Cup A Joe

I love this location. I’m here several times a week but never remember to check-​in. Their baked goods (done by someone locally) are always fresh and very good. Favorites are the chocolate stick, poppy seed bread, and double chocolate chip cookie. They have different coffees almost every day but you can get any of their beans brewed fresh as an Indie Joe. It’s always fairly busy and makes for fun people watching if you sit outside on one of their old school desks which are kind of cool I think.

It’s just a good all around coffee shop for getting a drink and/​or pastry and doing some work or hanging out. I really appreciate the proximity to used bookstores too.
There isn’t much outdoor seating, and too much direct, afternoon sunshine and cigarette smokers to be extremely comfortable, but the inside is fun with lots of unique seating options and tables of varying sizes for different sized groups.

Not impressed with the coffee at all. Wife ordered a latte, I ordered a cappuccino. The foam was not correct, and the espresso had a strong burnt/​black licorice note to it.
Also, pretty ugly presentation. 3 stars because they sell some good locally roasted coffee beans.

More inviting atmosphere and better coffee than a certain coffee shop by Jasmin and Mitch’s down the street. Lot of food selections, too. Employees seem disorganized, however. They were confused by my complicated order of a mocha and a cinnamon twist. Also, my friend wanted to pay with Android Pay, and a lively debate broke out among the employees about whether or not they accepted it.

Great place. Price is marginally higher but the coffee is great. Have tried egg sandwiches and the Monday Special Milkshakes. They are really good. I see lots of cookies and muffins. They are cheap and huge. Still have to try that. But the place feels nice.

Very cool atmosphere and very friendly staff. The only thing better is the amazingly good coffee.

Definitely one of my favorite coffee shops in Raleigh. Good prices, so many yummy options, and love to hang out and relax in there :)
The only negative about the place is their manager… She always looks so ridiculously miserable and is unnecessarily nasty to employees in front of the entire café. Kind of makes me uncomfortable and puts a bad vibe in the air. Other than that, a go-​to!

Terrible experience. I come here with my friends to get coffee all the time. I came in on Friday night ordered drinks and pastries and asked my other friend to meet up with us there. He came into the store and had bought a Starbucks drink before hand. The cashier asked my friend to either throw out his drink or leave the establishment. Long story short, cup a Joe lost 5 customers last night.

Cup a Joe is the kinda place where artsy, punk and creative townie types like to hang out at. There’s that comfortable feel. The kind of feeling where you can drink coffee all day while writing a novel, drawing or reading your new favorite book.
The coffee did its job of keeping my eyeballs open but I missed the creamy, frothy lattes I’m used to.
That being said I would definitely make it a routine to grab coffee and go next door to Nice Price for records and books! A great Saturday afternoon agenda.

I’ve never gotten the appeal. It is open late which is the biggest plus, and often has interesting clientele so not a bad place for people watching. Though its often uncomfortably cold (even wearing a hoodie) so hard to stay too long. I’ve only had the drip coffee, which is ok-​nothing special but it’s cheap.
The worst thing about Cup a Joe is how employees are treated by management. Almost every time I’ve been I’ve seen employees being berated in front of customers for nothing, which is not ok. If they seem unfriendly its because they aren’t allowed to talk to customers, as apparently if they have time to talk they have time to do other things (good customer service doesn’t count?). I’ve never figured out what this is-​it clearly can’t be to clean up because the place is grungy. I don’t particularly care about a little grunge or about standoffish baristas but I don’t like giving money to a business which treats employees like shit. I’d choose it over Starbucks but there are so many other local coffee shops nearby.

Cup A Joe is a basic coffee shop that’s been overhyped for a long time now. I give it two stars because it’s somewhere to get coffee, but you really could the same cup of coffee anywhere else. Hipsters love it, that’s all it is, don’t be fooled. I’ll go there if I’m near it or if I have to.

«Short Coffee for Here» are words to «enjoy Life by» while in Raleigh NC

No nonsense, fresh roasted and quickly prepared coffee — however you like it. My go-​to coffee source early in the morning when I need an extra Joe-​kick.

My first visit here was something of a surprise. Instead of a coffee shop — or at least, your stereotypical coffee shop scene — Cup A Joe reminded me of a Philadelphia pizza joint. Drab lighting…
Thing is though, they know their coffee drinks. Check out their full menu. With flavors like Costa Rica Tarrazu and Tanzania Peaberry, I could see them coming off as thrill-​seeking bean hunters like the dude from «Dangerous Grounds.» Okay, maybe I’m stretching a bit…
I don’t hang out here, nor do I ever order anything interesting. This has been an occasional stop for espresso if I’ve had a long overnight. The coffee is fine but if there is any aesthetic appeal here, it’s pretty much over my head.

