This is the longest-standing coffeehouse in the High Country and a true Boone establishment with a beautiful vibe and great coffee. We can’t wait until they can reopen and let us go upstairs again. | Photography by Gavin Glover
This is that quintessential college, outdoor town kind of coffee shop with its bohemian cacophony, publications racks with Mountain Times and Appalachian Voices, an upstairs study with multiple comfortable nooks to sneak away to for higher education, and of course the requisite selection of drip coffees, espresso drinks, and the like. It’s a laid back hipster atmosphere right in the middle town next to Footsloggers and Rock Dimensions.
Our friend Joey Henson says he and his friend Jeffrey were the first customers at Espresso News back in the 1990s when the two were starting a magazine promoting conservation. “That was our office for a good long while,” Joey said. “A lot of magic happens at Espresso News.” It seems true. The upstairs study/library and eclectic assortment of art and indie publications give off just enough of the college town vibe to keep it interesting without sabotaging the bohemian aura that reflects its true spirit. And the coffee is great.
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