The Essentials of a College Town Coffee Shop

As students, it can be difficult to find a good study spot. 

We get tired of studying in libraries. We get forced out of our own rooms because it's too difficult to study with our best friend (or our enemy) as a roommate. 

My recommendation? Find a favorite coffee shop. (And owners of local coffee shops, be advised that we can be a demanding crowd). 

Here are a few college town coffee shop essentials: 

1. Coffee

This one is a given. And I don’t just mean Folgers — I can make that in my room. I mean, good coffee. No grounds and just the right water to coffee ratio. Furthermore, kudos to the coffee shops that offer free refills on drip coffee.

Shout out to Caffé Driade. Heck, they made BBC’s list of America's best coffee bars

2. Seating — Lots of seating

Nothing is worse than the almost perfect coffee shop when there isn't enough seating. Plus, a coffee shop that has a variety of seating options makes everyone more comfortable. When you’ve been sitting in a hard chair during your classes, nothing beats a comfy couch.

Shout out to Open Eye Café. 

3. Outlets — Lots of electrical outlets

The worst thing is a dead laptop with no accessible outlets. When you put forth the effort to study somewhere fun, you want to actually be able to access said studies.

Shout out to Bread and Butter Bakery & Coffee Shop.

4. Free Wi-Fi — Enough said

5. Food — Real food

We’re here for the long haul. If you serve food, we’ll stay for breakfast, lunch and maybe dinner.

Shout out to The Root Cellar Café.

6.  Atmosphere — I’m feelin' the vibe, man

There are always going to be students who are library rats. They prefer the intense florescent soul sucking light and uncomfortable chairs. These are not the students coffee shops need to appeal to. The students that competitive coffee shops need to win are the ones who abhor such violent thrusts into productivity.

Shout out to Johnny’s Gone Fishin’.

7. Tunes, but not noise

For those of us that don’t enjoy the sound of pens dropping, we prefer a nice melody. However, it’s not a productive space if you can’t hear yourself think. So have fun with your music selection, but don't make us worry for our eardrums.

8. Price

This is a simple concept. We’re college students. We’re not made of money. And for those of us whose parents are loaded, they’d probably still appreciate a break. Drip coffee has pretty standard pricing, but scones, cookies and cakes can rake in the dough for local shops.

Here are a few suggestions from the Daily Tar Heel’s Will Schoeffler. If that isn't enough for you, I asked my Facebook friends for a little help on this project. See what they said: