow Coffee, in the Kendall-Whittier neighborhood. She Brews serves “coffee with a cause.” The most unique thing about this shop is that each purchase helps women with transitional housing, employment and job skill training and mentorship for formerly incarcerated women. Here you will find the friendliest service and the cutest decor that is perfect for photo opportunities. One of my favorite drinks there is their dark chocolate “dirty frappe” which is especially sweet, but they do offer other flavors for the blended coffee if you are not into sugary coffee.

Down on 6th Street is the artisan coffee shop Cirque Coffee. They host an industrial style decor with menus accessed by QR codes. You can sit down and relax at one of the tables and someone will come up and take your drink order, or you can go to the counter where there are plenty of stools to sit on. They offer cereal flavored lattes and a signature bourbon vanilla draft latte. If you happen to arrive there after 3 p.m., don’t worry! They also have a drive-through location on 14th and Utica.

The last shop nearby is Coffee House on Cherry Street. This is a cute, intimate location that is perfect for hanging out with friends or having a first date. The perfect time to go to this location is on a weekday as it gets extremely busy and crowded on the weekend. Among all the different coffees to try they host a dessert case full of baked goods to meet your cravings, with gluten free options available.

Most of these locations are pretty affordable, Cirque being a little on the higher end. Each shop caters to different coffee palettes and atmospheres, but all are definitely worth checking out!

Post Author: Elissa Noel