The Coffee Spot

The Coffee Spot runs a drive through menu with local names on it, which is unusual at a window where drinks are more often named after candy bars. The Titlow Bonfire takes its name from Titlow Beach on the west side of the city, and the effect of that naming is a stand that reads as being from Tacoma rather than from anywhere.

The Titlow Bonfire is marshmallow and chocolate, and the marshmallow arrives as a toasted marshmallow syrup rather than an actual toasted marshmallow, which is worth knowing before you order it expecting the real thing. Breakfast sandwiches are on the menu alongside the drinks, which not every stand this size bothers with.

There is no website. The shop's Instagram account, thecoffeespottacoma, is the only place it publishes, so a seasonal list or a closure shows up there first. It carries a 4.7 rating across a small number of reviews, which reads as well liked and not yet widely found.

Hours are not uniform and are worth checking. Google carries 5am to 5pm Monday through Thursday, 6am to 6pm Friday, 6am to 5pm Saturday and 7am to 4:30pm Sunday, and other listings disagree on the Saturday close. That 5am weekday open is the genuine advantage and puts it among the earliest in Tacoma. It is a drive through at 2518 N Stevens Street in the north end, so there is nowhere to sit and nothing to plug a laptop into.