The Coffee Apothecary Is South Taos on Paseo del Pueblo Sur

Jacob Mishalanie

Oct 7

11 min read

Paseo del Pueblo Sur in Taos with the Sangre de Cristo Mountains rising beyond the road

Photo: Thomson M, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

If you are looking for coffee in South Taos, the address to know is 616 Paseo Del Pueblo Sur. That is The Coffee Apothecary, open from 7am to 3pm on weekdays and from 7am to noon on Saturdays and Sundays, on the long corridor that carries the town's daily traffic south from the historic Plaza.

This is a shop worth understanding on its own terms, not as a footnote to the Plaza's better known coffee corner. South Taos runs on a different rhythm than the historic square downtown, and The Coffee Apothecary sits right inside that rhythm, on Paseo del Pueblo Sur, the road locals actually use to get where they are going.

What follows is a plain account of that address: where it sits, when its door is open, what published coverage has said about it, and how it fits into a stretch of road that holds more than one coffee counter. It is written for a visitor planning a morning and for a local who has driven past 616 a hundred times.

A South Taos Address

The Coffee Apothecary sits at 616 Paseo del Pueblo Sur, Taos, New Mexico 87571, on the stretch of road that runs south from the historic Plaza through the part of town locals call South Taos. This is not the walkable, gallery lined downtown square. It is a real corridor of daily traffic, the kind of road where a stop for coffee fits into an errand run rather than requiring a dedicated trip.

That placement matters for how the shop gets used. A cafe on Paseo del Pueblo Sur is built to catch people already moving through South Taos, commuters, parents on a school run, someone heading out of town toward the south, not only visitors seeking out a destination. It is coffee woven into the actual texture of a normal day in this part of Taos.

It also means the address itself does a lot of work. On a corridor this long, the street number is how a driver knows when to slow down. 616 is the number to watch for, and the shop's phone, 575.779.8706, is there for anyone who would rather call than guess.

When the Door Is Open

The Coffee Apothecary lists its hours plainly: Monday through Friday from 7am to 3pm, and Saturday and Sunday from 7am to noon. That is a morning shop's schedule, and it shapes how a visit should be planned.

On a weekday, the window is wide. A 7am stop before work, a mid morning break, or a late lunch coffee before 3pm all fit. On a weekend, the window closes at noon, which means a Saturday or Sunday visitor who wants coffee at 616 should make it part of the morning rather than the afternoon. A visitor who sleeps in, browses the Plaza first and heads south at 1pm on a Sunday will find the day has moved on without them.

Hours like these say something about who a shop serves. A 7am open, every day of the week, catches the people who start early in a mountain town: workers heading to a job site, locals with a morning routine, visitors trying to beat the afternoon light. The Coffee Apothecary's schedule is built for them.

Praise in Print

The Coffee Apothecary has also earned a place in the town's own visitor writing. In November 2021, Taos.org, the town's tourism bureau, published an article called The Best Coffee Shops in Taos, and The Coffee Apothecary is among the shops it names, at 616 Paseo Del Pueblo Sur.

That kind of mention matters in a town that runs on visitors. A traveler planning a trip to Taos often starts with the visitor bureau's own pages, and being named in a best coffee shops article from the town's tourism site is exactly the kind of recommendation that travels. It is praise from a published source, tied to a real street address, and it has stayed on the record since 2021.

It also places South Taos on the visitor map. An article like that, read by someone who has only pictured the Plaza, is a nudge to drive a little farther south, and 616 Paseo Del Pueblo Sur is one of the reasons to do it.

The Corridor Around 616

The Coffee Apothecary is not the only coffee counter on Paseo del Pueblo Sur, and that is part of what makes South Taos its own pocket. Farther down the same road, at 1006 Paseo Del Pueblo Sur, Taos Java runs a family cafe with a drive thru, and describes itself as voted Best Coffee in Taos several years running.

A little past that, at 1033 Paseo Del Pueblo Sur, KOKO calls itself a fresh alternative on the south side of Taos. It lists weekday hours of 7am to 4pm, Saturday hours of 9am to 2pm, and is closed on Sundays, with a deli, bakery and catering side to its counter.

Three coffee counters along one corridor, at 616, 1006 and 1033, is a real cluster for a town of 6,468 residents, per the Census Bureau's 2023 five year survey. It is what turns Paseo del Pueblo Sur from a road people drive through into a pocket people drive to, and it gives a South Taos local more than one reason to stay on their own side of town for a morning cup.

