It’s been a big year for coffee if you were watching just pop-ups. Just ask Kopê House. The three San Francisco baristas behind the coffee pop-up — Alexander Ji, Carlos Lewis, and Jared Hallinan — will open their first permanent cafe in Hayes Valley in February at 546 Laguna Street, a former flower shop.
The San Francisco natives plan to serve their inventive drinks, such as espresso mai tais and an apple-infused, milk-washed Burundian coffee punch, alongside teas (including matcha). The trio has also begun roasting their own coffee in Oakland. Fans can buy a tin to take home and bring the tin back for a refill. On the food side, there’ll be a pastry counter from a to-be-determined local purveyor.
Once open, the cafe will offer evening service, potentially expanding the repertoire beyond coffee mocktails into beer and wine as well, pending permits. There’s no indoor seating, but the sidewalk out front is huge and double the width of the space inside. “Our inspiration was mostly from our travels to Asia and Europe,” Hallinan says. “The cafes over there stay open all night.”
The pop-up debuted in 2024, but hit new strides in 2025. Its residency at York Street Collective, run by Eater Award winner Anand Upender, showed Kopê had the chutzpah to handle busy weekend service. Before that, the three set up shop regularly at west side garages and the Sucka Free Flea Market on 18th and Valencia Streets.
Kopê House moves into Hayes Valley at a dynamic time. Recently redubbed Cerebral Valley for all the AI fanaticism in that neck of the woods, there’s actually not a ton of coffee. Main competitors include a mini cafe from Ritual Coffee Roasters, La Boulangerie’s expansive corner spot, and the Blue Bottle Coffee garage kiosk on Linden Street. “One of the reasons we chose Hayes Valley was all this attention,” Ji says. “But a lot of the options in the area feel old and tired. There’s an opportunity to grow with the community.”
On that tip, the trio met while working at Blue Bottle Coffee in 2019. That shop, a much-debated outfit now possibly going up for sale from parent company Nestlé, was not dynamic enough for the three. Hallinan worked at Coffee Movement, Ji at Pixlcat Coffee. At their own enterprise, all three want to keep igniting young people in the city over very good coffee. “We’re hoping we can bring people out to the neighborhood,” Hallinan says. “My parents lived there for a few years. It’s an OG neighborhood.”