The coffee culture in New York is a part of everyday life. One may start their day with a cup of joe before heading out for work, pick up a midday beverage to recharge or pair it with a delicious dessert after dinner to unwind. But where to find that perfect cup of coffee? You only need to know the right places to look.
Now, where can you find the best coffee in NYC? Please don’t make us choose! New York City has a surge of cafes, coffee shops, and micro-roasters scattered from coast to coast. Many on this list are regarded as some of the best coffee shops in NYC, as they source their coffee beans directly from coffee growers and implement a strict code of ethics to brew every cup with as much dedication and love.
We have compiled a list of spots where you can find the best coffee in NYC. May your coffees be “black as the devil, hot as hell, as pure as an angel, and sweet as love,” as said by Charles Maurice de Talleyrand. Let’s go.
Coffee Project New York | East Village
Address: 239 E 5th Street, New York, NY 10003, United States
Coffee is a big deal in NYC. So much so that you will find many coffee shops sourcing their coffee from family farms and authentic, responsible importers. One of the best coffee shops in Manhattan spearheading coffee excellence is Coffee Project – a cozy, unpretentious, and brick-lined coffee shop in New York City that is famous for its inventive house specials. Take a seat at the slick tables and enjoy drinks like Deconstructed Latte, Coconut Paradise, and Nitro Cold Brew. Coffee Project also offers enthusiastic classes offering courses for beginner baristas to level up to industry professionals. With the coffees and not coffees (chai latte, matcha latte), you can order a delicious food item or dessert like Tuna Salad Toast or Home-Made Ube Waffle.
Abraço
Address: 81 E 7th Street, New York, NY 10003, United States
Abraço is one of the places to find the best coffee in NYC to start your day. The place opens at 8 am which means that you can grab your morning caffeine on the way to work or sit down in the peaceful space for the roasts on rotation. The delicious coffee beans, steamed milk, olive cakes, buns, cookies, and sandwiches emit so many aromas that once you take a step inside the shop, you aren’t going back without spending a few bucks. Order an espresso prepared with house-roasted blends or a non-dairy and creamy frappe, and bask in the cozy vibe and vintage décor that is only available in the best NYC coffee shops. Friendly staff, freshly baked goods switched daily, and other drinks like Iced Peppermint Tea and Topo Chico Sparkling Water will make sure you do not leave with an empty stomach even when you don’t want a cup of coffee.
Stumptown Coffee Roasters
Address: 30 W 8th Street, New York, NY 10011, United States
You might go crazy over the idea of a Rose Gold Honey Latte and Spicy Strawberry Mocha. We wouldn’t blame you because coffee flavors like these are not easy to find. Fortunately, Stumptown Coffee Roasters offers these and many other house-roasted flavors – the best coffee in New York that you will find. This cozy coffee shop in Greenwich Village, established now in what was the Eight Street Bookshop, is a coffee lover’s dream come true with its brew-by-the-cup offers, full espresso bar, drip coffee, and cold brews. Grab a delicious breakfast taco or blueberry scone to really bring out the flavors of your caffeine.
Gregorys Coffee
Address: 58 W 44th Street, New York, NY 10036, United States
Roast profiles like Gregorys Coffee are not easy to find. This is one of the best coffee shops in Manhattan, raising the bar for caffeine-deprived students and office workers every day with its delicious coffee menu. In a place where you came to get the best coffee in New York, the drinks menu, with its Gregs House drip, Slow Jam decaf drip, Full Oat Boy, Nitro Cold Brew, and Salted Caramel Cold Brew, will not disappoint you. And why stop yourself at the coffee only? Take a look at the Go To Food menu, and you will not leave without a Ham & Cheese Croissant or Vegan Burrito in tow. We can assure you every visit to Gregorys Coffee will prove to be immensely delightful for you.
Ground Central Coffee Company
Address: 155 East 52nd Street, 3rd Avenue, New York, NY 10022, United States
Pick a stool near the glass doors at Ground Central Coffee Company to enjoy a great vantage point, especially in the colder months. This place has perhaps one of the best coffee shops in NYC, which is brewed passionately with quality, innovation, and transparency at the front. These core ethics are what make coffee lovers follow their cravings all the way to this cozy lounge joint, where they indulge in light fare, tea, and coffee beverages. Order a fresh cup to savor at the same time, or take a pack of GC coffee, vinyl press coffee, midtown express coffee, or downtown local coffee with you to make your own cups at home.
Intelligentsia Coffee High Line Hotel Coffee bar
Address: High Line Hotel 180 10th Avenue at W 20th Street, New York, 10011, United States
Intelligentsia Coffee has always offered daily roasted brews that swing from the Limelight (cold coffee with lime juice and tonic), Black Cat Fizz (espresso tonic and orange bitters), daily rotating Barista’s choice coffees, flat white, macchiato, and much more. This high-end coffee bar with the best coffee in New York City is a classy and contemporary space in which the indoor seating isn’t as popular as the outdoor patio. We always like to sit at tables surrounded by beautiful trees and lush greenery – an aesthetic ambiance that is as addicting as the coffee in our hands.
