Bold Bean Coffee Roasters - Riverside — Restaurant in Jacksonville

Order: My favorites are the Vanilla Latte or the Cappuccino Price: $3-$6 depending on your order and adds Pros: Hands down best coffee in Jax, and one of the best coffee shops period Cons: Seating can be hard to come by, sometimes the wait gets long when they are busy

Thoughts: Do you like coffee? If so this isn't a difficult choice; go, now. If you have never been, drop what you're doing and go experience some of the best coffee of your life. If you don't like coffee….you're doing life wrong and you should seek professional help.

Seriously though this place is amazing, coffee is their craft and to them the creation is an art form. The please is the embodiment of coffee; from the smell of freshly roasted coffee when you walk in, to the friendly and extremely knowledgeable staff, to the perfection of their espresso, to the literal art in the foam on their drinks, this place does coffee right. They hand make all their own syrups and they are all amazing, they even cycle a monthly "specialty" syrup that is normally a little odd sounding but utterly delicious. The real star here is their espresso, it is the best espresso I have ever had the pleasure of drinking; and how they get there is a process. They work closely with all the growers of their beans, they do all their own roasting, and they put a lot of effort into trying their staff; all for that perfect cup of coffee.

The only real downside to Bold Bean is a result of their immense popularity. They are often extremely busy, resulting in a noticeable wait time of 5+ minutes for coffee when they are really slammed. On top of that seating can be hard to come by (again, only when they are slammed) but overall I've never had to wait for a table if I'm willing to not be too picky. It's hard to really count popularity as a "downside" since it just speaks to how awesome this place really is.

The only real thing I wish they would do is to put some good outside seating in. They currently only have two small round tables and a few chairs. I realize that space is limited and most people probably like sitting inside but I love outside seating (which their Beaches location has). Nothing like sitting in the sunshine, reading a good book, and sipping on an iced...

Dear Bold Bean: So I'm a really old guy and I'm an actual writer and my wife and I've been coming down from NY to Riverside to stay in air bnbs for 2 or 3 or 4 weeks for ten years now in January, because we love it, here and always loved this place. I'd get coffee, I'd write, liked the music, always felt welcome, right? This year, something was different. I've come in 7 of the last 11 days between 10-12, and there's this guy behind the counter with long brown kind of unwashed hair behind each ear and weirdly aviator-like silver-rimmed glasses, and I guess some facial hair. If he's not taking my order, and any other person is, from the sweet women and the cool other guys, it's just a cool experience as always. But if this guy is taking my order, it's as if I'm an intruder on his turf. Sometimes even if he didn't take the order, but seems to be supervising, I catch his eye and he he's looking at me with this bizarre almost hostile indifference. I'm about to turn 70, and so obviously not hip (though I know all the music they ever play). But the other young people not only indulge me, they're just fun. But this guy creeps me out. I became so paranoid, because I am basically an insecure guy, that waiting for my camomile iced-tear to seep, I watched him deal with other people, and he was always happy and jolly with them. Am I wrong to think that he thinks that as a really old guy he thinks I'm poaching on his Young Hip Territory and should go away? Or does he just not like my vibe, which, seriously, is not threatening in the slightest way? Am I making this whole thing up? Anyway, we're heading back north tomorrow, so it doesn't really matter. But when we come back in March, if he's still giving me that look, I'm going to go to the Starbucks next to the Publix from here on in. Advice? --...

I went to the Jacksonville Beach shop after church and wanted to grab a coffee before heading home. The shop is very simplistic and clean. Loved the Charles Darwin photograph on the wall (bio major FTW)! Anyway, I had a dirty chai latte and requested a suggestion for a baked treat. The barista was raving over the cookies and even though I'm not a fan of chocolate chip cookies...this was extra special. Perfectly sweet and salty. I kept looking at the thing wondering how it was made into perfection! I tried the drink and something tasted familiar.....it tasted like a cigar was put out in my drink. I don't know if the espresso was burnt or if the chai was just to spicy but it had the aftertaste of cigar smoke....and I loved it. I don't know why but it really hit the spot. Anyway, I mean, what else are you going to do in Jax? you might as well drop in and give it a try!

P.S. There was a guy in there with his laptop asking about the WIFI code and they stated they didn't have one. The customer was SUPER snarky at the barista saying stuff like "Oh do you guys still accept cash? because that's pretty modern." The Barista was really kind and joking in reply. I thought that was respectable and worth my business seeing him killing the dude...