This is an excellent downtown location for coffee and a small bite. My wife and I had their drip coffee, and we each had a baked good (Hand pie & Croissant). The pastries are fantastic. The service was both friendly and efficient. I found the drip coffee to be a bit stronger for my taste, even with some creme. But, I can fix that. We really enjoyed their unique outdoor dining space, which is in an impeccably clean alley adjoining their store. The other unique feature about the business is the historic charm of an original Knoxville building. read more

Really kind, attentive service! If you look at Apple Maps, it will look like it's on the pointy corner of the block, but it's on the other side of the block and you'll pick up from the alleyway. Fantastic iced decaf! (Many places have stale or lower quality decaf but not here! :D) read more

Old City Java - a narrow alley with tables and chairs - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Knoxville, Tennessee

I was in Knoxville for a couple of days for work and stopped here a few times - the coffee is delicious and the aesthetic is just the right balance of gritty, elegant and comfortable. The spot is divided into two halves as of it was originally two shops made into one so there is plenty of seating for reading, work or chit-chat. It's located on a the corner of an alley with fantastic graffiti art and bistro tables for outdoor seating. The coffee is really good, serving a very palatable flavor profile that's not too acidic or over-roasted...it's simple and delicious. As mentioned, I enjoyed quite a few drinks here over the course of a couple of days - as well as another nearby spot. It's worth the walk to old city....lovely spot! read more

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Historic downtown Knox has some hidden gems! This coffee shop is very spacious and has a good selection of drinks. I had the vanilla chai latte and babe had the cafe miel. So yummy! Nice alley tables to sit and drink coffee and take pics! Loved it Here! read more

Old City Java - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Knoxville, Tennessee

This is a great little gem on Central, dripping with hipster cool ambiance. The staff is passionate about their product, and have never had a cuppa joe here that I didn't like. A few of my favorites are the cold brew drip coffee and their masala chai latte with extra foam. Parking can sometimes be a pain, but stopping here is worth a bit of extra work finding a space. The decor is boho-modern and inviting, and features rotating pieces of art from local folk. This is my go-to quiet place to unwind, read, or crank out some work on my laptop while enjoying some sweet sips. read more

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I'm here at least twice a week because it has the coziest ambiance, great customer service, and amazing coffee and beverages. Much love for old city Java! read more

Very good. Stumotown and Counter Culture are offered. I do wish they'd impart more local coffee roasters, but so be it. At least the coffee on offer is good. Baked goods are the star of the show here. Had both an almond croissant and a "hand pie". Delicious. Great, flakey crust. A great spot to sit and get some work done on your laptop. You could stay here for hours and noone would bother you. It's a nice Oasis in Old City. read more

Old City Java - Chai Latte with Almond milk, Cup of drip, and almond croissant. (The almond croissant was so good!) - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Knoxville, Tennessee

We only ordered a couple of lattes. We're particular about wanting high quality coffee & coffee drinks however, and they were both top rate. The atmosphere was chill & had plenty of space to work or have conversation. read more

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Cute eclectic little shop with a hipster feel and killer coffee! I got the iced vanilla latte and it was perfectly creamy and not too sweet. A great find! read more

Old City Java - Iced vanilla latte - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Knoxville, Tennessee

I came to Old City Java pretty late into 2016, but haven't came around to writing reviews until now. And I have to say, Old City Java stands out in my mind as it indeed had an interesting atmosphere. I believe there were exams coming up and well, this place is a place to study. It seemed that every single table was taken up by a student, or those who just wanted to escape in reading while sipping on some coffee or some beverage. I enjoyed my visit here and definitely will come back if the need of coffee and walking around old city is the activity for the day! I would definitely recommend you to come here to check it out. The coffee was good, the atmosphere was definitely home-y, and it's a place to just hang out with friends or study and get away from the world. read more

Stopped into Old City Java with a friend on our way to see a play at the Tennessee Theater! Had a wonderful cup of americano with a pastry while my friend had a latte with her pastry! Very cozy and friendly staff! read more

I love the little alleyway seating area. The interior of this place is beautiful. The service thankfully was friendly. The pastry was delicious. But the coffee? Not really impressed. It was bitter and unpleasant and literally left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Astounding that I had an experience so opposite so many others. I think I'll look elsewhere. read more

Perfection in Knoxville. My husband always likes to stop at new local coffee shops when we're traveling, so we drove 10 minutes out of our way to come here after it popped up on Yelp. Glad we made the stop. The atmosphere here is great. The perfect blend of cute, hipster and masculine so that all feel welcome. The service was friendly, the coffee got rave reviews and I enjoyed sampling some of their Tennessee made chocolates. For one coffee and two chocolate bars our bill was over $20 so I will not be satisfying my chocolate craving here again any time soon. We will stick with the coffee! read more