Culture Espresso
Address: 72 W 38th Street, New York, NY 10018, United States
If you are here at Culture Espresso, definitely get their cookies! Chewy, soft, and freshly baked. Sometimes nutty and sometimes oozing with chocolate. But how can we forget the real star of the show, their coffee? Like other cafes serving the best coffee in new York, Culture Espresso too has a rule of winning hearts left and right with their artful coffee and local coffeehouse vibes. This is one of the best NYC coffee shops with walls adorned with art and caffeine lifestyle merch and freshly baked goods, like butter croissants and Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies, displayed on glass shelves. There is little to be said and done that can curb your cravings as soon as you enter this coffee shop in New York City.
SEY Coffee
Address: 18 Grattan Street, Brooklyn, NY 11206, United States
Ordering your coffee is a simple thing at many cafes around New York City. Grab the menu and skim through the long blacks, short blacks, long whites, and short whites. However, when micro-roasteries like SEY Coffee hand over their menu, even daily café visitors can get lost in it. Being one of the best coffee shops in NYC, SEY Coffee lives up to its hype with an aesthetic open-air, plant-surrounded ambiance. Here, laptops are allowed with a few restrictions so that you can actually breathe in the peaceful space designed just for you. SEY Coffee offers seasonally sourced coffee, the best coffee in NYC, and delicately follows the aroma and acidity of natural terroir’s produce. Hang out in this minimal space with nature’s aroma keeping you company, and watch how productive you feel that day.
Devoción
Address: 25 E 20th Street, New York, NY 10003, United States
Devoción in Flatiron, Manhattan, is a unique coffee shop in New York that looks like an ordinary café at a glance but pays an ode to the history of its location. The landmarked building where the coffee shop now stands once used to be an artist’s studio, but now it stands in its full glory with exposed brick walls, wooden floors, large skylights, and lots of sunlight coming in to give the breathing greenery life. Their coffee beans arrive directly from independent coffee producers in Colombia and then are roasted and served to customers as quickly as possible. One of the reasons why we believe that it is the best coffee in NYC is because it is roasted only 10 days after it leaves its origin.
Café Grumpy – Fashion District
Address: 200 W 39th Street, New York, NY 10018, United States
If you are looking for specialty brews and house-roasted coffee near Times Square, Café Grumpy is the place to go. This hip coffee house is situated in an Art Deco building, so aesthetic that customers look for reasons to visit it. Want to pick up coffee for your friends, why not settle down in the cozy space? Have an upcoming client meeting, tell them to grab a coffee near Times Square with you, and have them settled in the laid-back setting. Not only the ambiance but also the staff and baristas will make sure that all your coffee orders are perfectly delivered, including special requests like oat milk instead of regular milk or a preferred drinking temperature for your blends.
Felix Roasting Co.
Address: 450 Park Avenue S, New York, NY 10016, United States
Felix Roasting Co. claims to select coffee that not only tells stories of its origin but speaks to our senses. And we wholeheartedly agree with that description. Being one of the best coffee shops in NYC, they strictly adhere to a calendar that synchronizes their coffee harvests, which then results in unique and innovative flavors. The ambiance of the coffee shop is one to be admired. Intricate patterns, beautiful lights, stylish baristas, and sleek wooden tabletops beg to be featured in your social media posts. Don’t forget to taste their almond croissant – it is the perfect amount of decadent and moist.
Plowshares Coffee Bloomingdale
Address: 2730 Bdwy., New York, NY 10025, United States
Place your order and grab a seat at one of the cozy nooks of Plowshares Coffee. An added bonus is that the coffees are made with a hand-built Slayer Espresso. This makes it the perfect pit to stop by for the best coffee in NYC and kickstart your day in a beautiful ambiance. The place has a very neighborhood-friendly, local vibe as the staff and customers share their love for coffee. The roasters fully focus on quality and strive to produce the best cup of coffee for everyone. Don’t forget to check out this trendy spot on the Upper West Side – you’ll find friendly baristas behind the large station.
St Kilda Coffee
Address: 328 W 44th Street, New York, NY 10036, United States
Minimalist and subterranean – this vibe is what St Kilda coffee bar offers as you wait for your double espresso shot. Apart from being one of the best coffee places in NYC, you also get to bring your laptops and work in peace in the coffee company that lives up to its listed flavor profile. The sub-level café is not only airy but also pumps out great indie music, adding a sense of casualness and relaxed style to the whole place. Grab your favorite coffee blend and mingle with other customers to enjoy the best music on a weekend or weekday evening.
