WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (WGHP) — The best drive-thru coffee in the country is right here in the Piedmont Triad.
USA Today ranked Coffee Park Airstream in Winston-Salem number one ahead of huge chains like Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts and McDonald’s.
“Get your butt down here,” said Baker Kenan, a customer. “It’s the best coffee in Winston.”
Inside a 1958 airstream camper off Reynolda Road, owner Tommy Priest and his crew are brewing a morning staple.
“My go to order is a 24 ounce iced coffee with oat milk and sugar free vanilla,” said Grace Zimmer, a customer.
From hot coffee to iced coffee to espresso drinks, they’re serving it all in a 120-square-foot trailer. Many of their customers are familiar faces.
“They are the best,” said Kenan. “I’ve been coming here since I was in high school.”
It’s also popular with Wake Forest University students.
“I come here Monday through Friday every day,” said Zimmer.
The regulars show up so often, that the baristas have their orders memorized.
“Everybody needs some type of recognition and even if it’s something as small as knowing what your drink is each day, I think that gets your day started off in a proper way,” said Priest.
It’s the perfect blend of attention and care that’s kept people coming back for nearly 17 years.
“We’re just here serving coffee,” said Priest. “We’re not trying to give you a corporate spiel. We’re not trying to make sure that you see our proper uniforms or anything like that. We just come in to work and sling coffee and have fun and listen to music and talk to the customers.”
The business has heated up by about 60 percent since USA Today voted Coffee Park Airstream as the best drive-thru coffee.
“It’s kind of the David and Goliath story,” said Priest. “Little mom and pop shop beat all the big coffee corps, which I’m still just like how did we get nominated? I still don’t really know. It just goes to show me that we’ve made more reach into the community than I really knew and I this really was a win for Winston-Salem.”
Coffee Park Airstream is located at 1208 Reynolda Road in Winston-Salem and is open Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and weekends from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
