WE START WITH COMMUNITY

Established in 1989, Farley’s has been the hub of the community. We believe that coffee is best when shared with others and that coffeehouses hold an important place in a connected, healthy community. From magazines, to board games to cornhole in the street, Farley’s is much more than just a place to grab your morning cup, it is a place to connect, be inspired and to touch into your community.

Jack Farley as a small child with his parents

A Family Legacy

When Roger Hillyard broke the glass of his French press, he was inspired to open a coffee business. Roger settled on Potrero Hill and named it after his grandfather, Jack Farley, who wandered off in the 1920’s leaving just one photo behind. Roger passed the business onto his son, Chris, and he and his wife Amy have expanded the Farley’s legacy to the East Bay and to SFO and OAK airports. At its core, this is a family business, rooted in love, tradition and a deep connection to community.

Chris Farley in the doorway of Farley's Coffee

Just For Fun

We like to keep things fun at Farley’s. One of our favorite events is the Annual Halloween Pet Parade & Costume Contest where 100 dogs and their owners parade up 18th Street from Arkansas Street to Farley’s to compete for prizes! We also host bagpipes on St. Patrick’s Day, a Safe-n-Sane fireworks show on the 4th of July and anything else that is “fun” or keeps the shop festive throughout the year.

A lively street parade features a person in a green dragon costume holding a megaphone, surrounded by families, children, and dogs walking uphill.

A crowd gathers outside Farley’s café under a balloon arch while a bagpiper in a kilt plays music during a festive celebration.

A small pug wearing a pumpkin hat and a colorful candy corn–themed collar sits on a sidewalk with people standing around it during a festive outdoor event.

Two people wearing handmade paper crowns and face masks pose playfully behind a café counter decorated with signs and a gumball machine.

A woman with long locs smiles while standing indoors, with bright abstract paintings hanging on the wall behind her.

Connected By Art

We see Farley’s as a platform for community and creativity. For over three decades, we have held space for musicians, poets, and artists, and our customers to tell it like it is and make them feel connected to Farley’s and the community. We love to commission artists to create art for the store, our merchandis, and collect the art that people make of Farley’s.

A woman works on a large canvas featuring colorful circles and a silhouetted figure, surrounded by paint cans in an art studio.

A woman leans down while painting a sign on the ground outside a red door, smiling toward the camera with a scarf tied around her neck.

Do Good & Give Back

Farley’s was founded on a simple principle, to make the places where we serve coffee, better places to live and work. We have carried out this mission by supporting local non-profits through our Give Back Program, feeding picket lines, supporting the shop-local movement and during the pandemic, we fed over 50,000 meals to people in Oakland and San Francisco.