Do Brooklyners actually need more coffee to get up and do what they need to do? Or is it the lure of the “Third Place” that they crave, that sweet limbo that is neither home nor work? Whatever the reason, Park Slope has enough java joints to please every palette.

Café Regular's jewel box of a coffee shop is as close as you'll get to Florence, or at least Little Italy as it might have been 100 years ago. This café is the quintessential "Third Place" - no WiFI here. Manager Michael Zavala says, "Café Regular is an old-style café where you come to meet your friends and family. We are not your office, in fact, we're the anti-office." They are also one of the select places outside of Philadelphia where you can sip the "6th Borough's" sought-after roast. "La Colombe raises the bar in terms of quality and meets our own high standards," boasts Zavala. All cinnamon-toned tin ceilings and walls, brass and dark wood, Café Regular's interior is suspended in time and locale, with a beret-clad barista and a French chanteuse crooning on the sound system. The vintage photographs of Italians at leisure help to transport you to a languid European daydream of two-hour lunches and seven weeks of vacation. I ordered a single espresso, which seemed appropriate. No plastic stirrers here, coffee "to stay" comes in a genuine cup and saucer, and sugar is spooned from metal globes. The coffee menu is cut and dry, with brewed coffee and only the classic espresso drinks. Fresh orange juice can also be made to order, from the oranges piled on brass shelves, and hard-boiled eggs are arranged on a circular rack. The water here is Acqua Panna and Pellegrino, not Aquafina. Café Regular is a coffee drinker's café, and on the afternoon I stopped by, my fellow imbibers were reading, not texting. Even the barista's nose was stuck in a bona fide book. If you don't have your own reading material, the London Review of Books can be found alongside the New York Times, which you could enjoy on the three small wicker chairs perched outside, plucked from a Parisian sidewalk. Café Regular is classy and quiet, and too cool to have an attitud

North Slope residents can now get their La Colombe fix at recently opened Café Regular du Nord, little sister of the 11th Street original. The Berkeley Place satellite was also designed by Cognoscenti et al, and is high-ceilinged and drenched in latte-colored hues. The same array of quality coffee and buttery pastries are on the menu. Don't miss the cold-brewed iced coffee this summer - sure to be more robust than any you've had ye

Red Horse Café anchors a quiet block on 6th Avenue, and is pleasantly distanced from the hustle of 7th Avenue. Brent and Carolina Whitson founded the café four years ago. "We are located off the beaten path with limited commercial spaces nearby, so we have more of a residential vibe that makes you feel like you could be in your own living room." Eighty-five percent of the interior elements are culled from recycled materials. Like hanging out in a friend's den, the café is low-key and homey, a patchwork of spider vine plants and brick walls. Everyone seemed to be minding their own business, from tuned-in lap-toppers to test-grading teachers. The warm weather dictated that I make mine an iced coffee. "People love the fact that we offer iced coffee cubes in our iced coffee so your drink stays strong all the time as the ice melts," say the owners. While Red Horse Café does not roast their own beans, they source their coffee from Barrington Coffee Roasting Company in Massachusetts, and the small batches are delivered weekly. In addition to the standard coffee bill of fare, the Café also serves wine, beer and both sweet and savory snacks. The eclectic menu ranges from a granola parfait to an artichoke and gruyere quiche. In the evening, the Red Horse Café becomes a veritable coffeehouse, hosting movies, live music and private partie

With a line even at 9am on a Saturday, Cafe Grumpy's already collected a loyal clientele. It's hard to be a grouch here - even before you've had your first cup. Just squint and you might be in Stockholm. Grumpy's diminutive space is pared-down, platinum-hued chic, right down to the aluminum bar stools. The espresso machines and bean grinders are on full-view, adding to the silvery décor. But Café Grumpy is more than just a pretty face. Their select coffees are Rainforest Alliance Certified and roasted a hop, skip and a jump away in our fair borough's very own Greenpoint. The beans themselves hail from Brazil, Guatemala, Indonesia and a decaf from Mexico. If you just can't decide, Grumpy offers a tasting flight of their brews. I tried a "flat white," which is similar to a latte, but with less milk. The creamy concoction came in a cheerful orange cup and saucer. A small bakery case is filled with temptations such as a ridiculously dense chocolate-chip banana bread and candied orange, rosemary and gray sea salt scones.

Café 474 is a coffee house that is committed to not only serving a great cup of joe, but doing so in a way that is both socially and environmentally responsible. Owners Annette and Carlo opened the doors to their sunny Fourth Avenue café early in 2010. Their café stands out from the crowd by their commitment to reducing their carbon footprint in all aspects of the business. Café 474 does not use packaged sugars or plastic stirrers and strives to use local vendors as much as possible. Even the décor and coffee equipment has been repurposed - which works wonderfully to create a space that is casually hip. The wide porch out front is charmingly shaded by a plywood roof, making plenty of room for sipping in the sun. There's a mix of seating options inside, too, where brainy stacks of National Geographics echo the colors of vintage toreador posters. Café 474's coffee comes from Uganda - and is everything an environmentally conscious caffeine-hound could want: organic, fair trade, single-origin, fully-washed and roasted in small batches in Gowanus. Their espresso and teas are also carefully selected to adhere to the same high standards, and not for the faint of heart. Annette and Carlo have also developed a following for their exceptional baked goods - which hail from Balthazar and Blue Sky, especially the scones and pecan sticky buns. They blend their own fruit and nut trail mixes and plan to start offering a small selection of sandwiches. Annette and Carlo sum up their Café 474 by saying, "Our customers are an eclectic, diverse group of interesting creatives - from artists to musicians, to doctors and lawyers, to moms and entrepreneurs - a coffee house with locals who have made it their second home." So as spring turns to summer, branch out from your normal coffee routine - one of these spots just might become your own "Third Place."

Café Regular 318 11th St

Café Regular du Nord 158 Berkeley Pl

Red Horse Café 497 6th Ave
www.redhorsecafe.ning.com

Café Grumpy 383 7th Ave
www.cafegrumpy.com

Cafe 474 474 4th Ave
www.Cafe474.com