What's the Buzz
Richmond has a coffee problem, in the sense that there's more of it than anyone's bothered to map. So What's the Buzz is mapping it: a running survey of coffee shops around Richmond, the independent roasters and cafes staking a claim on a corner and making their case one cup at a time. The rule is simple: order what the staff normally orders and report back straight on whether it's worth the trip — first stop: Chismesito Cafe at 1723 Barrett Avenue, in Richmond.
Grandview Independent · GrandEATS
What's the Buzz
Reviewing coffee shops around Richmond, CA
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stops visited
Call it the loneliest coffee shop in Richmond. Chismesito Cafe sits by itself on a stretch of Barrett Avenue, in a squat little stucco building that used to be the Smart Set Beauty Salon before somebody turned it into a cafe about five months ago. It's right across the street from the closed-off BART lot.
It's family-run, and it shows. Fresh baked goods, snacks from a local bakery, a little shelf of Mexican candies and chips next to the register. The menu leans hard into sweet, kind of goofy specialty drinks: a mazapán latte, a cocoa puffs latte, dulce de leche, strawberry horchata chai, a sugar-free hazelnut one with oat milk and cold foam. Regulars keep bringing up the mini pancakes, too, with three toppings including fresh fruit and syrup.
A few drinks went into the comparison. The White Mocha and the Vanilla Latte both leaned mild, more about the syrup than any real coffee kick, and at least free of the bitter aftertaste that sometimes shows up in a vanilla latte. Probably a lighter roast, less bite, but the caffeine's still in there somewhere. The real surprise was the plain black coffee: genuinely strong, rich, and kind of bright-tasting for the Grandview staffer who likes to keep things simple.
There's a little seating inside for anyone who wants to stay, but this is mostly a grab-it-and-go kind of place — a small space. What sticks more than the coffee, honestly, is the rooster that lives next door. He came strutting over as we arrived, very full of himself like he was posing for something, then wandered off to hunt around for food.
Between coffee that's better than expected, a rooster with main character energy, and a building with a whole past life as a barbershop and a beauty salon, Chismesito Cafe earns its spot as the first stop on What’s the Buzz.
New stops go up weekly, and there's already a handful lined up, but the list is always open; if there's a Richmond coffee shop worth the trek, send it our way.
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