Agora

It’s a nice place to come and chat, but it’s definitely not a quite coffee shop. Nice beer and wine options!

Good coffee and wifi! I usually get the lattes and they come in pretty big mugs for around $ 4. Pretty decent compared to the amount you would get at other spots. Parking is very limited due to location so you’ll most likely have to park on the street. Also seating can be limited depending on the time of day you go, but there is some seating upstairs as well. Pretty chill spot to get work done and sip on some great coffee. :)

This was my high school haunt. Great coffee. Great everything. I was sorry to hear it had been burned down several years ago. So glad they rebuilt.

Such an incredibly warm looking café (I emphasize on the «looking» part) with great service and drinks. Not to mention they have an assortment of goodies from other countries. I recognized some German chocolates!
caramel macchiato: my jaw hurts the moment this dispersed onto my tongue. It’s way too sweet for me. I should have asked for less caramel syrup or whatever they used for their sweetener.
Cold brew (forgot the actual name): incredibly refreshing. I’ve recently discovered cold brew coffee and now I can’t stop. The staff told me that this was their most popular and I could see why. It’s a little lighter than the Starbucks’ cold brew but each has their own uniqueness.
The coffee shop is a mixture of girl’s chat room, college students, and business meetings? What’s weird was that everyone had an unspoken rules about where they needed to sit. The chatter usually takes outside during the day and inside on the bottom floor at night. All the college students that are racking their brains out stays upstairs. It took me a few times to figure out where to sit but it’s a nice place to study (upstairs).
Also this place is like the Arctic… Bring a blanket! Or a heater!

3.5÷5 stars, and here’s why:
[AMBIANCE]
Very eclectic, hipster vibe filled with a diverse crowd of people meeting up to discuss an important social issue, couples on dates, students hacking away at their computers, individuals relaxing with a nice book, etc.
The mismatched furniture accompanies a variety of seating options from couches to small, antique tables and an outdoor patio area off of Westheimer.
There are two floors, but be careful going up – the stairs are steep and short the steps are small!
The top level lets in more sunlight, the majority of people working, whereas the bottom floor is busier and darker.
Overall, the music level is soft, but bring headphones because there’s probably a lot conversation taking place around you if you want to do work.
[NOMZ]
I’ve had a vanilla latte, cappucino and iced coffee so far, and they’ve all been solid beverages. I mean they weren’t life changing or special, but good nonetheless. I haven’t had their food yet, but they have a microwave on the first floor so if you plan on staying for a while, you can heat up the food/​beverage items you decide to enjoy during your visit.
[ETC.]
Parking lot is small, and street parking is also difficult to find :/​
Reliable/​free wifi! Huge plus.
Drawback: lack of outlets): Bring a charged laptop! There are a few outlets outside!
OH and just fyi, if you plan on sitting out on the outdoor patio, expect your neighbors to be smoking. Just something to keep in mind.
OVERALL,
I like it, but it’s not my favorite. I wouldn’t necessarily choose this as a go-​to study spot, and I would come on a sunny day because the place is pretty dark to begin with. Solid coffee shop to catch up with a friend!

Im not a big fan of this coffee shop. My biggest compliant was that it was a hang out spot and a study spot, especially late at the night. Some people do like coffee shops like that, but not me. I went to prepare for a presentation with my teammates and we couldn’t find seating, it was very packed with people, especially on a week night, and the parking was terrible.
I’ve also heard of people getting their cars broken into in that parking lot. The area is a bit dangerous especially regarding car break-​ins, so nothing out of the norm.
Apart for all of this, I wouldn’t see why this place wouldn’t be great for a late night hang out spot. Their menu has a lot of variety, including some wine and beers. They do have some snacks, but nothing too big.

Food: ⁵⁄₅
Service: ⁵⁄₅
Cleanliness: ⁴⁄₅
Décor & Style: ⁵⁄₅
This is one of the best Coffee/​Tea/​Study places I’ve ever been to. Not only is the place large, full of tables, chairs, couches, but it serves good beer! Great place to hang out with a small group of friends, or put on your headphones and do some school work if needed. Personally I prefer to hang out here with friends and study at a library. Surprisingly there are a lot of students here trying to get some work done. The place looks very old, yet slightly trendy at the same time. The staircase to go upstairs is one of the steepest staircases I’ve ever seen. Please be careful! lol.
This place is no place for Agoraphobiacs!

