Presta Coffee Roasters Made the World's 100 Best Coffee Shops List in 2025

Thomas Garner

Oct 7

10 min read

Rugged peaks of Pusch Ridge above the Catalina Foothills of Tucson under pink clouds

Photo: Cindy Devin, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Presta Coffee Roasters earned a spot on a genuinely global stage in 2025, landing at number 44 on the World's 100 Best Coffee Shops list, according to Tucson Foodie. That is not a local ranking or a citywide roundup. It is an international list, and a Tucson coffee business making the cut says something real about how far Presta's reputation now reaches.

Behind that ranking sits a business that describes itself as operating in Tucson since 2014, now running three locations across the city: the original Mercado location, a 9th Street cafe near Fourth Avenue, and a newer Catalina Foothills location on Sunrise Drive. Tucson counts 543,348 residents in the 2023 American Community Survey, and a business built right there earning a spot on a global list is the kind of achievement that reflects well on the whole city's coffee scene, not just on the one company that earned it.

Number 44 on a World Stage

Being named to the World's 100 Best Coffee Shops list puts Presta in genuinely rare company, evaluated alongside coffee shops from across the entire globe rather than just against other Tucson or Arizona businesses. A number 44 ranking on a list built to cover the best coffee shops anywhere in the world is a real, meaningful distinction, and Tucson Foodie reported it directly.

For a city the size of Tucson to have a coffee business recognized on this kind of global list is worth sitting with. It places Tucson's coffee scene on a stage most cities its size never reach, and it gives Presta a reputation that now extends well past Arizona's own borders.

A global ranking like this one is also a different kind of recognition than a local or regional best of list. It means evaluators looking across coffee shops from cities of every size, on every continent, singled out a business built in Tucson specifically. That is a different bar to clear than a citywide or statewide honor, and it says something specific about how far Presta's reputation has carried it.

Operating in Tucson Since 2014

Presta describes itself, on its own about page, as operating in Tucson since 2014. That founding year matters for reading the 2025 ranking: by the time the World's 100 Best list arrived, the business had roughly eleven years of Tucson history behind it, long enough to grow from a single room into three.

The ranking was also picked up beyond Tucson Foodie. BestCafes.co.uk's 2026 roundup flags Presta among the World's 100 Best Coffee Shops for 2025, one more outlet carrying the same news to readers who may never have heard of the Mercado San Agustin or Fourth Avenue.

Three Rooms Across Tucson

Presta's original room sits inside the Mercado San Agustin, at 100 S Avenida del Convento, described by the business itself as its original location. A second room sits at 501 E 9th St, one block off Fourth Avenue in historic downtown Tucson, according to Presta's own locations page. The newest room opened in January 2026 on Sunrise Drive, at 4700 E Sunrise Dr, in the heart of the Catalina Foothills, which the locations page calls its newest addition.

Three locations spread across three different parts of Tucson, the historic Mercado, the Fourth Avenue adjacent downtown, and the Catalina Foothills to the north, gives Presta a real footprint across the city's coffee geography, each location serving its own distinct neighborhood while carrying the same globally recognized name.

The Mercado Room

The original room inside the Mercado San Agustin sits west of Interstate 10, in a development built around courtyards, food vendors and a market hall where people linger rather than grab a cup and go. A coffee room there shares its setting with a whole afternoon of other things to do, which makes it a destination as much as a stop.

The Mercado pocket has since filled in around it. Decibel Coffee Works keeps a room at the MSA Annex, 267 S Avenida Del Convento Bldg 9, a short walk away, and Barrio Hollywood, where Barista del Barrio sits at 1002 N Grande Ave, is a few minutes north. The west side of the interstate is now one of Tucson's real coffee pockets, and Presta's original room is one of its anchors.

A Tucson Name on a Global List

It is worth being clear about what a ranking like this means for Tucson. A number 44 finish on a list covering the whole world is the kind of praise most coffee businesses never see, and it gives the city a reference point when a visitor asks whether Tucson is a serious coffee town. The answer now comes with a citation.

It does not make every other Tucson room a runner up. A young cafe near Fourth Avenue or a single room in Barrio Hollywood is building something different, on its own block, for its own regulars. The global list is a celebration of one business, and Tucson's coffee scene is wide enough to hold that celebration alongside many other stories.

