Coffee

Before the 1970s, hardly any cafes specialized in coffee (other than a few beatnik hangouts in New York and San Francisco) and few people knew or cared about lattes, Americanos, macchiatos, red-eyes, and black-eyes. New Orleans had Cafe du Monde and Morning Call, where cafe au lait was served with sugar-dusted beignets, and some ethnic restaurants offered the likes of espresso or cafe con leche. But generally speaking, America’s coffee consciousness was low. The success of Peet’s Coffee (which started in Berkeley in 1966) and Starbucks (Seattle, 1971) inspired countless places where coffee drinks, made to order, are the specialty of the house and where food consists mostly of pastries and small bites that go with coffee. Coffee houses encourage customers to linger and almost always offer free wi-fi.