If you suffer from calcium deficiency, you should order a latte here for $ 4. I’m pretty sure it’s about 97.8% milk and 2.2% caffeinated substance of some sort.
People rave about the space. Yeah, the space is pretty cool. If I felt like my hipster meter was devoid and in the red, I could come back here to bring the bar back up to a yellow.
Cool variety of European treats here, from Ritter Sport to Kinder Hippos. The mark-​up is substantial on their treats though. A Hanuta wafer cost me $ 1 retail price in Europe and is $ 2.60 here. Maybe it’s like buying an Audi in Germany vs buying it in the US. Anyway, wash it down with a baklava or Italian cream soda like the international soul that you are.
Lastly, take care not to bust your ass when walking up their wonky ass staircase! That thing should come with disclaimer for uncoordinated people like me.

Great place to hang out! It’s a very friendly environment. A place where you can do HW, study or just hang with friends and drink coffee, tea etc.
I would recommend their Chai Latte. It’s really good.
It can get crowded depending on the time of day. Since the place is relatively small, available seating is hard to find for larger groups. The stairs to the second floor is weird. Lol
Definitely would recommend you visit. It’s a well know coffee spot. And they also serve a minimal selection of beer from other countries.

Slightly disappointed that the person that helped me did not know how to create the coffee art. However, the place had a good vibe for studying/​socializing and would definitely recomend this place to anyone! ONE bad thing I would have to say about this place is the lack of parking spots! Please management do something about that!

I genuinely like Agora. It has a bit of a rickety and old look but smooth, mysterious vibes with all the mismatched furniture and Greek accents. There’s also an upstairs area with little desks crammed in the sides and a large sofa up there. Overall, the atmosphere is a bit dim and the lighting is more natural than bright. Once I came for just chatting and drinks, then once for studying, and once for a meeting. Two out of the three instances were wonderful, but the third one (the meeting) was unfortunately rather awful because it was around 10 pm and the belly dancing shindig was happening downstairs. So the entire place reverberated with drums. I don’t think going at night is the best time if you want to study, but afternoon or morning would be better.
The drinks are a little expensive, around 5 dollars for a latte with a flavor. But you get a little lemon cookie and some rock sugar if you get a hot drink! That was a pleasant surprise. I’ve tried their seasonal pumpkin spice latte and vanilla latte – both use organic, quality syrups (not housemade – they’re from the company Monin, I believe) but the taste and coffee quality were enjoyable and cozy. The foam was pretty light as well. Wifi is also not extremely atrocious.

A café for hip classics majors, Agora attracts an eclectic clientele with an old-​world atmosphere and a menu that includes a wide assortment of baked goods, espresso, tea, wine, and (craft) beer. They have seating upstairs, downstairs, and outdoors, but we just barely found seats on a Saturday afternoon. A fittingly hip jukebox provides a varied soundtrack that could be conducive to study or not. Whether you like tweeds and basking in an atmosphere of wood paneling and Grecian theater masks or fancy yourself a member of the cigarette-​smoking intelligentsia Agora has a space for you.

This is my second time here. There is hardly anywhere to sit or plug in a laptop because it is so busy. I’m sitting at a table as low as my shins, with my laptop plugged into an opposing wall, propped on a chair because the outlets and corresponding tables are all taken. I’ll be waiting until my computer is charged before I can even start my work.
The coffee is just okay. I won’t be back.

Came here with my friends during finals week on Monday night and it was jam-​packed. Fortunately, we still managed to get seats for three, which is one of the things I love about Agora. It’s always almost full but you can manage to find a spot for yourself unless you’re in a big group.
I got my regular – mocha. It was the perfect blend of coffee and chocolate served with a small cookie. My friends got the Christmas drinks – peppermint mocha and gingebread mocha. I liked the peppermint because it had a slight minty taste unlike the Starbucks peppermint drinks which is overwhelmingly minty and basically a liquid version of the candy. The gingerbread mocha was a little underwhelming, because it basically tasted like extremely sweet mocha. You couldn’t taste the gingerbread, which my friend actually liked.
We also tested out the jukebox and blasted Rolling in the Deep. The cosy environment, Adele’s deep voice and steaming hot drinks made it the perfect scene.
The drinks are a little pricy – around $ 4 for mochas and you don’t get a whole lot but the quality is good.
The wifi is really spotty so if you need to be on the Internet a lot, I wouldn’t recommend this place. I wasted a good hour trying to get my laptop to connect.