Old City Java - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Knoxville, Tennessee

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Omg I had to come here as I had a rough morning. The atmosphere is to die for. It's so peaceful and CLEAN. Coffee is top notch and I decided to try a pastry. I got a Almond Cinnamon Croissant... IT IS TOTALLY THE BEST THING I EVER PUT IN MY MOUTH. Great place to have a quick meeting/ surf the web/ read a book or just drink coffee and do absolutely Nothing. I will come here when I need to pull myself together from here on out. Owners and workers are very friendly. read more

Old City Java - Ok yes I tore into this Almond croissant!! Must try it - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Knoxville, Tennessee

Definitely some good iced coffee at this place. It was a hot afternoon, felt like coffee... but just couldn't stomach the idea of a hot one. I am sometimes hesitant on iced coffee, because, quite frankly, it sometimes feels like a rip off. I don't want to dish out $3 for ice. The coffee was strong even though it was cold. I also love that they have simple syrup to use with cold drinks, since straight up sugar will just sink to the bottom of your drink. I must say that I took the coffee to go, so I can't say too much about the ambiance. It does seem like it could get a little tight at peak hours, but then again I wasn't looking all too closely when I came in. Definitely worth checking out if you are in the area! read more

This coffee was perfect in every way! Taste, temp, blend! They served me so fast MY HEAD SPUN! WATCH OUT STARBUCKS! read more

Old City Java - My special coffee! I love you too coffee! - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Knoxville, Tennessee

Daily coffee run is always to old city java. The coffee is great, the staff is really nice and the homemade baked good are DELICIOUS. read more

Old City Java - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Knoxville, Tennessee

I can't stop eating the croissants. I am not sure what they put in them but it is super addicting. Especially the almond and cream one. Oh my gosh. I should probably not rave so loud about them so that I can have them to myself. It is even sad that I now know what days they are made. Croissants aside, this is a great coffee shop. Can't rate the coffee since I don't drink coffee but they make some mean tea and hot chocolate. It is a very causal environment, great place to relax and study. Or maybe even hang out with some buddies. They have other pastries too, good scones and I haven't tried the pop tarts but I have heard good things. Definitely stop by if you are in the area. It is rather unassuming from the outside but I think you would really like it. read more

Excellent quality espresso drinks including latte art. Quiet place usually occupied by people with laptop computers. read more

Old City Java - Latte art - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Knoxville, Tennessee

Java is an Old City legend. Great coffee, atmosphere, and people. It's also a nice little spot to work from. Most people are working on their laptops when I've been recently. read more

Stopped by this place before heading back down to GA...almost grabbed coffee at Olibea but so glad I waited (the two seconds it takes to walk next door..LOL). Unfortunately we didn't get to try the pastries as we'd just eaten, but we enjoyed coffee and tea in the fabulously painted room. Service was quick, people were friendly, and WiFi was strong. There was a ton of artwork up, and the room we sat in had huge windows, false doors lining one of the walls, and the starry night painted on the ceiling. This coffeeshop is a hip(ster) and unique hole-in-the-wall - definitely come here if you get the chance :-) read more

This is such a cute coffee shop located in the heart of Old City. The staff is so friendly and their coffees are divine. I ordered a house coffee and an iced dirty chai. Total $10.51 which is totally more than id like to spend on morning coffee but it is so worth it here. Great fresh coffee/espresso. read more

Old City Java - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Knoxville, Tennessee

Great coffee and the staff is friendly, helpful and kind! The mocha is delicious! I will definitely be back on my next trip through Knoxville! read more

Great little district which has character and ambiance. We drove through on our way past Knoxville and enjoyed americanos and a few pastries. Not a fan of the double-cupping practice but the coffee itself was well done. Blueberry loaf was bland but the goat cheese scone was pretty delicious. Would have been stellar if served warm! read more

Very cute little coffee shop in the old city. I love their alleyway, which provides a nice outdoor space complete with graffiti art to enjoy while sipping your coffee. I ordered a breve cortado, and the espresso was a tad bitter but overall pretty good. I also had a blueberry-raspberry pop tart that was absolutely delicious! I would come back read more

Old City Java - Accurately captures my face when I drink coffee in the morning :) - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Knoxville, Tennessee

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Wicked good! Every café should emulate these guys. First off, it's a nice, very clean space (with some outdoor seating) that's not cluttered up with a bunch of extraneous junk and the baristas are nice and professional. I ordered a latté and a blueberry hand pie. Both were exceptional. The other pastries they had looked great as well. If I lived near this place, I would go every morning. read more

Old City Java - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Knoxville, Tennessee

I'm a sucker for neat coffee shops and this is one. It has a cool rust feel to it but makes you feel at home. Excellent coffee to boot.

