Coffee shops to try, as per NYT. I extracted only the Manhattan spots, but it’s still pretty ambitious.
ABRAÇO There’s barely room enough for six standing adults, never mind the dozen or more who can crowd in during prime time. And yet in this cramped space the baristas turn out some of the city’s best cappuccinos and drip coffee. There’s a small, exquisite selection of baked goods, including a memorable cookie with cured olives. The owner, Jamie McCormick, will start roasting beans soon in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
86 East Seventh Street (First Avenue), no telephone, abraconyc.com.
BLUE BOTTLE COFFEE The sleek Williamsburg location of this San Francisco import
BLUEBIRD COFFEE SHOP So pleasant, it’s disarming — tiny and flooded with sunlight, it’s easy to sit and linger over one of the pastries baked here daily. But the coffee is exceptional. Katie Duris, one of the country’s most respected baristas, sets a high standard: the espresso is bright and lush, the cortado a sublime balance of coffee and steamed milk.
72 East First Street (First Avenue), East Village, (212) 260-1879, bluebirdcoffeeshop.com.
CAFÉ GRUMPY Café Grumpy always offered the city’s widest variety of coffees by the cup. Caroline Bell, one of the owners, is still committed to bringing in selections from some of the country’s best roasters. Grumpy recently inaugurated a roaster at its Greenpoint shop. A third location, in Park Slope, Brooklyn, is more coffee bar than cafe, and better suited to standing when you drink your flat white.
224 West 20th Street, Chelsea, (212) 255-5511; 383 Seventh Avenue (11th Street), Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 499-4404; 193 Meserole Avenue (Diamond Street), Greenpoint, Brooklyn, (718) 349-7623; cafegrumpy.com.
LA COLOMBE TORREFACTION A Philadelphia company known for its darker roasts. It opened a loft-like TriBeCa storefront in 2007 and a more streamlined coffee bar in SoHo in 2009.
319 Church Street (Lispenard Street), TriBeCa, (212) 343-1515; 270 Lafayette Street (Prince Street), SoHo, (212) 625-1717, lacolombe.com.
CULTURE ESPRESSO BAR Culture is part of the Australian coffee diaspora (one owner is from Down Under) and one of the few serious coffee bars in Midtown.
72 West 38th Street (Sixth Avenue), Midtown, (212) 302-0200, cultureespresso.com.
EVERYMAN ESPRESSO It’s little more than a handful of tables and a coffee counter in the lobby of the Classic Stage Company, an Off Broadway theater, but its owner, Sam Penix, is much admired by espresso-heads.
136 East 13th Street (Third Avenue), East Village, (212) 533-0524, everymanespresso.com.
GIMME! COFFEE Ithaca-based Gimme! Coffee has been counted among the city’s best coffee bars since it arrived in New York in 2003. The baristas balance the espresso with expertly steamed milk for an intense, rich cappuccino. It recently started offering single-origin coffee brewed by the cup.
228 Mott Street (Prince Street), NoLIta, (212) 226-4011; 495 Lorimer Street (Powers Street), Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 388-7771; gimmecoffee.com.
GROUND SUPPORT It has the airy feeling of the art gallery that once occupied the space. Tourists and locals sit at rough wood tables and enjoy well-crafted espresso drinks, single-origin Chemex drip coffee, cold-brew iced coffee and a range of pastries and sandwiches.
399 West Broadway (Spring Street), SoHo, (212) 219-8722.
JOE Joe reinvented itself last year: it started buying beans from Ecco Caffé, a highly regarded roaster; it retrained its staff; and it streamlined its locations, giving extra space to upgraded coffee gear. You can taste the difference. The macchiato is a work of art, and in the late morning when the crowds die down, some branches offer pour-overs, with single-origin beans. Last year, a Joe opened on the Upper West Side, bringing serious coffee to an underserved neighborhood.
