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The Best Coffee Shops in New York City, According to Eater Editors
Where to find expertly brewed cups of coffee in NYC
Updated
Melissa McCart is the lead editor of the Northeast region with more than 20 years of experience as a reporter, critic, editor, and cookbook author.
There’s no shortage of cozy neighborhood coffee shops in New York City, welcoming in customers with frothy cappuccinos and friendly conversation. And while every New Yorker has their favorite corner spot, some cafes rise above the rest with expertly brewed cups of coffee and award-winning pastries.
Here, we’ve rounded up our favorite places for a cup of coffee right now. And for related guides, check out Eater NY’s picks for the best Queens coffee and tea spots.
For this update: We’ve added Kinship Coffee Roasters. And, for now, we’ve removed Brooklyn Ball Factory.
Mokafé Coffee House
Coffee culture in Astoria is strong, so anything will be a contentious pick, but Mokafé stands out for its flavors: bright and fruity with a roast that’s light enough that a pour-over produces a dark reddish hue. The growing chain is a partnership between a Yemeni American family and a Guatemalan American coffee guru, who’s worked at roasteries and cafes in his native country for over a decade. Together, they source directly from small farms in Guatemala and Yemen, where the fruits of the coffee plants are hand-picked and air-dried with the beans, and then removed, producing those fruit-forward notes. The Yemeni beans, imported green, get roasted in Long Island and shuttled into the Astoria storefront to brew into a number of drinks like maple oat lattes. The space is modern with sage green, light wood, and golden accents that extend into the quiet room behind the shop. — Caroline Shin
Caroline Shin
Abraço
There’s nothing in coffee quite like Abraço, an East Village shop with so much personality that it’s hard to take it in all at once. There’s the coffee, with wild-haired co-owner Jamie McCormick often working the bar. There are the pastries, such as co-owner Liz Quijada’s justifiably famous orange-scented olive oil cake. And there’s the scene, the chatty locals who, in the words of Frank Zappa, make this “the top freako watering hole and social HQ.” Also, if you’re lucky, they’ll be playing your favorite vinyl from start to finish.
Abraço
Coffee Project
Started in the East Village in 2015, Coffee Project has since grown into a destination for coffee nerds with multiple locations in Manhattan (including this one in the East Village), Brooklyn, and Queens. The shop sells standard cafe drinks, plus seasonal pour-overs, deconstructed lattes, nitro cold-brew flights, and other drinks.
Suited
Suited in the Financial District works with some of the biggest names in New York roasting right now, including Sey and Little Wolf, along with a handful of international roasters whose beans are available from the shop. There is a full menu of standard cafe drinks, but stick to a cup of espresso or drip to appreciate the thoughtful sourcing that’s happening here. There are also daytime foods like egg and cheese sandwiches, ricotta pancakes, and grilled chicken wraps.
Luke Fortney/Eater NY
Dayglow
This Los Angeles import, Dayglow, is a coffee shop and bar that carries coffee from 10 to 20 different coffee roasters at a time. It also roasts its own beans, which have dark chocolate, lychee, butterscotch, and mandarin notes. The Bushwick cafe is also home to the company’s beer and cocktail bar, Niteglow (get it?).