Okay, I like the space and the art on the walls. I love that it's right on the coolest streets in town. I love the awesome latte art. But I don't know what I'm doing wrong here. Every time I stop in the coffee is just so-so. Something is always off. On a recent visit, I don't know what happened but when I took a sip it was like I choked on a mouthful of foam. I'm talking like Old Yeller syle there was so much foaming that my drink seemed really really imbalanced. Okay. So let's just give it some time to sit for a while, right? So I let it breathe. I'm talking like 2 hours. But I didn't see improvement. So I didn't finish my drink. But I didn't want to just throw it out. So instead I actually left it on the kitchen counter overnight like a lazy person and said fuhhgeddaboudit. The next day I was barely awake to realize what I was sipping for morning coffee. And you know what? Despite rabid fears It tasted great. Amazing. All the flavor was there like 12 hours later. read more

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Cute little coffee shop in a quaint part of Knoxville. Delicious coffees for a very reasonable price. And they make the prettiest cream decorations on your coffee right in front of you read more

Functioning as the office of many Knoxvillians, Old City Java is spacious, well lit, old city charm. Study, meetup, or people watch, they really have a stethoscope on the old ticker of our fair city here. With a large bicycle parking area out front that is constantly in use, you'll also see impromptu motorcycle meetups, and the odd scooter. Everyone in town will cruise past around once a day more or less. The alley even holds a few wire tables for the nice days. Sit, watch, wait for the next moment in time. The coffee aspect escapes me sometimes as I don't know my way around a latte. But I can order a medium coffee and not be blasted away by the price thankfully. There's delightful in-house made cookies and pastries. Cruze Dairy chocolate milks for the littles. Mexican Coca-Cola's, the only ones I drink, so I'll pick up one on a hot day. Expensive bars of chocolate that tempt me everytime. One day, I think. You will be mine. The only thing I'll mark them down on is seating. The long bench style seats, while very accommodating to having a quick meetup, are hard wood, with hard plastic, and metal seats outside that are much firmer than I can handle for more than a half hour. The one couch here is kinda beat up and saggy, but we all still will grab it. I think some cushions, pillows, or soft chairs, would let people relax more and help diffuse the "classroom" aspect of Java. I want to sit and stay a spell too. I have always been treated okay here every time too. Very cool, even though I always sound silly trying to order a coffee. read more

I love Old City Java. They know how to make a mean cup of coffee--even drip coffee--which can be so difficult to find. We lived in Chicago and DC next to really well known coffee outfits, and Old City makes one of the best cups of coffee I've ever had. (Their espresso drinks are also amazing.) They also sell beans for when you want to make a cup at home, and some very nice local (Olive & Sinclair) and nationally known (Mast Brothers) chocolate. The husband and wife team that run Old City do so with a lot of heart, and are always really friendly. The space is cozy, with plenty of space to sit and read. The Wild Love pastries made in house really are over the top--from the croissants (and I mean real croissants--not the flat, doughy pieces of junk most places sell), scones, and muffins, to the granola and the biscuits, everything is delicious and made with lots of care. My only complaint is please make your lovely biscuits without sausage too!--they're too good for vegetarians not to be able to enjoy! Knoxville is now lucky to have more than one solid coffee shop, but this place is truly excellent, and I always return to Old City for their wonderful coffee and their amazing baked goods. read more

Now that's what I'm talking about. I'll be honest, I get super judge-y about coffee shops with "Java" in their name. It's my thing. And it's (mostly) baseless. And I'm sorry. But unless you're serving me kopi tubruk, I'm not behind it. (Now that I'm up on the soapbox, why aren't there coffee shops called Old City Yemen?) Yet when I walked in and saw Stumptown beans along the wall of a coffee shop with Java in its name, the contradiction made my anti-Java-naming mind explode. And that's before I had a sip of the best coffee I had in Knoxville. Not only that, but the setting practically begged for me to pull up a chair and get an hour (or five) of work done. It's one of *those* coffee shops. Plugs. 2-tops. Wifi. Productivity vibes. Fantastic Jav... I mean, coffee. So we're not in Bali, and I'm not sipping kopi tubruk, but I can still get behind Old City Java. That said, next time I'm in Knoxville, I'll probably just ask if someone can point me toward Old City and follow my reliable caffeine antenna from there. read more

