I guess it’s time for a true confession. I’m a coffee snob. And when I travel, I have a passion for supporting local roasters and coffee houses. Let’s just say I’ve BEAN Around the World and I’m feeling like now is the time to start sharing the love… and caffeine, one city at a time. Recently, I had a fantastic holiday in Slovenia. Given the shared border with Italy and all the cafes around Ljubljana advertising Illy brand coffee, I wasn’t sure if I’d find coffee shops worth sharing with my fellow Bean Around The World travelers, so I was thrilled to find two fantastic places owned by some very special people. I’ve got lots to share with you, so let’s open the TWG cafe society doors and talk coffee, Slovenian style.

Before I talk about these individual places, let me first describe a bit about what you’ll find in Ljubljana. What you won’t find is Starbucks. And as in many countries and cities, there aren’t “just coffee” cafes. By this, I mean that many restaurants and smaller eateries consider themselves coffee houses too. Cafes in Slovenia also serve meals and alcohol (it’s not hard to get a liquor license) even though they may advertise as the “best coffee house in Ljubljana.” This made it tricky because what I wanted to find and be able to recommend were great COFFEE places for people who wanted the vibe and coffee quality of the kinds of places I always refer you to.

In my search, I actually eliminated a few places because I didn’t care for their vibe and didn’t think they were paying enough attention to the coffee end of their business. So I was super happy to be able to find two that not only were worth reviewing, but proved to be up there in the “best of” levels of any I’d been to anywhere in the world!

TOZD was created and established 5 years ago by Robert Henigman. I immediately liked the feel of TOZD because when I say Robert created this space, I mean it’s a creative, fun environment with books and artwork all over the space. Even the menu on the wall had anatomical x-ray like images of parts of the human body. As a health & fitness professional, I personally loved it.

I guess it’s time for a true confession. I’m a coffee snob. And when I travel, I have a passion for supporting local roasters and coffee houses. Let’s just say I’ve BEAN Around the World and I’m feeling like now is the time to start sharing the love… and caffeine, one city at a time. You may recall, I started this series with San Diego. When I wrote about the coffee scene in Hawaii, the topic of coffee in San Francisco came up. Readers gave me a bunch of places to check out the next time I was in the Bay Area and I had a chance recently to do that. And I’ve got a LATTE to share! So let’s open the TWG cafe society doors and talk coffee.

First a few parameters. Readers gave me coffee places to try all over the Bay Area, but this time I only visited places within San Francisco. Next time I’ll explore places outside the city. Secondly, I’m going to talk about the cafes in the order I tried them. You’ll know by my comments which ones were my favorites :) As you might recall, I’m judging more than the coffee. I’m also taking into account the ambiance, service, and general vibe.

The first place I went to is Andytown Coffee Roasters. They have two locations, both of which are in the Outer Sunset. They turned out to be one of my favorites, so besides the fact that their beverages are 50-75 cents less than the other coffee places, the whole experience is worth heading out to the beach for!