How South Taos Differs from the Plaza

Downtown, the coffee geography looks different. World Cup Cafe sits at 102a Paseo Del Pueblo Norte, at the entrance to Taos Plaza, and Sol Coffee sits a short walk away at 121 Bent St. That pocket is built for foot traffic: park once, walk the square, stop for coffee between galleries.

South Taos is built for the car. The addresses along Paseo del Pueblo Sur are spread out along a working road, and a visit there usually means pulling off, parking at the door, and getting back on the road. Neither pocket is better than the other. They are two different ways of moving through the same small town, and a visitor who only knows one of them is seeing half of Taos.

Gusdorf Road, on the working edge of town, is the third pocket, a trip someone plans on purpose rather than a stop along the way. Knowing all three makes it easier to put The Coffee Apothecary in context: it is the first of the three South Taos coffee addresses by street number, at 616, ahead of 1006 and 1033.

Planning a South Taos Coffee Morning

Put the pieces together and a South Taos coffee morning is easy to plan. On a weekday, start at 616 any time after 7am, with a comfortable window until 3pm. On a weekend, aim to arrive before noon, when the shop's Saturday and Sunday hours end.

If the morning has room for a second stop, the rest of the corridor is right there. Taos Java at 1006 Paseo Del Pueblo Sur and KOKO at 1033 are a short drive farther along the same road. Keep KOKO's schedule in mind too: it opens at 9am on Saturdays and is closed on Sundays.

For a visitor based downtown, the drive south along Paseo del Pueblo Sur is itself part of seeing the town. The road passes from the historic core into the everyday Taos of grocery runs and service businesses, and a coffee stop along the way is a good excuse to see that side of the place.

Coffee Before the Road South

Paseo del Pueblo Sur is also the way out of town for anyone driving south toward Española and Santa Fe, and that gives the corridor's coffee counters a second job. For a traveler checking out of a Taos hotel and heading for the next town, South Taos is the last stretch of the town's own coffee.

That is not a small point in this part of New Mexico. Neither of the big drive thru chains lists a location in Taos on its New Mexico page. The nearest 7 Brew stand on that list is in Española, and the nearest Dutch Bros is in Santa Fe, at 2841 Cerrillos Rd. A driver who wants a cup for the road is far better served stopping at 616 Paseo Del Pueblo Sur before 3pm on a weekday, or before noon on a weekend, than counting on the highway.

It works in the other direction too. A visitor arriving from the south drives up Paseo del Pueblo Sur before reaching the Plaza, which makes the corridor the first taste of Taos for anyone coming in by car from that direction. A morning arrival can start with coffee in South Taos before the search for downtown parking begins.

A Town Address, Not a Mountain One

One more piece of geography helps a first time visitor. Taos, the town, had 6,468 residents in the Census Bureau's 2023 five year survey. Taos Ski Valley, up the mountain, is a separate village the same survey counts at 39. A skier staying at the mountain who searches for coffee in Taos is really asking about the town below, and 616 Paseo Del Pueblo Sur is a town address, in the everyday part of the town itself.

That makes The Coffee Apothecary a stop for a day spent in town rather than on the slopes: a morning in South Taos, an afternoon on the Plaza, and a clear sense of which part of Taos each address belongs to.

South Taos Deserves Its Own Coffee Identity

It would be easy for a small town like Taos to let its entire coffee identity get absorbed into whatever the Plaza offers, since the historic square is what most outside visitors picture first. A shop like The Coffee Apothecary on Paseo del Pueblo Sur pushes back against that flattening, giving South Taos a coffee identity of its own.

That matters for how South Taos gets talked about, both by locals and by anyone looking for coffee in this part of town. A resident who lives closer to Paseo del Pueblo Sur than to the Plaza should not have to think of their own neighborhood as an afterthought to downtown. Three counters along one road, starting at 616, give South Taos its own answer to the question of where to get coffee.

In a town with a compact coffee scene, roughly seven shops in My Coffee Explorer's 2026 guide, that kind of pocket identity is worth more than it might seem. It means Taos's coffee story is not one square with everything else treated as overflow. It is three real places, the Plaza, Paseo del Pueblo Sur, and Gusdorf Road, each with its own reason to stop.