If you need a really cool place to sip coffee, study, and have epiphanies in… This is the place to go. It’s a super cozy coffee house with a Greek based theme (agora means marketplace/​assembly place in Greek).
Walk in and you’ll see tons of tables and chairs spread all over for people to settle in. There’s even an upstairs sitting area that wraps around the entire room and overlooks the main floor downstairs (like a real assembly place!). The place is covered in really neat Greek artifacts and masks. Definitely look around. Every inch of that place is cool. And don’t fret! There is wifi! No coffee shop is complete without free wifi! The atmosphere is very hipsterish. It’s very laid back. Almost made me think I was in Austin for a second. The crowd they attract is interesting too. It felt like I was sitting amongst a gathering of artists and poets.
Don’t forget to try one of their pastries with your coffee! The baklava is absolutely delicious! It has a sweet syrupy crunch and an amazing flaky outer layer. You need to get it. I guarantee it will not disappoint. And if you don’t drink coffee, try the hot chocolate! Very light and smooth, served with a cool foam art design on top.
It’s getting cold outside so this is the perfect place to stop by and warm up in! The perfect place to «assemble» with friends in. Or simply just the perfect place to ponder about life in. Goo! Check it out!

Nice place for a date since there’s coffee, tea, and alcohol available. However, parking really sucks and the place is usually packed so you’ll have trouble sometimes finding a place to sit.
The crowd here varies a lot, but often there are lots of students on their laptops in the upstairs area doing homework or studying. I’m glad to see them taking their education seriously, but I want an open seat :-(I don’t like sitting outside since smokers tend to be there and I don’t like cigarette smoke.
Prices here are a bit higher than those at Starbucks, and in smaller portions too, so if you don’t mind giving your money to a large money sucking corporation, I suggest to go there instead.

I really like that the exterior is covered with vines of greens and the interior is very cozy and comfy looking. The wood panels would screech under your feet while you’re walking and the stairs are creaky.
It was oddly quiet when I walked in and I noticed everyone was doing some sort of work or studying at tables downstairs and upstairs. There was no music playing at all; so any conversation that was going on could be heard. This seems like a really nice play to study and grab something to drink, but if you’re trying to catch up with some friends or hangout with a group of people than this is not the place to be. I don’t know about other times, but on a Weds afternoon people were all focusing on their own agenda.
MATCHA LATTE
I love their matcha latte. It was warm and tasted yummy. There was a hint of bitterness, but that’s okay because I love it when it tastes like real matcha green tea. The foam was a bit odd though and added a weird flavor to the drink so I tried to scoop it out.
CHOCOLATE CROISSANT
The croissant wasn’t too bad, but it wasn’t hot or warm. I would’ve liked it warmed up a bit in order for the chocolate to melt inside because it tasted rather cold and the chocolate was just clumped here and there.
Overall, this establishment is really cute and I would really like to visit again to enjoy another warm drink or just to read a book or study if I’m in the area. It’s very chill and quiet and sometimes you really need a day like that to yourself.

Great place to get some work done and enjoy a craft beer. The juke box in jamming too! The part that stinks is the parking. I usually luck up a get a spot in their teeny tiny lot but it’s hell getting out.
Great prices on all food and their macarons are delicious!

Very eclectic but great place to hang out at any time of day. It’s definitely a lot louder and busier than your typical coffeeshop, probably because it’s also much larger, with two floors. The atmosphere is really cool — dark wood and lighting, sort of old timey feeling, and overall a super cozy place. It’s sometimes hard to find places to sit, but if you can it’s totally worth it. And if you’re the kind of person who needs background noise in order to study, Agora is your place.
$ 4 unlimited coffee is a major plus, and their hot chocolate is really decadent and delicious. They also have beer and wine if you want to go later at night (they’re open until 2 am) and hang out. Just be wary of the stairs — they’re dangerously steep and should not be paired with alcohol (or even holding cups of hot coffee).

Who: myself
Let me preface this by saying that as a teacher in the summer, I have been banished from the cave that is my classroom and forced to work amongst the general population. Thank you God almighty for summer break, I can work AND have a social life too! XD
When: Tues. afternoon
Where: Heart of Houston, Westheimer Rd.
What: Pecan cold-​brewed coffee ($ 3.50) (FYI, they charge $ 1.50/refill)
Total ~$ 4.50 (including tip)
Why: Great morning-​afternoon work/​study place during the weekday. By this, I mean slow traffic, low-​key ballads from the jukebox, lone wolfs reading books and typing on laptops, and cute couples sipping their drinks of choice (coffee, beer, wine, tea, soda, kombucha, you name it).