Cavalli Cafe
Santo Esposito came from Campania and opened a Roman-style coffee bar here in 2006, in the two-storey room A. Cavalli & Co. had run as an Italian bookstore and newsstand for most of a century. He pulls the espresso by hand.
Why go
Ocean Malandra's account for 7x7 is the useful one. The door is easy to miss, on the Chinatown side of Stockton just past Columbus. Inside there is house-made cannoli, tiramisu and panini. What he singles out is the espresso. After it, he says, try a shot or two poured over a scoop of gelato, the Cafe Afogato.1
Bridget Veltri took the business back further nine years later. A. Cavalli Co. started in the 1880s as a bookstore and Italian print shop, and the cafe took its current form in the early 2000s.2 I haven't found a review of the coffee, and both of the pieces I have read are roundups.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the espresso. The affogato after it, if you are staying.1
- Avoid: hunting for a shopfront. The door is small and it is past Columbus.
What locals & experts say
- Ocean Malandra, 7x7, January 2016: Esposito's
specialty is the perfect espresso shot, and he hand pulls each one the way an artist applies paint to the canvas.
1 - Bridget Veltri, 7x7, May 2025: the cafe
began in the 1880s as A. Cavalli Co., a bookstore and Italian print shop.
2
Good to know
- Getting in: walk in. There is seating upstairs and down.2
- Where: 1441 Stockton Street, on the Chinatown side of the street past Columbus.
Verdict
could-visit — Stand at the bar for one shot and a cannoli on your way through Chinatown.