A guided tour of NYC’s best coffee spots
1:00 pm May 7th, 2009 by Sal Cangeloso
Here it is- a tour of NYC’s finest coffee establishments. No it’s not by me (I wish I had the patience to collect my thoughts on the matter) but I just stumbled on a great virtual tour collected over at Man Seeking Coffee. In this case, I’m just the curator.
I’ll be reading through most of his blog this week, and I thought some of the posts were too good not too link to. Additionally I’ve been meaning to put something together along these lines, and these select posts do the jobs nicely. It’s also interesting that these articles are from a non-New York’s perspective so he doesn’t have the issues that locals might encounter (favoring places within walking distance of your apartment/place of work, preferring certain baristas, skipping certain locations because you don’t hang out in that area, etc). Finally, I agree with a lot of what he has to say, otherwise I would just make my own list without the links…
MSC’s reviews of my favorite spots:
- Abraço Espresso – Amazing place. My go-to place for espresso and pour-over drip coffee. Also has good food and cortados. As MSC points out, it’s small and often very busy.
- Gimme Coffee – I’m a big fan of the Mott Street location. My favorite spot in Soho/NoLiTa.
- Ninth Street Espresso – Their cafe at 9th and C was the first coffee place in NYC that I really loved. They’ve expanded since then, but they still do a great job.
- Cafe Grumpy – I haven’t been to the Brooklyn location yet, but the one in Chelsea is excellent. Definitely the best in the neighborhood.
MSC’s reviews of Sal-approved spots (all are good-to-very good):
- La Colombe (Church Street) – A nice spot, though a bit out of the way. A good place to stop for a macchiato. They have a new Soho location though, so I probably won’t make it down here too much any more.
- Kaffe 1668 – An up-and-coming spot that I’ve been to only a few times. Has potential to be one of NYC’s best, despite the less-than-ideal location. They have WiFi, two Clovers, and two beautiful Synesso Cyncra espresso machines.
- Joe the Art of Coffee – I like the Waverly location, though it’s insane on the weekends. Always has top-notch pastries.
MSC’s reviews of solid NYC spots not my picks though (OK-to-good places that I like, but won’t go out of my way to stop at):
- Think Coffee – A good spot, but it tends to be overrated. The Mercer street location is deep in the heart of NYU.
- Everyman Espresso – An awkward space, but the espresso is pretty good.
- Mudd Coffee – Good stuff, but not my favorite. The truck can be very convenient if you are in the area.
Notable, and could be very good, but I need to research more:
- Grey Dog
- Jack’s Stir Brew
- OST Cafe
- Blue Spoon – New and not open on Sundays. I’m thinking it will be good, but no Kaffe 1668.
- National Cafe and Espresso Bar – just opened on Rivington next to Freeman’s Alley. I went once and had a great time. Barista is super cool and the espressos were solid.
- El Beit
- Simon Sips – I’ve only been once, but I had a good experience. I got a deal on some Counter Culture coffee beans too.
Ones MSC skipped that come to mind (I am sure that I’m leaving some out). Not particularly notable:
- Aroma Coffee - on Houston St.
- Porto Rico Roasters in Essex Street Market
- Oren’s
- Bean’s – in the East Village
Thanks for the kind words. And Although I wrote a lot, I, in turn, owe a lot of the leg work to the Tamp Tamp/Road to Epiphany/Anne Nylander legwork in putting together a great walking tour and list.
I wouldn’t describe Think and Mudd as “solid” spots, especially in NY. They might be OK to good in some other parts of the country but in NY, relative to everything else around, they are merely luke warm. Everyman was certainly better. I put them more into the good category.
У автора очень приятный слог