The Best Cafés in New York

The Big Apple is brimming with cute little cafés where you can get a great latte or espresso. In fact, as there are so many options, it’s hard to know where to go. As Alex visits NYC fairly frequently, he decided idea to make a list of his four favourite cafés that he has discovered during his visits.

Blue Bottle at Rockefeller Center

This company has several cafés in different parts of the United States. Their brand is defined by their ability to perfectly match the environment where they decide to set up shop. As such, in the business centre of the city, the look is very clean with marble and wood.

The coffee is skillfully served. The on-site baristas are very quick and polite, one of whom is behind the espresso machine, the other the dripper. You have the can choose the origin, which is quite the decision to make in a New York minute!

A quick anecdote from Alex: while patiently waiting for his coffee, he decided to chat with the person next to him in line, a Californian from San Francisco, who talked about how much he loves the brand, and how in his city, their neighbourhood café is tucked away down an alley behind a garage door; very San Fran!

Café Grumpy at Grand Central Terminal

Alex, who is a fan of debranding, had his heart stolen by this brand from the first sip of coffee. With their absolutely wonderful logo this café that the boss visited was located in Grand Central Terminal. Once again, the friendly baristas working served him an excellent latte made using their house blend, and he couldn’t stop himself from taking a bag of it home with him!

Note: the company roasts its coffee in New York and has several outlets in the city. Talk about supporting local businesses!

Joe Coffee Company at Grand Central Terminal

One thing is for sure, if you’re going through Grand Central Terminal, you’ll have a wide selection of cafés, because there is also Joe Coffee Company; another great independent café with several outlets in the Big Apple.

According to Alex, the house blend that they used in his latte was delicious. Once again, he eagerly purchased a bag of it! As always, the service was great.

Stone Street Coffee Company in Chelsea

At Stone Street, inside this concept café you can find…a cocktail bar! It’s a brilliant concept. You enter this little café, and a doorman opens the door at the back, which gives you access to a cocktail bar called Bathtub Gin, which is decorated to look like the Prohibition Era.

As a micro-roast coffee and cocktail lover, it was a little like going to heaven for Alex. And guess what: he brought back a small bag of their coffee!

Interesting fact: unlike many cafés, this one offers several different roasting profiles.

A Brief Note About Alex

Alex likes to say that the only downside of his trips to New York is that they’re always too short. After all, New York is such a big city that it’s possible to visit a different café every day for virtually ever. So, if you visit and find a good spot, let us know because Alex would like to put together the itinerary for his next escapade to NYC!