141 Waverly Place (Sixth Avenue), Greenwich Village, (212) 924-6750; 9 East 13th Street (University Place), Greenwich Village, (212) 924-7400; 405 West 23rd Street (Ninth Avenue), Chelsea, (212) 206-0669; 89 East 42nd Street (Grand Central Terminal), (212) 661-8580; 514 Columbus Avenue (West 85th Street), Upper West Side, (212) 875-0100; joetheartofcoffee.com.
KAFFE 1668 In some ways, Kaffe 1668 is a neighborhood cafe; in other ways, it’s an orthodox coffee bar. For New Yorkers on the run, there are lattes in paper cups and jumbo cookies. But for the obsessed, there is drip coffee from a Clover machine, or seasonal single-origin espresso, which the baristas refuse to serve in a cappuccino because the milk would mask the flavor.
275 Greenwich Street (Warren Street), TriBeCa, (212) 693-3750, kaffe1668.com.
MAIALINO This Roman-style restaurant turns coffee into a ritual: during the morning, a pour-over drip bar is set up in a sunny area up front.
In the Gramercy Park Hotel, 2 Lexington Avenue (East 21st Street), Gramercy Park, (212) 777-2410, maialinonyc.com.
MOOMAH CAFÉ An arts and crafts center for stylish TriBeCa children where the coffee is as good as at any of the hip spots in Williamsburg and Greenpoint. Stroller parking out front.
161 Hudson Street (Laight Street), TriBeCa, (212) 226-0345, moomah.com.
NINTH STREET ESPRESSO Each Ninth Street Espresso feels different, and yet the harried shoppers at the Chelsea Market, the parents with strollers across from Tompkins Square Park and the laptop crowd at the original Ninth Street location all enjoy uniformly excellent coffee. Last spring, the owner, Ken Nye, did the next best thing to roasting his own beans by creating the Alphabet City Blend with Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea. It’s good in a cappuccino, great in a macchiato and exquisite in an espresso — which is only available to stay.
700 East Ninth Street (Avenue C), East Village, (212) 358-9225; 341 East 10th Street (Avenue B), East Village, (212) 777-3508; in the Chelsea Market, 75 Ninth Avenue (West 15 Street), (212) 228-2930; ninthstreetespresso.com.
OST CAFE Excellent coffee, including a fine cappuccino. Most people here seem to nurse their drinks, a tacit rent for the comfy chairs and WiFi.
441 East 12th Street (Avenue A), (212) 477-5600, ostcafenyc.com.
SATURDAYS SURF If you’re going to open an upscale surf shop in SoHo, why not turn the front into a coffee bar? The baristas are so good you don’t mind the paper cups — which are easier to carry to the deck in back anyway.
31 Crosby Street (Grand Street), SoHo, (212) 966-7875.
THE SMILE This stylish, dimly lighted basement restaurant has a vintage Faema from 1963 (not the reissue), regarded as the first modern espresso machine. But even if you don’t care about the mechanics you can appreciate the aesthetics — the dials look as if they’re from a Fiat Spider. And everybody can appreciate the plummy espressos.
26 Bond Street (the Bowery), NoHo, (646) 329-5836, thesmilenyc.com.
STUMPTOWN COFFEE ROASTERS With its travertine floors, walnut bar and natty staff, this is a striking setting for a cappuccino. The drink is up to the surroundings. Cold-brewed iced coffee tastes as bright and fruity as berries steeped in water, while a shot of espresso is so sweet and plush you’ll wish it lasted longer. Starting at $3.70, the mocha, made with Mast Brothers Chocolate, is one of New York’s most reasonably priced luxuries.
18 West 29th Street (Broadway), no telephone, stumptowncoffee.com.
THIRD RAIL COFFEE Third Rail Coffee punches above its weight. It’s one of the city’s smallest coffee bars, and its most focused. The owners, Humberto Ricardo and Rita McCaffrey, offer at least two different espresso blends (each needs its own grinder, a commitment of capital and counter space), single-origin coffee in a Chemex and a full range of espresso drinks. The cortado is memorable.
240 Sullivan Street (West Third Street), Greenwich Village, no telephone, thirdrailcoffee.com.
