Yes, you're right that it isn't a "coffee house". The coffee house game is played expertly in philly by several places each of which serves up excellent coffee: Joe, Elixr, La Colombe, Rival, and a few more. Depending on the time of day, they're decidedly not the kind of independent coffee-house vibe the author was going for. La Colombe, for example, is branching out beyond just having a few coffee houses in a few cities-- they're marketing product as well.