1122 Coffee Company

Description: A sister-owned specialty coffee shop in downtown Concord founded by Kayla McBride and Karlee McBride-Webber. Kayla is a five-time WNBA All-Star and guard for the Minnesota Lynx, while Karlee is a former Indiana University Division I basketball player who later worked in coaching, recruiting, and player development in college basketball.

Designed to bring the comfort of a living room into a compact neighborhood café, the space focuses on high-quality specialty drinks, comfortable connection, and relaxed visits. Coffee and tea selections include creative options such as vanilla chai lattes and iced blueberry matcha topped with blueberry cold foam, while its walkable downtown setting makes it well suited to casual meetups and visitors exploring the surrounding district.

Comments: It’s one long hallway with windows nearly to the ceiling, so it’s very bright with lots of natural light. There’s an olive green aesthetic to the place, the chairs, the lanterns, the decorations, and it’s all very nice and calming, especially paired with the natural light. Great access to outlets from the seating that runs along the wall opposite the windows, so it’s not a bad place to plop down with a laptop.

It’s a small shop. There are 3 individual seating spots, then a cozy couch and 4 armchairs paired with a coffee table, so I wouldn’t bring a large group. But I’ve seen pairs of 2 meeting here to chat, people bringing a book, and others posted up on a laptop.

It’s in downtown Concord with Goldberry Books, Press & Porter Coffee, and Mac Tabby Cat Cafe all within walking distance, so you’ll have plenty of options to hang out if you’re coming from out of town. Parking is free, either on the surrounding streets or in the nearby parking garage that serves downtown Concord. I don’t drink coffee, but I heard several people exclaim how good the coffee is here, particularly anything on the menu with apple in it.

And THEY HAVE CINNAMON ROLLS. Well-sized, with a dollop of cream cheese icing in the center. It doesn’t spread around the whole roll, so you kind of eat your way inward to it, but the rest of the roll has a heavy amount of cinnamon, so I see the strategy there. It’s a good cinnamon roll.