Three Pines Coffee
Address: 165 South Main Street
Telephone: 805-395-8907
Website: threepinescoffee.com
District: Downtown
“I don’t think coffee has to be complicated but it does have to be excellent.” That simple belief sits at the heart of Three Pines Coffee, Nick Price’s first café, tucked into a narrow storefront on South Main Street in Salt Lake City. Opened in 2015, it is a quiet, focused space - no trendy gimmicks, no bells and whistles. Just really good coffee, done right.
Nick grew up in Draper, Utah, surrounded by music. He played drums from a young age and joined a touring band at eighteen. “We had some real success,” he said. “We were signed; we traveled. It was a big part of my life.” Eventually, the band relocated to Los Angeles, but like so many artists trying to make it in the city, Nick needed a job to stay afloat.
In 2011, when Nick wandered into Handsome Coffee Roasters, a small but respected café, and tasted his first "real cup of coffee," he was hooked. Soon after, by chance, he met the owner and walked away with a job offer. “It was one of those pivotal moments,” he recalled. “I didn’t know then that it would change everything.”
Immersed in the world of specialty coffee, Nick discovered a craft that spoke to him in the same way music once had. He stayed with the company through its acquisition by Blue Bottle but soon felt the culture shift. “I had seen something cool done the right way, but it turned into something different. That was my aha moment. I knew I wanted to do this on my own.”
In 2015, when the band broke up, Nick moved back to Utah and set about opening Three Pines. He partnered with Meg, his romantic partner at the time. “She had the capital, I had the knowledge” - and the two set out to build something grounded in precision, restraint, and care.
At Three Pines, every drink starts with a strong foundation. They offer espresso drinks made from carefully chosen beans roasted by Heart Coffee Roasters in Portland. “I’ve always admired their clarity and consistency,” Nick said. Whether you order a straight espresso, macchiato, cappuccino, or cortado, each drink is balanced and clean.
Three Pines offers a crisp, concentrated cold brew, as well as iced Americanos and lattes. Milk options include whole milk and oat milk. There are no elaborate syrup boards or towering whipped cream concoctions here. Instead, the sweetness comes from the balance in the cup, and maybe a pastry from a selection of baked goods, depending on the day.
In 2023, Nick got a call from Erin Butler, referred by a friend of Nick, asking if he would be interested in collaborating on another coffee shop. Her dad owned a building, and they could take over part of the space. He immediately accepted the challenge. Where Three Pines is measured, traditional, and minimalist, Holy Water, the collaboration with Erin, leans playful and experimental. The backbone, however, is the same for both: top-tier beans, excellent preparation, and genuine care. “Holy Water gave us a space to try new things,” Nick said. “But I’ll always have a soft spot for the simplicity of Three Pines.”
In 2025, after a decade, Three Pines has a small but fiercely loyal following that appreciates the quiet discipline of the space. Many customers come daily. “We have people who’ve been with us since the beginning,” Nick said. “They know exactly what they want. They trust us to get it right.” That trust is earned, not assumed. Nick is constantly refining the bar flow, the equipment, and the bean profiles because he knows coffee is a moving target. “I’m still learning,” he said. “Always. That’s the fun part. The second you think you’ve got it all figured out; you’ve stopped paying attention.”
There is seating inside at Three Pines for about twelve and lots of seating on their patio. The shop is deliberate and fully committed to its mission: to serve coffee that does not need to shout. It simply speaks for itself. “I wanted a place where the quality of the coffee could stand alone,” Nick said. “Three Pines is that place.”
