So here's my own attempt at being a snobby Houston coffeehouse reviewer.

Empire

a bit uppity, often busy (monday i think is half-price cake night. you never saw so many caffeine-enhanced twentysomethings.) over on westheimer.

Brasil

over on westheimer pretty close to empire. not quite as fancy but a bit more of the beatnik atmostphere and they have live random music fairly often.

Notsuoh

ahh, the rough gem of coffeehouses. at first glance it may seem like the one place downtown where subversive street culture rears its head. as it turns out such a first glance would be very accurate... the "opium den" atmosphere is also rather quaint. it's a really cool place open very late, but its a bit awkwards sometimes. downtown on main.

Charlie's

not really a coffeehouse, but more of a late-night diner serving the westheimer gay/lesbian community. luckily they'll still serve up a coffee and pie to straight folks and the people-watching is incredible.

Diedrich

meh. A few shades less evil than Starbucks, but the same idea. one word of warning, the large latte is absolutely huge. they have locations all over. staffed largely by overly-energetic students. On the bright side, it's probably the best coffeehouse for just studying or reading, not to mention that Jonathan works there. And of course Jonathan rocks.

Starbucks

in the village and everywhere else. enough said.

Mientje's

in the village. almost a secret. small friendly coffehouse with people that know their coffee. a great place if you want to just drink some coffee and read. they also sell beans which are pretty good.

Croissant Brioche

okay, so it's not a coffeehouse. it's more of French cafe, but they have excellent French roast coffee with unlimited refills and good pastries and such. quiche and a coffee. yum. in the village.

Crescent City Beignet

I think that's the right name. It's one of the two(i think) places around here that you can get beignets (which i'm probably misspelling) and cafe au lait. if you like the fare at Cafe du Monde (in new orleans) this is a close approximation. not a full coffeehouse though.

Dolce e Freddo

Italian ice cream shop / coffeeshop. over on kirby. Man, the sorbetto is incredible. You may think you want a large but resist the urge. it's RICH stuff. the coffee, well, take it or leave it. come for the glace.

Rice Coffeehouse

hurray for Joe and Rebecca. perhaps "House" is too strong a word. these folks operate out of a closet in the student center. but hey, it's pretty good coffee, the coolest folks around, and if you're lucky Joe will give you some sugar. if you know what i mean. These days you're more likely to catch Rebecca, and if you're nice she just might sing Rocky Top for you.

the undergrounds

The best open-mic around. Kudos to Grayson, Amy, Chris, Becky, Daniela and Lewis. The hot chocolate is delicately served in your choice of mug selected from the army of ceramic vessels on hand. Likewise the coffee, but before you ask for that coffee, think to yourself ", how badly do I want this caffeine?" and then get a hot chocolate. (Sorry Becky, no amount of TLC can make Kona from Folgers). Bring a mug and a guitar to the Lovett basement on Friday and you'll be quite at home.