Caffè Trieste

Trieste is one of the city's original Italian coffeehouses, which came of age in North Beach at the center of the 1950s Beat movement. A former hangout for Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and their pals, it's also the spot where Francis Ford Coppola is said to have written the screenplay for The Godfather. Trieste still roasts its beans in San Francisco and arguably produces some of the best espresso in town—available packaged for purchase from their shop next door. Inside the café, the dark walls are plastered with photos of opera singers and famous regulars, and on select Saturdays, members of the extended Giotta family continue their longstanding tradition of performing popular Italian songs and operatic arias.