Old City Java is Knoxville's best coffee shop. It's located in the heart of Old City in downtown Knoxville. Parking is occasionally an issue. The shop itself is very hip, and features art from local artists. The scene is anything but pretentious -- you can always strike up a conversation with the next table over. But the real joy is the coffee and treats. OCJ is the only shop I've come across in Knoxville that actually cares about the coffee. They measure everything correctly, which means you're going to get a great tasting cup of coffee. The treats are all made by the owner, and I've yet to have anything I didn't like. They also feature great-tasting cookies made by my wife Lindsay (the oatmeal raisin are the best). Coffee in the scrappy city doesn't get any better than OCJ. read more

As I sit here, sipping a delicious soy mocha and listening to the glorious Boards of Canada over the speaker system, I can't help but write a quick review about the wonderful OCJ. Easily the best interior decor and overall vibe I've experienced since moving to Knoxville. There are seats for one, two or more. They have a solid couch for chilling out on a coffee date or catching up with old friends. Power outlets galore. OCJ has two distinct rooms - one where the bar is located with pretty good (morning) light and another that is darker. Both rooms do a good job of setting a nice mood in their respective ways. The exposed brick interior has aged well and the walls include a good collection of art that compliments the atmosphere very well, not to mention looks interesting, itself. As noted above, they definitely know how to kick out the jams. The coffee has a good taste. I wish the portions were a little larger and that they did not charge $1 for refills, but they keep tabs and seem pretty agreeable. The staff appear very nice. Fair trade coffee? Why, of course! For better and worse, its uniqueness sets it apart from most other places around town, meaning that there is more pressure for it to be "perfect" in its coolness while it also gets a pass in some respects for being one of the few coffee shops (nay, establishments) in Kx that appears to have true stylish counterculture sensibilities. OCJ might become a haven for me, which may be as much a subtle statement of responsibility as it is a compliment. read more

So I'm no coffee connoisseur, but I love a good cup of joe. Whether it's cold brew, a cup of dark roast, or a latte, I'm always in the mood for coffee. Hit up Old City Java recently to try and get some work down on my computer while sipping on something caffeinated. Such a fun little shop! The ceiling's painted in the style of Van Gogh's Starry Starry Night. The walls are decorated with vintage window frames and doors. The whole vibe of the place is super chill and feels like a step back in time. And the coffee...INCREDIBLE! My latte was strong, balanced, creamy, and comforting. Definitely my favorite in Knoxville so far and I've been to a handful of coffee shops. I foresee myself coming here often for a latte fix! read more

Old City Java - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Knoxville, Tennessee

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It seems impossible to me that I have been a fan of Old City Java since I became a resident of Knoxville, and I have not written a stellar review for them. It just seems wrong. I'm a Seattle girl. I like my coffee, and I like my coffee houses. I like the way they smell and the vibe that flows through them. Old City Java made me feel at home from the moment I walked in. It doesn't try to be anything, yet it draws a particular demographic. Downtowners. Locals. Hipsters. Whatever you want to call them. The coffee is solid. They make a consistently good cup of joe, whether you like it black or you want something a little fancier. However, their fancy menu is limited, like a real coffee house should be. Over the years, they have perfected their baked good. Seriously, the best croissant in town. And I'm pretty sure that I've seen heaven while eating those scrumptious, little hand tarts. There's plenty of space to work, if you so choose. But if you're there to chit chat, that's cool, too. I heart you, Old City Java. read more

I want to like this place so much more! They have such a cozy environment and excellent location. Their Chai is so yummy. The thing that keeps me from really making this place regular is that their coffee is terrible. I've tried several different kinds and they are really bad. Considering that is what I usually want, this place doesn't work for me at all. If you are more interested in teas and lattes I would recommend this place. Their pastries and such are really hit and miss for me. I had a delicious muffin today, but have had really dry scones here too. read more

The drinks are well made! Their chia tea is not very strong. The service is good and I would come here again.

Every now and then, I'll find something new about Knoxville that I like. Old City Java is one them. I'm really big into finding rustic, brick coffee shops and my friend recommended this place. It's a perfect place to go if you want to get some work done or catch up with an old friend, which applied to me that day. So the environment and space was on point. I ventured out to try one of their lattes. I ordered their Chai Latte. I liked the cup it came in but the latte wasn't as strong as I wanted it to be. Tasted a little plain and wasn't as warm... I was just slightly disappointed with that. I really love the environment and that's why I gave it such a high rating, but I'm hoping that was just an off day with their latte... They also have other drinks and sweets and cookies so I'll definitely give something else a try when I go back to visit. read more

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My breve latte was super delicious. The barista was sweet and engaging. Nice place. Just go there. Also, the espresso roast had a note of blueberry, which, what?! Amazing. read more

Old City Java - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Knoxville, Tennessee

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