Best place to read the Sunday paper

"Alexis, you're enormous!" coos Joshua Church from behind the counter at the 1369 Coffee House in Inman Square. The very pregnant Alexis, a customer at the 1369 for more than two years, is just stopping by to say hello to Joshua, one of the shop's managers.

The 1369 was established almost seven years ago by its current owner, Gerry Wolfe. Before embarking on a career in coffee, Wolfe traveled up and down the West Coast, where the coffee craze was already in full blossom, visiting coffee shops and taking meticulous notes. When he returned, he established his café (on the site of the old 1369 Jazz Club) as the embodiment of all that he had found appealing. Today, 1369, which has a second location in Central Square, is a social fixture in Inman Square, with an atmosphere that is downright familial. "It's all about regulars here," says Church. But the shop seems especially friendly on Sunday mornings, when it is filled with people who are happy to give up the comfort of their pajamas and couches to read the Sunday paper over a cup of 1369 coffee. Sections are swapped just as they are at most family breakfast tables: when someone is through reading the comics, she returns them to the communal pile in exchange for the news or sports sections. "[1369] feels like a community," says round-bellied Alexis, "and they have great coffee."

1369 Coffee House, 1369 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, (617) 576-1369; 757 Mass Ave, Cambridge, (617) 576-4600.