The Path From Mercado to Sunrise

Presta's own growth path is worth walking through. The original location opened inside the Mercado San Agustin, the business's own described starting point. A second location followed on 9th Street, one block off Fourth Avenue in historic downtown Tucson, extending Presta's reach into a completely different pocket of the city. The newest location, opened in January 2026 in the Catalina Foothills on Sunrise Drive, pushes the business further north still, into a part of Tucson none of its earlier locations had reached.

That progression, Mercado to Fourth Avenue adjacent downtown to the Catalina Foothills, traces a real arc of growth across more than a decade, each new room reaching a different Tucson neighborhood rather than simply adding density to an area the business already served.

The 9th Street Room

Presta's 9th Street room at 501 E 9th St sits one block off Fourth Avenue in historic downtown Tucson, in the pocket that also holds Harley's Coffee Co. at 316 E 6th St Suite 150 and Exo's warehouse room at 403 N 6th Ave. It is one of the most walkable coffee stretches in the city, close to the streetcar line, downtown and the University of Arizona.

For a visitor who only knows the World's 100 Best headline, the 9th Street room is often the easiest way to find Presta, a short walk from the shops and murals of Fourth Avenue rather than a drive across the interstate to the Mercado.

The Sunrise Room in the Foothills

The newest location, opened in January 2026 at 4700 E Sunrise Dr, carries Presta into the Catalina Foothills, north of the university and Midtown and closer to the mountains. It is the furthest north of the three locations, and it reaches a part of Tucson that neither the Mercado nor 9th Street serves.

Growth in Tucson has moved outward and northward for years, with neighborhoods filling in the desert between the older core and the Santa Catalina Mountains. A room on Sunrise Drive is a bet on where the next set of regulars will be living, and it gives foothills residents a way to try a globally ranked Tucson name without driving downtown.

Choosing a Room

With three locations in three pockets, the right Presta depends on where a drinker already is. A visitor spending the day at the Mercado San Agustin, with its courtyards and vendors west of Interstate 10, has the original cafe at 100 S Avenida del Convento a few steps away. Someone walking Fourth Avenue, or coming down from the University of Arizona side of town, is closest to 501 E 9th St. A foothills resident heading out in the morning has 4700 E Sunrise Dr without crossing the city.

That spread is part of what makes a three room business useful in a city as wide as Tucson. A July afternoon in the desert makes a long drive for a cup of coffee a hard sell, and a name that shows up on the west side, downtown and in the foothills lets a drinker reach it from whichever pocket the day starts in. The ranking brings people looking for the name; the three addresses make sure they can find it without a detour.

The one thing this post does not print is a set of hours for each room. Those change with the season, and a drinker planning a visit to any of the three should check that room's current hours before heading over rather than relying on an old guide or a screenshot from last year.

Local Press, Global List

Tucson Foodie, one of the city's established food and drink publications, carried the news of Presta's number 44 finish to local readers, which is how a global ranking usually reaches a city: through the local outlet that people already read for restaurant openings and neighborhood guides. The same publication covers downtown coffee in its Foodie 15 guides, so the ranking landed in front of exactly the readers most likely to walk into one of the three locations.

BestCafes.co.uk's 2026 roundup later flagged the same World's 100 Best result for a broader audience. Between a local publication and an international roundup, the ranking now travels in two directions, to Tucson residents deciding where to spend a Saturday morning and to visitors deciding whether Tucson belongs on a coffee itinerary at all.

A Business Grown Over More Than a Decade

Presta's own history, operating in Tucson since 2014, means the business had roughly eleven years behind it by the time it earned its World's 100 Best recognition in 2025. That length of time matters. A number 44 global ranking is not the kind of thing a coffee business earns overnight. It reflects more than a decade of steady work in Tucson and a careful expansion from one room to three.

Understanding that timeline helps put the ranking in its proper context. Presta's global recognition is the product of sustained, patient growth across more than a decade in Tucson, not a sudden breakout success, and that steadiness is part of what makes the achievement worth celebrating so directly.

