Caffeine is a Parent's Best Friend: Drive-through Coffee
I think most parents of young children will agree with me when I say that sleep is a precious commodity. In fact, I think much of the sleep that I think I've had in the past few years was in fact not sleep at all, but "liquid naps" in the guise of coffee and other caffeinated drinks. Yes, coffee and tea in all their forms keep many of us moving through the day.
Often, it's impractical to drag the kids into a coffee place, or perhaps you want to pick up a latté when they're asleep in their car seats. This is where the amazing phenomenon that is drive-through coffee comes into place. There really aren't many drive-through coffee joints in Marin, perhaps because we're less into the whole suburban drive-to-Walmart culture, but they can be found at convenient locations throughout the county. Of course you can always get your caffeine fix via the McDonald's drive through—after all, they make espresso drinks now—but chances are you'd rather get your coffee from someplace dedicated to the craft of making it.
Here's a list of the ones I know of, from north to south (I haven't actually tried all of them). If you have a favorite that we've missed, or if you want to give a shout-out to one on the list, leave a comment!
Novato
- Marin Coffee Roasters, 1551 South Novato Boulevard at Center Road
San Rafael
- Java Detour, 836 2nd Street, at Lindaro Street. They have a variety of different beverages and food, too.
Fairfax
- Java Hut, 760 Center Boulevard, at Fair-Anselm Plaza
Mill Valley
- Cable Car Coffee Company, 773 Redwood Highway. It looks sort of like a cable car; located just south of Goodman's Lumber opposite Strawberry Village shopping center
- Buckeye Coffee, at the Buckeye Roadhouse, 15 Shoreline Highway. While not technically a drive-through coffee place, you can drive up and park just a few feet from the coffee stand. Good coffee, and my husband tells me their homemade muffins (hot from the oven in the morning) are really, really good. Only open 6–10 am weekdays.
That's pretty much it, unless someone wants to fill us in on another one. Sonoma County actually seems to have tons of drive-through coffee stands, for some reason, so Marin has some catching up to do in this department. Of course if you're in a pinch, there's always McDonalds...
