Tis the season to cozy up with a warm cup of hot cocoa and burrow down to study. Here are seven coffee shops in the area to fulfill your every chocolatey craving.
Coffee Shops Within Walking Distance of SMU
If you live on campus and don’t have a car, you’re probably tired of studying in Fondren and drinking Starbucks. Here are two alternative options you can walk (or scooter) to from SMU.
This casual, cozy coffee shop is in Snider Plaza, only a nine-minute walk from Fondren. Get some latte art on your Instagram feed at this D-magazine-award-winning study spot.
Along with coffee, Pearl Cup also sells breakfast food, sandwiches, and salads all day, in case you get the munchies while making those color-coded flashcards.
2. Herb’s House Coffee + Company
It’ll take fifteen minutes to walk to this coffee shop from Fondren, but the wide-open interior is well worth the cardio. Herb’s boasts seating for 130+ people, so bring your whole study group along to work at the large, comfortable tables.
You can get a steaming cup of hot chocolate for under four dollars here, so stay warm while staying money-savvy.
Best Study Spots
If you’re really looking to bury your nose in a textbook and focus for a few hours, these two places can serve you coffee and then give you the space you need.
Toasted specializes in—you guessed it—toast. Along with sandwiches and coffee, of course. If you’ve been craving avocado toast, look no further, because the “Ava-Ca-Damn” toast at Toasted is sublime.
Come for the food and stay for the studying, because Toasted has lots of seating and large, open tables for all your cramming needs.
Black Forest is actually a small shop, but that’s okay, because it’s inside Half-Price Books. The quiet bookstore environment is certain to get you in the mood to do that reading you’ve been procrastinating on, especially if you find a table hidden among the bookshelves.
If you head over to Black Coffee, make sure to give the vanilla latte a try—trust me.
Coffee Shops Open Late
Sometimes, daytime studying just doesn’t cut it. If you’re a night owl, check out these coffee shops that are open well into the evening so you can begin that all-nighter somewhere other than your dorm room.
Not only does White Rock coffee have a lovely old-farmhouse aesthetic, it’s also open until 11 p.m. On weekends, you can listen to some live music or head upstairs to the second level for a quieter space.
This coffee shop is sure to make you feel right at home with the soft guitar sounds and the layers of whipped cream topping the cocoa.
6. Halcyon
Head out to this hip hangout where you can drink coffee by day and sip cocktails by night until 12 a.m. You can attend happy hour from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. or test your knowledge with Saturday night trivia.
Whether you like live music or planting succulents, Halcyon Coffee Bar has something for everyone.
7. Starbucks
Of course, we couldn’t have a list of coffee shops without Starbucks. Specifically, the Starbucks within Park Lane Shopping Center is open until 11 p.m., so you can get some last-minute work done on their beautiful couches or sitting out on their patio.
While Starbucks may not be an underground, bougie coffee discovery, let’s admit it: sometimes, you just want a Pumpkin Spice Latte.
