If you happen to work on Grant and Geary, as we do at 7x7, and you’re being lazy (as I generally am) and looking to purchase a decent cup of coffee within a one-block radius, take the few extra steps and walk up to Union Square.

I love Union Square, now that it’s been remodeled and is full of brown-bagging shop girls sitting on the grassy bits, American tourists snapping pictures of I don’t know what, and—the best part—Europeans tourists doing what they do best: Sitting at the outdoor café tables at Emporio Rulli Caffè and looking cool while shamelessly drinking wine in the afternoon and gesturing a lot, sometimes shamelessly with cigarettes. I love getting a quick hit of this little microcosm before returning to my desk. Makes me feel traveled.



When size matters: Coffee at Rulli Caffè in Union Square.

Rulli also happens to have the best coffee in the area. Strong, but not bitter, and get this, when you order a small cup, it’s actually small. Not “tall,” like the pseudo “small” at Starbucks (don’t get me started on that), and not the Big Gulp version you see elsewhere, it’s just true to itself and all one should be drinking in the middle of the afternoon anyhow.