Finding the best cup of joe in town is becoming an increasingly difficult task.

With coffee shops popping up all over Ames, students have more and more choices of where they can go to sip the perfect cup of coffee in an atmosphere they enjoy.

There are now two shops in Campustown that specifically cater to java-drinkers, Stomping Grounds and Santa Fe Espresso. There is also Burgie’s Espresso Cafe in the Memorial Union and in the North Grand Mall, and Taraccino Coffee and Gregory’s Coffeehouse in east Ames, to name just a few.

The number of coffee houses that have opened in Ames has increased rapidly within the last three years. Each business has its own style and atmosphere and, of course, competition.

Stomping Grounds is the original coffee shop in Ames and has served the Campustown area since it opened in 1993.

The competition created by the newer coffee houses has prompted Stomping Grounds to broaden its menu in order to tap further into its already busy lunch hour, said Stomping Grounds manager, Monte Martin.

Stomping Grounds, like other coffee houses, offers its own unique specialties.

“We offer Sunday morning concerts, light jazz musical quartets. This alone brings a lot of people out,” Martin said.

Martin also said the location of Stomping Grounds and its outdoor seating are its advantages. “No other place offers [this],” Martin said.

He said the new shops haven’t had too great of an effect on Stomping Grounds’ business in “any major way.”

“Obviously you’re going to have people sampling the other businesses. And Bruegger’s [Bagels] carries such a tremendous clout. [Taraccino] will always do well because they’re connected to Bruegger’s,” he said.

Taraccino Coffee manager, Paul Hollen, said Taraccino and Bruegger’s Bagels, “compliment each other very well.” Hollen added that his coffee shop has a different atmosphere than most coffee houses.

“It seems to be a very wholesome atmosphere. Very open, very light, clean, non-smoking. An easy atmosphere to have a business lunch or friends or moms getting together around the fireplace,” he said.

However, Hollen said one disadvantage of Taraccino is that it is not within easy walking distance of campus.

Santa Fe Espresso opened last December. Owner Dwight Rivera said “the other coffee shops are not really a big concern for us.”

Rivera said Santa Fe’s location in Campustown keeps it out of any real competition with the other coffee houses, other than Stomping Grounds.

He said Santa Fe is unique because it offers room reservations for a class or friends to get together in a private setting. Santa Fe will also start to allow smoking in a room in the back of the shop, he said.

Burgie’s is another of Ames’ hot coffee spots. Dale Culver, a partner in Burgie’s, said the trend of increasing coffee houses in Ames is having a positive effect on his business.

“Actually it helps, I think. Drinking coffee is definitely habit forming and having coffee shops available throughout Ames helps our business in that aspect. People get used to drinking coffee, having it around,” Culver said.

Culver added that which shop a customer decides to go to is a “matter of convenience.”

Gregory’s, located on Duff, also works to satisfy the coffee tastes of Ames and ISU. Owner Linda Van Horn said after she opened her shop in May of 1996 she discovered she had “filled a niche in Ames that I didn’t realize was needed and it’s been very, very well received.”

Van Horn said Gregory’s offers a more homey atmosphere with love seats and overstuffed chairs. “It’s a place to go after a movie, some place other than Perkins. Some place to relax,” she said.