NoRa Cafe

LOVE NoRa!!! best cafe in town and the most friendly people that make such delicious coffee!! so welcoming great environment plenty of seating options but they do get busy so make sure you’re nice to our neighborhoods favorite baristas❤️

It was busy when I visited in a Sunday morning, but the line moved fast. They have so many drink and pastry options that it’s almost overwhelming, but in a good way! I loved that their pastries come from different local bakeries, and they even list where each one is from. The staff recommended the Golden Hour Latte, and it did not disappoint, smooth, unique, and unlike any other flavor I’ve tried. They even warmed up my scone. There’s tons of seating both indoors and outdoors, so even though it was crowded, it never felt hectic. Service was quick, friendly, and efficient.

Nora cafe is one of our absolute favorite coffee shops in Raleigh. My partner and I go on coffee dates here and it is always packed! With good reason; friendly baristas, a family filled atmosphere, wonderful coffee, and even better pastries. I’m so thankful we live down the road! Today I accidentally ordered the wrong pastry and the barista (they had short black hair) let me keep the wrong pastry AND gave me the one I wanted. I felt so bad for asking and they were sooo kind about it and made me feel like I wasn’t inconveniencing the shop at all. Being treated with respect by such kindhearted people is one of the big reasons I keep coming back. Thank you to all the staff at Nora for doing a 20/10 job every time we come in. Bonus: a plethora of $3 books to peruse and buy!

We decided to check this place out after learning dog-eared, one of our favorite bookstores is owned by the same people. This place had lots of seating and would be a wonderful place to study or hang out. We didn’t get any food so I can’t speak to that. The latte we ordered was good. They have so many unique flavors. The books are a nice touch but people go here for the coffee and space more than for books.

My daughter and I decided to stop here upon the suggestion of someone we met at another coffee shop last week. This place is awesome!! They have a huge menu, including coffee, tea, beer, pastries, full lunch menu and who knows what else. When we stopped by the place was hopping, which was a very good sign. Since I'm a PITA and a challenge by having Celiac and being Vegan, I've found it very helpful to just ask for the barista's opinion when I'm at a new place. This one was great! She gave me quite a few different options and even let me read the ingredients in a few of the products (thank you very much for that since I know exactly what I'm looking for and it generally saves a lot of time). I ended up getting the Spicy Mocha with oat milk and my daughter got the Milky Way with oat milk. She also got a piece of their house made coffee cake and I got the Coconut Banana Chocolate Chip Ball (since it was the only GF & V option). Everything was delicious! 5 stars all the way around. As a bigger bonus, they carry Armored Cow beer in their cooler and had some of the gluten free options by them... including my favorite (even though it's off season right now): Pumpkin Spice Ale. I had to grab 2 of them for another time. Very cool! Overall, this was a fantastic recommendation and I'm very glad that we decided to check it out while we were in that area of town.