A Misty Motorcycle Ride Through San Francisco Starts at This Badass Coffee Shop

Motorcycles

On any Saturday morning in San Francisco, drive all the way south on Mission Street past the Mission taquerias and Bernal bars, and ride into the heart of the Excelsior District. At the corner of Excelsior Avenue, you’ll spot a gleaming black-and-gold coffee shop with a dozen motorcycles parked out front. Welcome to Excelsior Coffee, the new-school coffee shop in this old-school neighborhood. This spot has a reputation for roasting and brewing good coffee, and rolls deep in the motorcycle scene. This is where riders fuel up on clutch espresso and breakfast burritos before peeling out for weekend adventures.

Mom-and-pop owners Lea Sabado and Andre Higginbotham share a passion for vintage motorcycles and classic cars. Sabado is also an accountant, who balanced the books for coffee clients like Four Barrel and Cento Coffee for years. Higginbotham is a history teacher at George Washington High School and runs the only high school auto shop program in San Francisco. At the time of writing, between the two of them, they own 18 vintage motorcycles and three classic cars, in addition to their everyday vehicles and Sprinter van. A few treasures: a 1973 Yamaha RD350, Harley-Davidson XLCR, 1966 Ford Mustang Fastback, and 1986 Dodge Omni GLHS.

But they backed into owning a coffee shop in this neighborhood. As a teacher, Higginbotham always drank a lot of coffee, and sometimes slung lattes as a barista during summer vacations. They moved to the Excelsior District in 2012 to buy their first home and start a family — their boys Cruz and Malcolm are now six and three years old, respectively. As much as they loved the neighborhood, “When we first moved here and looked around, it was like — tacos, Safeway, and the post office,” Sabado says. “We wanted a true cafe with espresso.”

Sabado sold her 1964 Ford Falcon to buy their La Marzocco espresso machine, which Higginbotham services and repairs himself. They offer a full range of espresso, pourovers, and cold brew. They’ve always done an old-school drip coffee for $3 because certain regulars demand a big cup to go with their doughnut from the shop next door. And for everyone who loves a little sweetness, they also make horchata, matcha, and hojicha lattes.

The pastry case features wild purple treats from Ube Area, croissants from Saltwater Bakeshop, and sourdough from Rize Up Bakery. Chef Toby Shimizu of PacificSmoke does the banana bread and breakfast burritos, and he’s into kalua pork, sauces, pickles, and flavors from his Guamanian heritage. They do have a liquor license and a kitchen, and plan to add happy hour this fall. They hope to serve wine, beer, and savory snacks, like maybe trumpet mushrooms with salsa macha or fried cauliflower with spicy aioli.

But the goal of the shop was to serve quality and classic coffee that wouldn’t put off the neighborhood with any pretension. For several years, Excelsior Coffee relied on beans from roaster Alex Roberts of RoastCo in Oakland, who created their signature Clutch Espresso and Slow Jam Blend. About nine months ago, they started roasting their own beans in collaboration with Rai Littlejohn of Deathless Coffee in San Francisco. “Our roasting style is slow and steady,” Sabado says. “It really caramelizes the sugar.” They’ve found the neighborhood loves a “medium body with lots of chocolate tones. When you take a shot of espresso, I want it to have a jaw-cracking feeling that wakes you up, and then as you sip it, it’s a full smooth mouthfeel.”

Neon signage depicting four lightning bolts at Excelsior Coffee in San Francisco

The space gleams in black and gold, with touches of taxi cab or school bus yellow. Designer Valerie Shagday created the cool branding and merch, including picking two typefaces. The gold lettering in the window sometimes gets mistaken for a tattoo shop, with “Excelsior” set in a retro font and “coffee” in a modern cursive. Shawna Peterson plugged in the neon sign with four lightning bolts. The team half-painted the walls black and installed skylights to draw eyes up the tall ceilings. When a friend threw away a stack of motorcycle manuals, they ripped out the pages to wallpaper the bathroom. There are two vintage motorcycles on display: A 1967 Bultaco Metralla at the front by the register and a 1971 Yamaha DT250 up high in the back wall — Higginbotham took it apart, carried it up a ladder, laid on his belly, and rebuilt it from up there. It’s got half a dozen custom-painted helmets keeping it company.

It’s a fitting scene for the motorcycle crowd, especially since Sabado and Higgenbotham fought for motorcycle parking on Mission Street. They host two or three events every year, including motorcycle meetups, car rallies, and an annual block party. They also hit the road with a mobile coffee cart, serving lattes at motorcycle and car shows and concerts. The Excelsior is an old-school neighborhood that can feel resistant to new businesses, but it’s also one of the most diverse corners of the city and Sabado believes it helps that she’s Filipina and Higginbotham is Mexican and Black. But maybe most important, it’s a neighborhood that reverberates with motorcycles, at the crossroads of the 280 and 101 highways, for quick escapes to the beach and redwoods. “We’re a motorcycle cafe — those are like the enthusiasts that come in,” Sabado says. “And now the latest trend of people coming in, ever since we started roasting, is the coffee people.”

The couple is celebrating the fifth anniversary of the shop with a party on Sunday, October 20 at the Phoenix Hotel in the Tenderloin. They’ll take over the entire parking lot with vintage motorcycles and classic cars. Neighbor Katie Gray from the tattoo shop the Helm will tattoo onsite, and other artists might be decorating helmets and tanks. Of course, you’ll be able to get your coffee fix at the Excelsior Coffee cart.

This article was originally published by a sf.eater.com . Read the Original article here. .