What Number 44 Says About Tucson

A Tucson coffee business landing at number 44 on a global best of list is not just a win for Presta. It is a data point about what this city's coffee scene is capable of, evidence that a business built here can compete on a stage most cities never reach.

That kind of achievement deserves to be told clearly and celebrated on its own terms: three locations, a 2014 start in Tucson, and a number 44 ranking among the best coffee shops anywhere in the world. If your Tucson coffee shop has its own story of growth worth telling this clearly, reach Hillcane at hillcane.co/contact or call (256) 384-2449.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many locations does Presta list?

Three, per Presta's own locations page: the original cafe inside the Mercado San Agustin at 100 S Avenida del Convento, the 9th Street cafe at 501 E 9th St one block off Fourth Avenue, and the Sunrise Drive cafe at 4700 E Sunrise Dr in the Catalina Foothills. The three locations cover the west side, downtown and the northern foothills of Tucson.

What ranking did Presta receive in 2025?

Presta landed at number 44 on the World's 100 Best Coffee Shops 2025 list, according to Tucson Foodie. BestCafes.co.uk's 2026 roundup also flags Presta among that year's World's 100 Best. It is an international list covering coffee shops in cities of every size, which makes a Tucson name in the top half a rare distinction.

When was the Sunrise Drive location added?

Presta's locations page says the Sunrise Drive location at 4700 E Sunrise Dr opened in January 2026, in the heart of the Catalina Foothills, and calls it the business's newest addition. It arrived about a year after the 2025 World's 100 Best ranking and took Presta north of the university and Midtown for the first time.

How long has Presta operated in Tucson?

Presta describes itself as operating in Tucson since 2014, according to its own about page. That gave the business roughly eleven years in the city before the World's 100 Best Coffee Shops 2025 list placed it at number 44, and about twelve years by the time the Sunrise Drive location at 4700 E Sunrise Dr opened in January 2026.

Where is Presta's original room?

Presta's original room is inside the Mercado San Agustin at 100 S Avenida del Convento, west of Interstate 10. The locations page calls it the original Presta location. Decibel Coffee Works' MSA Annex room at 267 S Avenida Del Convento Bldg 9 is a short walk away, and Barrio Hollywood sits a few minutes north.

Where is Presta's 9th Street room?

Presta's 9th Street room is at 501 E 9th St, one block off Fourth Avenue in historic downtown Tucson, according to the locations page. It sits in a walkable pocket that also holds Harley's Coffee Co. at 316 E 6th St Suite 150 and Exo's warehouse room at 403 N 6th Ave, close to the streetcar line.

Which Presta room is closest to the University of Arizona?

The 9th Street location at 501 E 9th St is the closest of the three to the campus side of town, one block off Fourth Avenue, which runs toward the University of Arizona. The Mercado location at 100 S Avenida del Convento is west of Interstate 10, and the Sunrise Drive location at 4700 E Sunrise Dr is up in the Catalina Foothills.

Why does a World's 100 Best ranking matter for Tucson?

Because it gives the city a citation. When a visitor asks whether Tucson is a serious coffee town, Presta's number 44 finish on the World's 100 Best Coffee Shops 2025 list, reported by Tucson Foodie, is an outside answer. Tucson counts 543,348 residents in the 2023 American Community Survey, far smaller than most cities on such lists.

What part of Tucson does the Sunrise Drive location serve?

The Catalina Foothills, north of the University of Arizona and Midtown, where neighborhoods have filled in the desert toward the Santa Catalina Mountains. The location at 4700 E Sunrise Dr opened in January 2026 and is the furthest north of Presta's three locations, giving foothills residents a local option without a drive downtown or across Interstate 10.

How can Hillcane help tell a growth story like Presta's?

Hillcane builds pages that carry a business's full growth story, from a 2014 start through three locations and a World's 100 Best ranking, with each location's address and neighborhood clear enough that a searcher or an AI answer can find the right one on the first try, whether the search starts from the Mercado, Fourth Avenue or the foothills. Reach out at hillcane.co/contact or call (256) 384-2449.

Work with Hillcane

A Tucson coffee business just landed at number 44 on a list ranking the best coffee shops anywhere in the world.

If your Tucson coffee shop has a growth story worth telling this clearly, reach Hillcane at hillcane.co/contact or call (256) 384-2449.