The Best Coffee Shops For Studying In Waco
Caffeine, table, and chair that’s pretty much all you need for a great study session! But if you’re looking for the very best coffee shops for studying in Waco, you’re probably also hoping for cozy vibes, an inspiring space, or just a place that looks cuter than the campus library or your dorm room.
So, here are some of my very favorite Waco coffee shops for 1) excellent coffee and 2) amazing ambiances. You’ll basically wish you had more studying to get done once you find your favorite coffee shop. (Kidding.)
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The 10 Best Coffee Shops For Studying In Waco
1. For Keeps
Literally the PRETTIEST coffee shop you’ll find in Waco! For Keeps also has an impressive coffee program with excellent pour overs and really good espresso-based drinks, creative seasonal menus, and some of the best pastries in town. So go ahead and order that cinnamon roll to pair with your latte.
WEBSITE | 3619 Bosque Blvd, Waco, TX 76710, United States
2. Brü Artisan Coffee Works
Bru is on the ground floor of the beautiful Praetorian Building in downtown Waco. While the coffee shop is tiny (they literally built it inside an elevator!), they share a space with Paper Crown Scrapbooking Store. Talk about creative energy! So while you enjoy your fresh cup of coffee (they roast it themselves using direct-trade, micro-lot varietals) and maple scone, you can also get your studying done in a light-filled, inspiring space.
WEBSITE | 601 Franklin Ave., Waco Texas
3. Be Kind Coffee
Be Kind Coffee is an adorable downtown Waco coffee shop, and it's a great place to study! It has big windows everywhere, so it's very bright and pretty.
Their signature drink is called the Be Kind Latte, which is basically a honey oat milk latte (get it hot or iced). They're also kind of famous for their chocolate chip cookies.
WEBSITE | 1534 Washington Ave, Waco, TX 76701
4. Pinewood Coffee Bar
I can’t stop/won’t stop singing Pinewood’s praises because this is seriously the BEST coffee available in Waco! It’s a really cool mid century-inspired coffee shop where they serve their own roast. The coffee is excellent, and the entire space is cozy. They even play music from an actual turntable built into the middle of the coffee bar - how cool! (Note that Pinewood typically gets pretty crowded, especially on the weekends. If it’s completely packed, try Glory Bell or Lighthouse.)
WEBSITE | 2223 Austin Ave B, Waco, TX 76701, United States
5. Lighthouse Coffee & Wine
Lighthouse Coffee and Wine is a corner shop in downtown Waco, directly across the street from Chip and Joanna Gaines’s Hotel 1928. It’s a small shop, but there are several really big tables that are great for meeting up for a study group or working on a group project. Whether you go for a made-to-order pour over coffee or a mocha latte with house made syrup, you’ll be able to get a delicious, hot beverage to sip on while you get your homework done.
WEBSITE | 624 Washington Ave, Waco, TX 76701, United States
6. Magnolia Press
Magnolia Press might not strike you as a “best coffee shop for studying” contender, simply because it’s at the crowded/touristy Magnolia Market. However, if you stop by on a weekday morning or late in the afternoon on the weekends, it tends to be fairly empty with lots of tables and booths. They have free WIFI, really good pastries, and Joanna Gaines decorated this space so it’s really pretty.
WEBSITE | 418 S 8th St, Waco, TX 76706, United States
7. Dichotomy Coffee and Spirits
Dichotomy is a coffee shop in the morning and a cocktail bar in the evening. I think that their coffee program is pretty good (not quite as good as Pinewood, but a lot better than Common Grounds or Magnolia Press.) And one of the best parts about Dichotomy is that it’s a really big space! Walk all the way to the back and there are lots of tables and couches, or if it’s a nice sunny day, head upstairs to the rooftop patio.
WEBSITE | 508 Austin Ave, Waco, TX 76701, United States
8. Common Grounds (Baylor Campus Location)
Common Grounds doesn’t really need to be listed, because if you’re a Baylor student you already know about it. But I’ll include it anyway, just in case! It originally opened in 1995 to be a cozy spot on campus where Baylor students could hang out, and 3 decades later it’s STILL serving that purpose. There are now a few locations of Common Grounds around Waco, but the Baylor University original spot is most convenient if you don’t have a car.
WEBSITE | 1311 S 5th St, Waco, TX 76706, United States
9. Glory Bell Coffee
Glory Bell Coffee is a very large Christian coffee shop associated with Glory Bell Church. They have very friendly baristas, Christian music playing on the speakers, and their mission is to “fill hearts and cups with Jesus and coffee.” Glory Bel Coffee Shop was clearly designed to facilitate conversations and community. Which means that, in addition to some cozy nooks with couches and overstuffed chairs, there are LOTS of big tables, plenty of seating, and really high ceilings. This is a great place to study in Waco if you get annoyed by crowded coffee shops and you just want to make sure that there’s space for you! There seems to always be space at Glory Bell.
WEBSITE | 600 Columbus Ave #102, Waco, TX 76701, United States
10. Fabled Bookshop
Fabled Bookshop is, honestly, my very favorite spot to hunker down and get some work done in Waco. This is a small café in the middle of the very coolest local book shop in Waco. The caveat is this; it gets crowded, especially in the late morning. Seems like I’m not the only one who considers this one of the best coffee shops for studying in Waco.
WEBSITE | 215 S 4th St, Waco, TX 76701, United States
11. Cha Community
Seriously one of the very best spots in Waco to hunker down and study! Cha Community is an Asian-owned boba tea shop that has a lot of Chinese and Vietnamese influences on their menu.
They have amazing tea and coffee drinks, as well as pan-Asian dishes like dumplings, Chinese BBQ pork, and noodles.
The wifi is fast, the service is seriously SO friendly, and they have a lot of tables for studying or working.
WEBSITE | 1001 Franklin Ave, Waco, TX 76701
12. Thrst
Thrst is a huge winner for best coffee in Waco! It actually started as a family-owned coffee cart in 2018 where you could order a handmade pour-over. The shop opened in 2023 as a hub for community members, and they’ve kept up the same exceptional quality in their coffee roasting and coffee bar. Keep in mind that Thirst is very small, so it’s not always my first choice for studying. But I wanted to include it here because the small-batch roasts are so phenomenal, and many people really do like studying in small coffee shops where they can become regulars and be greeted by name.
WEBSITE | 1500 Colcord Ave Suite C, Waco, TX 76707, United States
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