BOSTON -- They are a constant presence at places like Starbucks: customers who use coffee shops like offices. They work on their laptops for hours on end, a long-empty cup by their side. Now, some shop owners said these customers are draining their bottom line, so they have no recourse but to limit or eliminate Wi-Fi service entirely.

At Barismo in Arlington, co-owner Jamie Van Schyndel said it's all about the coffee, brewed one cup at a time. His brother proudly demonstrates the store's drip method.

"He's settling the grounds, then making a small divot," said Van Schyndel. "Now he's making concentric pours so it radiates outward."

Van Schyndel said they are hard-core devotees to the art of coffee making. There are no seats at Barismo, and no tables. Customers fuel up and go.

"When we opened, it was, 'Why are there no seats?' 'What's the deal with his place?'" said Van Schyndel.

Barismo is part of a small but growing trend of establishments where customers used to sitting, sometimes for hours, in front of their laptops, will find no camping ground.

"We don't let people use wireless during our busiest times," said Guss Rancatore, owner of Toscanini's in Cambridge.

Rancatore said he had no choice. He wants to accommodate student laptoppers who flock to his shop, but it hurts business. Also affected, he said, is politeness.

"They don't care whether you are with young children, or your elderly grandmother. They are not going to give up their seat," said Rancatore.

Limited space, high rent and the need to turns tables are all factors in deciding to pull the plug on wireless service. So while Starbucks and other chains continue to welcome long-lingering laptoppers who sometimes nurse one cup of joe, there is an anti-corporate coffee culture picking up steam.

"We don't encourage computers and Wi-Fi," said Justin McRae, owner of Hi-Rise Cafe in Cambridge.

Terrace seating at Hi-Rise is the centerpiece. There's no power and no Wi-Fi.

"We generally encourage more of a social atmosphere," said McRae, who showed off his "siphon" technology to brew coffee.

"The holy grail is stable brewing temperature," said McRae.

That devotion to the art of coffee making goes hand in hand with an unplugged attitude. But other shops turning of the tables on their loyal laptop customers may be a cultural leap only certain patrons will accept.

"In this day and age, there's so much stimulation and technology taking over. I think a lot of people are responding to the coffee bar atmosphere." said McRae.

The trend is really taking root in New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco, known as the the most wired city in the U.S. Shop owners are either limiting or cutting Wi-Fi altogether there because they believe it's eating into sales.