The St. Pete coffee bar where the flat white tastes of chocolate and berries.
Issue 19
Bad Mother, on the first floor of the Station House downtown, is a dark, quiet room with sofas, staff who talk beans, and a flat white that never overdoes it.
Most coffee rooms in St. Petersburg are bright and busy. Bad Mother is the opposite. It sits on the first floor of the Station House downtown, and the room is dark and posh without trying too hard, with sofas, plenty of seats, and ambient music kept low enough that you forget it is on.
We ordered the flat white. It was made with a blend called The Natural from Black & White Coffee Roasters in Raleigh, North Carolina, and it had chocolate and berry notes that never took over the cup. Balanced, and clearly made with care.
Chocolate and berry, and neither one shouting.
Why it is worth the trip
Bad Mother is a Steep Pick, and the coffee is only half of it. The staff are coffee people. We asked a lot of questions about the beans and they answered every one, happily. The shop rotates guest roasters, so ask what is on. It is clean, quiet, and one of the easiest places in the city to work, read or sit for an hour with nothing planned.
They also make pour overs and run private tastings. We have not tried either yet, and they are the reason we are going back. Hours can change, so check before a long trip.
- Bad Mother Steep PickDowntown St. Petersburg · St. Petersburg · Steep Index 8.9/10
A dark, posh coffee bar inside the Station House, with a balanced, chocolate-and-berry flat white and staff who will talk about the beans.
- Daycation Coffee Steep PickDowntown St. Petersburg · St. Petersburg · Steep Index 8.8/10
A tiny owner-run shop just north of Central Avenue that looks like nothing from the street, where the owner and staff talk you through how to drink the house specialties.
Make it a morning
Daycation Coffee is about a fourteen minute walk away on MLK Street, a tiny owner-run shop that looks like nothing from outside. Order the cortado, then the Ode to My 90s. Between the two you have a very good morning.
On our radar
We wrote a short guide to the five St. Petersburg coffee shops we would send a friend to first, and which one suits what, on steep. If there is a St. Pete stop we are missing, reply and tell us.