Revival Cafe+Kitchen

In a freestanding building painted arrestingly black with white letters, Revival opened on the southern edge of Davis Square in early 2019. The black-and-white theme continues inside with attractive Moorish-style tiles by the register and bar. The second cafe for this Somerville brand (its first is at Alewife, one stop farther out on the Red Line), Revival freshens up the coffee landscape in the Davis Square area. It serves its own pastries and a lunch menu with a popular kale salad and topically named sandwiches (the Fake News is a reuben with “collusion-free Russian dressing”). Espresso, made on a turquoise Linea, is courtesy of George Howell. Teas are from MEM, the Watertown-based tea outfitter whose retail shop across the street is worth a visit. Revival also sells coffee from a new, yet-unnamed roaster whose mysterious white bags bespeak only the origin of the coffee, not the roaster, but sources confirm the project is based in Massachusetts and involves at least one Howell alum.

— Alexander Henry