Love this place! The coffee and service is impeccable. The audience are NCSU students who are staring endlessly either at their laptop or out the window. They’re building a horrendous apartment across the street and this will make the entire area feel claustrophobic and cause worse traffic jams. I feel bad for all of the boys who sit outside with tats, looking like unmade beds. I hope they aren’t ushered away by the new breed of mongrels from other cities that are invading us. Love the weekly specials and the free Wi FI. The food is ok, a bagel, a full-​of-​fat muff. It’s all here, even occasional cruising between Emo gay boys and Game of Throne boys who go to the bathroom to pull out their swords and fight!

I enjoy going here. The atmosphere is energetic and positive.
They had outside seating which is great on a sunny day. Note, the sun beats down during the summer with very little to no shadows.
You can be very minimal or complex to your order with this menu. There are plenty of seats. I tend to hold business meetings here.
Good place to get work done.
Good location although parking may be difficult from time to time.
Note, there is currently a ton of construction going on in this area. Should be complete soon.

I keep Cup A Joe in my regular rotation. I love to stop in for Fusion Friday for a chai fusion with the amazing chai whipped cream.
This location is speedier than the other location but I can’t see myself hanging out at either. Too much stuff going on. I prefer to get mine to go. I don’t love it when the older guy with the ponytail is working the line. Too tense for an AM. I like the younger guy and tall girl who also run the line. They are nice and mellow but keep things moving.
The only thing I don’t like about Cup A Joe is their iced coffee. Way too weak. Opt for an iced espresso drink instead.
Their baked goods are yummy too. Definitely worth a taste.

Cup a Joe is not a Starbucks. If that makes you uncomfortable, then stop reading this now and go to Starbucks.
Every day this place fights the battle against fatigue and general laziness with their four and six shot lattes. I have to be careful not to overdo it too late in the afternoon because a four shot rocket of caffeine can tend to give you the shakes if you are piling it on top of a full day of coffee consumption. They run specials throughout the week for different drinks. Wednesday and Thursday are the golden days where they have Wired Wednesday espresso madness, and all the Iced Lattes are on special on Thursday.
I’m not going to talk much about the décor. I’ll give you two things; Frank Zappa and an old-​school table top Pac-​Man video game. You can connect the dots and figure out the rest. Is it hipster? Most of the time that I go in there I see people from the University. I’m not sure if that makes it hipster, but I don’t see a lot of soccer moms and dude-​bros, so I guess calling it hipster just keeps those kind of folks away, so this place is hipster as shit.
Another plus is that they roast their own beans on site. If your hungry, they have a limited food menu that consist mostly of pastries, but you can get some sort of a lunch inspired creation that consist of ham and cheese. I never go here looking to eat, it’s called Cup a Joe not Cup a Ham. I’m rating it based on it being a coffeehouse, and this place gets five stars.

What an eclectic coffee shop~
There seemed to be a lot of mixed reviews for this coffee shop so I came with an open mind.
From the décor to the customers, I loved the wide range of variety this place embraced.
The walls have a lot of colorful/​random décor, but it all works!
The tables and chairs are bit worn down, but I personally think it gave the place a nice vintage touch~
They also have drink specials for each day of the week.
I tried their iced latte– they have a lot of different flavor options to personalize your drink, which made my happy!
Their latte had the perfect amount of sweetness to it (although I do wish they weren’t so gracious with the ice…)
Side note: their outdoor seating solely consists of those student desk chairs, just thought I’d put that out there.
I had to take away a star because of the sassy barista. As I was looking at the menu on the wall, I saw him roll his eyes! I admit, I was taking some time to figure out what I wanted to get but hey, it was my first time here AND there was no line!
«Why you gotta be so rude~~~»
Thankfully, I didn’t have to see him again once I got my drink.
Overall, this place is a great place to study/​chit-​chat/​relax/​do-​whatever-​you-​want-​to-​do; there’s no judgement here!

Not a huge fan of the grungy décor (and the fact that everything looks like it could use a good scrubbing) but one of the best chai tea lattes around. It was smooth and spicy, without being too overpowering. Also the whipped cream was surprisingly tasty (i’m usually not a whipped cream lover). The snacks and sandwiches also looked great!
Like I mentioned before the décor is kinda a mess, consisting of a hodge-​podge of different benches and chairs that are hard and ripped. I brought a book to read while enjoying my drink but couldn’t get comfortable. Definitely a departure from the overstuffed cushions and mounds of pillows i’m used to when visiting a coffee shop. I think next time i’ll enjoy my order to-​go.