Crema Coffee Roasters at 15 Hermitage Ave is the answer for the vast majority of what people mean when they ask this question. It sits in the SoBro neighborhood, a short walk from Lower Broadway and close enough to the Country Music Hall of Fame that you can hear the tourist density shifting on busy afternoons. The location has been there since 2008, making it not just the best coffee near downtown but one of the most established specialty coffee shops in the city’s history.
The details matter: the patio faces the Korean Veterans Bridge spanning the Cumberland River. The interior has high windows on one wall that blur the line between the wooden street-facing patio and the seating inside. The roasting operation runs separately at their East Nashville location, leaving the SoBro space clean and focused. Food & Wine named Crema one of the “100 Best Coffee Shops in America” and the “Best Coffee Roaster in Tennessee.” The drip coffee is the smoothest in its class in Nashville. The coffee soda, a carbonated iced coffee made with demerara sugar syrup and orange peel, is the most copied single drink in the city.
Crema also has a practical edge for downtown visitors: the attached metered parking lot offers 90 minutes of free parking when you validate. In downtown Nashville, free parking for 90 minutes is not a trivial benefit.
Drug Store Coffee for a Different Register
Drug Store Coffee at 200 4th Ave N, inside the Noelle Hotel, is the right choice if you want something quieter and more intentional. It opened in 2017 in what was previously the drug store counter at the historic Noel Place building. It serves Sump Coffee alongside house-made seasonal syrups, Hi-Fi cookies, pastries, and grab-and-go items. The defining feature, appropriate for Music City, is a one-of-a-kind vinyl record playback system built by Hazelwood Laboratories, a custom walnut-and-brass turntable setup connected to four bookshelf speakers. The music is curated and the room has good acoustics for it.
Drug Store Coffee is affiliated with Barista Parlor and operates in the lobby of a design-forward hotel whose other seating areas, including a two-story lounge and bar, are available to coffee customers. The Noelle is not on the main Broadway tourist path, which means the crowd is different. Hours run Monday through Sunday 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Frothy Monkey Downtown for the Long Visit
The Frothy Monkey Downtown location at 235 Rep John Lewis Way (listed hours: 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., shorter than other Frothy Monkey locations) occupies a historic shotgun-layout space with original brick walls, tile and wood floors, and a mezzanine level. It’s surrounded by notable landmarks: the Woolworth building, the Arcade, Bridgestone Arena a short walk away. For a morning breakfast and coffee before doing downtown Nashville things, it works well. The limited evening hours make it less useful as a post-show option.
What to Skip Downtown
The Broadway strip has cafes inside the larger bar buildings, but they are not coffee destinations. Assembly Food Hall has a coffee option but it serves the hall rather than functioning as a standalone experience. The hotel coffee bars across downtown vary wildly in quality. For anything approaching a real coffee experience within walking distance of Broadway, Crema is worth the extra five minutes of walking south.
Sources
- Crema Coffee Roasters: 15 Hermitage Ave Nashville, official site: https://crema-coffee.com/
- Crema parking and workspace details: https://mindtrip.ai/restaurant/nashville-tennessee/crema-coffee-roasters/
- Crema Food & Wine recognition via Visit Franklin: https://visitfranklin.com/food-and-drink/crema-coffee-roasters/
- Sprudge guide to Nashville coffee on Crema location: https://sprudge.com/the-coffee-lovers-guide-to-nashville-137216.html
- Drug Store Coffee, Visit Nashville: https://www.visitmusiccity.com/local-business/drug-store-coffee
- Drug Store Coffee Yelp listing (est. 2017): https://www.yelp.com/biz/drug-store-coffee-nashville
- Hazelwood Laboratories on Drug Store Coffee vinyl system: https://www.hazelwoodlaboratories.com/pages/drug-store-coffee-noelle-hotel-nashville
- Frothy Monkey Downtown location page: https://frothymonkey.com/locations/downtown-nashville-tn/