Jul 30, 2025
Searching for the best coffee shops to work from in San Francisco? A founder’s honest take on why Russian Hill coffee shops are packed with remote workers and students, and why coworking spaces designed for productivity might be the better solution.
I found myself in Russian Hill San Francisco today after a meeting, staring at a packed Philz Coffee on Polk Street. Everyone was fully locked in with backs to the wall, laptops out, that unmistakable “don’t even think about taking my table” energy. I’m sipping a green tea (I know, I know, it’s Philz but sometimes you need the antioxidants), and I can’t leave my stuff for two seconds because, let’s be honest, a MacBook is still pretty attractive. Especially when it’s free.
The irony wasn’t lost on me. Here I am, founder of Groundfloor, sitting in a coffee shop because even I sometimes need to get out of the house when I’m not at one of our Bay Area or LA clubs.
People keep streaming in and out, looking for seats that don’t exist. The baristas are trying to turn tables, but we’re all camped out with our chargers and notebooks like we’re setting up permanent residence. Students with textbooks, freelancers with laptops, remote workers on video calls. This isn’t what coffee shops were designed for, and it shows.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s still a way better experience than working from home alone. There’s something about being around other focused people that just works, even when you’re all competing for outlets and guarding your laptops like territorial animals.
But there’s only so much coffee you want to spend money on when you’re trying to work for six hours. And there’s definitely only so much anxiety you want about whether your stuff will be there when you get back from the bathroom.
Before settling on Philz, I went down the classic rabbit hole of Reddit threads and Google searches trying to find the perfect work spot in Polk Street Russian Hill. Spoiler alert: I’m clearly not the only one with this problem.
Here’s what I found during my desperate search for coffee shops with WiFi and workspace in San Francisco:
Your best bet for actual workspace in the Russian Hill area, just accept that you’ll be there with 30 other laptop warriors. Philz on Polk Street has decent outlets, strong WiFi, but expect to guard your belongings and buy multiple drinks if you’re staying all day. Perfect for remote workers who need reliable internet and power outlets.
Tiny, cute, but completely impractical for actual remote work. Saint Frank Coffee has barely any outlets and about as much workspace as a phone booth. Great coffee though, perfect for quick meetings or short work sessions.
Cafe Reveille San Francisco is a solid choice for digital nomads but gets packed fast. Good luck finding a seat after 9am. Better for early morning work sessions when you need coffee shop workspace with reliable WiFi.
Souvenir Coffee has specialty lattes that are honestly pretty incredible, but the vibe is more “Instagram your drink” than “deep work session.”
Juniper Coffee has the best pastries in San Francisco, hands down. But again, not really built for the laptop crowd. Great for quick work breaks.
UpForDayz has decent workspace vibes for freelancers, though still dealing with the fundamental coffee shop problems.
What struck me during this whole San Francisco coffee shop tour is how convenience makes all the difference. I was willing to deal with all the coffee shop nonsense (the laptop guarding, the forced caffeine consumption, the musical chairs for power outlets) just because these places were walkable from where I needed to be.
This is exactly why we’re building Groundfloor hyperlocal coworking spaces. People will put up with a lot of inconvenience just to avoid working alone at home. The fact that all these San Francisco coffee shops are packed with remote workers and students isn’t because they’re perfect work environments. It’s because they’re the only alternative to working from home most people have.
Coffee shops are doing their best to accommodate us, but they’re running businesses that depend on table turnover and beverage sales. We’re sitting there for hours nursing a single drink and taking up prime real estate. It’s not sustainable for them, and it’s definitely not ideal for us remote workers.
We created Groundfloor coworking spaces specifically for remote workers because working remotely shouldn’t mean choosing between isolation at home and awkwardly camping out in spaces that weren’t designed for work. Sure, it comes with a cost, but you get so much more. You shouldn’t have to guard your laptop or stress about buying your fourth coffee of the day just to keep your table.
If you find yourself in the same Russian Hill predicament I was in, here are the spots that’ll work when you need alternatives to working from home in San Francisco. But honestly, the fact that this list exists proves the point. We’re all making do with spaces that sort of work instead of having access to coworking spaces actually designed for remote workers.
The packed coffee shops tell us something important: remote workers are desperate to get out of the house and be around other people. They’re willing to deal with a lot of inconvenience for that sense of community and shared focus.
That’s the gap Groundfloor coworking is filling. Not just beautiful workspace (though ours definitely is), but the understanding that remote work is fundamentally social. You want to work independently, but you don’t want to work alone.
And you definitely don’t want to spend your entire day wondering if someone’s going to walk off with your laptop. The tradeoff makes sense for us anyways lol.
laptop crowd. Great for quick work breaks.
UpForDayz has decent workspace vibes for freelancers, though still dealing with the fundamental coffee shop problems.
What struck me during this whole coffee shop tour is how convenience makes all the difference. I was willing to deal with all the coffee shop nonsense (the laptop guarding, the forced caffeine consumption, the musical chairs for power outlets) just because these places were walkable from where I needed to be.
This is exactly why we’re building Groundfloor to be hyperlocal. People will put up with a lot of inconvenience just to avoid working alone at home. The fact that all these San Francisco coffee shops are packed with remote workers and students isn’t because they’re perfect work environments. It’s because they’re the only option most people have.
Coffee shops are doing their best to accommodate us, but they’re running businesses that depend on table turnover and beverage sales. We’re sitting there for hours nursing a single drink and taking up prime real estate. It’s not sustainable for them, and it’s definitely not ideal for us remote workers.
We created Groundfloor specifically for remote workers because working remotely shouldn’t mean choosing between isolation at home and awkwardly camping out in spaces that weren’t designed for work. Sure, it comes with a cost, but you get so much more. You shouldn’t have to guard your laptop or stress about buying your fourth coffee of the day just to keep your table.
If you find yourself in the same Russian Hill predicament I was in, here are the spots that’ll work when you need alternatives to working from home. But honestly, the fact that this list exists proves the point. We’re all making do with spaces that sort of work instead of having access to coworking spaces actually designed for how remote workers want to work.
The packed coffee shops tell us something important: remote workers are desperate to get out of the house and be around other people. They’re willing to deal with a lot of inconvenience for that sense of community and shared focus.
That’s the gap Groundfloor is filling. Not just beautiful workspace (though ours definitely is), but the understanding that remote work is fundamentally social. You want to work independently, but you don’t want to work alone.
And you definitely don’t want to spend your entire day wondering if someone’s going to walk off with your laptop. The tradeoff makes sense for us anyways lol.
Tired of guarding your laptop at coffee shops? Explore coworking spaces designed specifically for remote workers who want community without compromise. Try Groundfloor for a day and experience the difference.