Old Country Coffee
Address: 455 W 34th Street, New York, NY 10001, United States
Old Country Coffee stands for Old Country Grace, and that is why this coffee shop in New York City loves to share its coffee knowledge with everyone. Their macchiato has milky foam that tastes extra frothy and special, and the mocha has rich hot chocolate that gives the kick we need to start our mornings. We love how thoughtfully they have decorated this place. Apart from serving some of the best coffee in New York, each nook of this coffee shop has pretty details like vintage bulbs and lamps, wooden chests and tabletops, old-age frames, and plastic chairs to give that overall laid-back style.
Kobrick Coffee Co.
Address: 24 9th Avenue, New York, NY 10014, United States
Kobrick Coffee Co.’s reputation as one of the best NYC coffee shops is far-reaching. The coffee shop could easily be called one of the prettiest in the city, with boho chic décor and aesthetic tables for people to sit alone and work or study. Macramé swings, lush greenery, and ambient lights add magic to each corner, but there is also an outdoor area to relax with a steaming cup of coffee in hand. They indeed have the best coffee in New York, as you can smell it from afar. They blend and roast their coffee in small batches so they can focus on the commitment and high quality that they promised to the customers. The café also offers an exciting brunch with classic bakery items that you must enjoy with their hot or iced beverages.
Partners Coffee
Address: 44 Charles Street, New York, NY 10014, United States
The respected artisanal roastery has many coffee shops in NYC. But the legacy began in Brooklyn in 2012 and is still delivering its promise of quality beans and the best coffee in new York. For the best coffee experience, visit Partners Coffee on Charles Street. You will love the coffee. That’s a no-brainer. But more than that, you will like the way the baristas handle the equipment and how they roast to order coffee so that every cup is fresh and never picked from a shelf. We had the best pour-over coffee of our life at Partners Coffee, and we cannot recommend this place more.
Laughing Man Cafe
Address: 184 Duane Street, New York, NY 10013, United States
The best time to visit Laughing Man Café is when you are in the mood for creative teas. But that doesn’t mean that they aren’t included in the list of places with the best coffee in New York city. Caffeine is caffeine for us, whether we are getting it from tea or coffee. Nevertheless, come here to spend some time or join your friends to spend the day. This place will welcome you with a spacious and modern interior décor, as well as delicious blends like Hughs’s house blend, decaf blend, and Costa Rica with honey, orange, and red apple flavor profiles.
Kaffe Landskap NYC (South)
Address: 275 Greenwich Street, New York, NY 10007, United States
Kaffe Landskap is another pioneer of the best coffee in NYC with Scandinavian roots. The process of quality coffee is traced from see to cup, forming a strong alliance with coffee lovers all over New York City. It’s one of the best NYC coffee shops partnering with international coffee importers for quality beans and local farmers for the freshest ingredients to create a food menu. Above all else, the whole place looks like something holding tightly to its roots with its long wooden tables and single-origin coffees here and light fare there. Do visit it whenever you are looking for the best coffee shops in Manhattan.
Bluestone Lane Bryant Park Coffee Shop
Address: 1120 6th Avenue, New York, NY 10036, United States
Bluestone Lane is a social hub for New Yorkers who are looking for a Melbourne-inspired coffee experience and fare all day in Midtown Manhattan. The modern, sleek, and elegantly designed interior space is perfect to catch up along with the best coffee in New York. Apart from the grab-and-go food and beverages, you will find their famous Flat White and Avocado Smash, toasties, and seasonal bowls. The indoor space is perfect for travelers and locals to shuffle their way into the coffee culture of NYC, but if you are more of an outdoor person, there is plenty of space to sit across from the shop at Grace Plaza.
THE ELK
Address: 128 Charles Street, New York, NY 10014, United States
The ELK is worth visiting for its ambiance alone. We love rustic cafes, and The ELK checks all the boxes with its distressed wooden counters and wall panels with sleek modern fixtures in between, glass shelves, minimalist furniture, and vintage lights here and there. And if you are looking for the best single-origin coffee in New York city, then check out the rotating selection of drip coffees at the café. If you are after something that’s a little different, choose their seasonal drink specials or chai latte made with Dona chai and topped with delicious cinnamon powder. Breakfast is available from 8 am to 4 pm, and the café serves market fruit salad, brekky veggie bowl, breakfast burritos, and other delicious breakfast specials.
Ralph’s Coffee
Address: 888 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10021, United States
Quite possibly one of the most elegant and best coffee shops in NYC, Ralph’s Coffee transforms your regular cup of joe with the powerful representation of the Ralph Lauren brand. The in-store venue in Madison Avenue makes the most out of its space, as is evident from the heavily patterned curtains, plush sofas, carpeted floors and marble-topped counters showcasing what’s new on the food menu. The coffee collection is displayed on sophisticated shelves, but all that luxury still comes with an affordable price tag so that you can join in others in this lovely space to enjoy your daily dose of coffee.
