PS Gourmet Coffee at Washington and Poplar streets and the Green T Coffee Shop at Walter and South streets seem to be in a race to see which one opens first, ending the coffee-shop drought the neighborhood has endured since Select Cafe closed in 2013.

PS, out of South Boston, has its signs in place, but Green T, out of Brigham Circle, has nicer doors ready to go: Read more.

Starbucks goes before the Zoning Board of Appeals next week for permission to change the shuttered Melting Pot fondue place in the Park Plaza Hotel into a, well, Starbucks.

Park Plaza guests who now want the Starbucks experience have to walk a full two-tenths of a mile to the Starbucks in the Transportation Building. Read more.

A Seattleite in town on a business trip seeks our help on the best Dunkin' Donuts iced-coffee drink to get.

A correspondent reports she saw a guy steal the tip jar at the Starbucks at 30 Rowes Wharft around 4:10 p.m. today - despite the best efforts of a barista and a single customer to stop him.

"I feel bad for the working staff, they're not rich," she said, adding she's also upset that while women in the shop called 911, "lots of men in there were buying coffee and they didn't even block the door nor tried to help."

The Boston Licensing Board next week hears requests for food-serving licenses for a Peet's proposed for 310 Harrison Ave. and a Caffe Nero planned for 53 Union Park.

In 2011, you may recall, South Enders successfully fought off a Dunkin' Donuts proposed for Tremont Street by arguing, among other things, that the South End already had too many food-serving establishments.

The board's hearings begin at 10 a.m. on Wednesday in its eighth-floor hearing room in City Hall.

Naturally, there's a petition against it:

If we wanted to live near a DD then we would have moved to Wellesley, Needham, etc...

The Boston Licensing Board next week considers a proposal to open a Japanese coffee shop at 10 Milk St.

Ogawa Coffee, based in Kyoto, would be the latest specialty coffee shop in an area once known mainly for its plethora of Dunkin' Donuts:

What we seek is not only good-tasting coffee. It is discovering and providing the coffee’s value that leads humans, nature and the whole environment in a positive direction. This is our dream.

The board's hearings begin at 10 a.m. on Wednesday in its eighth-floor hearing room in City Hall.

Three Dorchester residents are turning to the community to try to raise the money needed to turn an empty space in the Linane Building, 1448 Dorchester Ave., into a cafe that will focus on both baked goods and the community.

Elisa and Vivian Girard, who live in Fields Corner, and Jack Wu, who lives in Ashmont, hope to raise $60,000 by May 5 on their Indiegogo site to open Homestead Bakery and Cafe:

El Recreo Estate Coffee opened this morning at 1876 Centre St., in the space vacated by iScream:

Dedicated to bringing premium Nicaraguan coffee while practicing social and environmental stewardship.