Whether someone is a longtime South Taos resident who has passed 616 Paseo Del Pueblo Sur a thousand times, or a visitor heading south from the Plaza for the first time, the address gives them the same thing: a specific, findable place to start the morning, open at 7am every day of the week.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is The Coffee Apothecary located?

The Coffee Apothecary is at 616 Paseo del Pueblo Sur, Taos, New Mexico 87571, in South Taos. That puts it on the corridor running south from the historic Plaza, the road locals use for daily errands, rather than in the walkable downtown core around 102a Paseo Del Pueblo Norte. Its phone number is 575.779.8706 for anyone who wants to call before driving over.

What are The Coffee Apothecary's hours?

The Coffee Apothecary lists its hours as Monday through Friday from 7am to 3pm, and Saturday and Sunday from 7am to noon. That makes it a morning shop every day of the week. On weekends, plan to arrive before 12pm. On weekdays there is a wider window, from an early 7am stop to a mid afternoon coffee before 3pm.

Has The Coffee Apothecary been featured in published coverage?

Yes. Taos.org, the town's tourism bureau, published an article called The Best Coffee Shops in Taos in November 2021, and The Coffee Apothecary is among the shops it names, at 616 Paseo Del Pueblo Sur. For a visitor planning a trip, that article from the town's own visitor bureau is one of the first places the South Taos address comes up.

Which Taos coffee pocket is Paseo del Pueblo Sur?

Paseo del Pueblo Sur is the South Taos pocket, one of three coffee pockets in town alongside Taos Plaza downtown and Gusdorf Road on the working edge. It is a corridor of daily local traffic rather than a walkable square, and it holds coffee counters at 616, 1006 and 1033 Paseo Del Pueblo Sur within a short drive of each other.

What other coffee stops are on Paseo del Pueblo Sur?

Two more counters share the corridor. Taos Java, at 1006 Paseo Del Pueblo Sur, is a family cafe with a drive thru that describes itself as voted Best Coffee in Taos several years running. KOKO, at 1033 Paseo Del Pueblo Sur, calls itself a fresh alternative on the south side of Taos and lists weekday hours of 7am to 4pm.

Is The Coffee Apothecary open on weekends?

Yes. The Coffee Apothecary is open on Saturday and Sunday from 7am to noon, at 616 Paseo Del Pueblo Sur. That is a shorter day than its weekday schedule of 7am to 3pm, so a weekend visit works best as part of the morning. A visitor who spends the early part of the day on the Plaza should head south before noon.

Is The Coffee Apothecary only for visitors, or do locals use it too?

It sits on Paseo del Pueblo Sur, South Taos's corridor of daily errands, so it works as a natural stop for residents moving through that part of a town of 6,468 people, not only for visitors seeking it out. Its 7am opening every day of the week fits the early start of commuters, parents on a school run and anyone heading out of town to the south.

How far is The Coffee Apothecary from Taos Plaza?

It sits south of the Plaza along Paseo del Pueblo Sur, the road that continues south from Paseo Del Pueblo Norte through the center of town. The Plaza pocket, with World Cup Cafe at 102a Paseo Del Pueblo Norte and Sol Coffee at 121 Bent St, is built for walking. From there, 616 Paseo Del Pueblo Sur is a short drive for most visitors based downtown.

Is South Taos the same as Taos Plaza?

No. Taos Plaza is the historic downtown square, home to World Cup Cafe at 102a Paseo Del Pueblo Norte, while South Taos runs along Paseo del Pueblo Sur, a separate corridor of daily local traffic south of the historic center. They are two distinct pockets in Taos's coffee geography, with The Coffee Apothecary at 616 Paseo Del Pueblo Sur in the second.

How should a visitor plan a South Taos coffee morning?

Start at 616 Paseo Del Pueblo Sur after 7am, before 3pm on a weekday or before noon on a weekend. If there is time for a second stop, Taos Java at 1006 and KOKO at 1033 Paseo Del Pueblo Sur are a short drive farther along. KOKO opens at 9am on Saturdays and is closed on Sundays, so check the day first.

Work with Hillcane

Pull off Paseo del Pueblo Sur in South Taos at 616 and you are at The Coffee Apothecary, a morning stop on the corridor where locals actually run their day.

If your South Taos shop wants a page that shows up as clearly as its coffee, reach Hillcane at hillcane.co/contact or call (256) 384-2449.