In thinking about services I love for my last monthly “Things I Love” post, I kept musing over little cafés I love here in Houston as well. My favorite spots have local owners and flavor, offer a relaxed and casual feel, and allow for lingering.

Te House of Tea [Now Closed]

Te House of Tea stays open from late morning until late night offering a world of teas; healthful bites for a light lunch, dinner, or snack; bright windows looking out onto a peaceful Montrose-neighborhood street corner; and music, dancing, movies, and open-mic hours at night.

If you go before the nightlife gets started—or on one of the evenings without it—Te makes for a great spot to write and work. If you go when the party hops, you’ll see slices of Houston culture you don’t glimpse just anywhere.

Epicure Café

Epicure may tempt you in with luscious counters filled by French desserts and cookies, but don’t let the treats distract you from its huge, healthful menu of hearty breakfast, lunch, and dinner items. Further, it offers fantastic loose-leaf tea options (I get the gunpower green tea, into which they’ll shave fresh ginger) and European coffees. At any time of the day, you can visit for dessert and drinks or get a full meal.

Epicure doesn’t offer wireless Internet, so you won’t want to boot up there to get work done, but you may find it a great spot for a networking coffee or a catch-up session with a friend.

Boomtown Coffee

Houston has an increasing wealth of independent coffee shops, of which Boomtown quickly grew into a favorite. I’d call it more café than pure coffee shop, as it has a small menu of sandwiches and light bites as well as a full range of coffees and loose-leaf teas (always a requirement to make any best-café list of mine). Boomtown provides a great place to linger with a book, get a little work or writing done via Wi-Fi, and catch up with a friend.

The spot used to stay open late, but now it closes at 7 p.m.—the only disappointment. (In fairness, it does open at 7 a.m., so you can go there for the morning and move over to Te for the evening, if you really want to café it up for a day.)

What do you love this month?