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Village Coffee Guide5 min read

Dan Gidycz, Full-time MBA Class of 2014

coffeemap
Sure, you’re feeling refreshed and energized after your summer, or excited to kickoff the year after LAUNCH, but recruiting and club kickoffs and 9am Statistics classes are going to catch up with you eventually. You’re going to want coffee.

Lucky for you, I’m an outrageous coffee snob with a leeeeittle bit of a caffeine addiction. So I have thoroughly explored the neighborhood’s offerings, and collected my opinions for you here.

I admit to sharing my favorites somewhat reluctantly, self-interested business student that I am, because frankly I don’t need you clogging up the line and embarrassing me by saying ‘hi’ right after your ridiculous venti decaf vanilla peppermint mocha order. For example, Liz just suggested I include bubble tea places “because you can get bubble coffee there,” so I can see that getting you learned up on coffee isn’t going to be a walk in the park.

Pearls before swine, I swear.

Here they are, in increasing order of my preference, somewhat in the hope that you’ll get bored of reading this list around number four and never make it to my favorites.

Sosnoff Lounge
Downstairs
While you might expect that extra cash from the advertising on the hot sleeves to help the quality, I can think of no coffee in the world less appetizing than the coffee they sell down in Sosnoff Lounge. It’s like someone heated up dirty water pulled from the bathroom tap in a seedy West Texas motel. Any bodega or street vendor’s coffee is superior in every way, and tends to be served with a better attitude.
I would prefer a swift punch in the lip. At least a mouthful of blood is thick and flavorful.
Every sip is a punishment. Venture outward.

Starbucks
West 4th at Washington Square East
Yuck. While this NYU Starbucks location has all the charm and ambiance of a McDonalds bathroom that you’ve come to expect from the coffee giant, it comes with the added benefit of an outrageously surly staff, driven to indifference by the endless stream of students and staff. As best as I can tell, orders are produced randomly, with complete indifference to what you actually asked be made.
But it’s right across the street.

Dunkin Donuts
West 3rd and Thompson
If this is what you want, there is no helping you.
Just. Whatever.

Think Coffee
Mercer between West 3rd and 4th
Just across Mercer, and just about everywhere downtown, there is Think. It has the advantage of being really close to campus, slightly better than the swill from Sosnoff, and a huge shop with tons of seating. The espresso is below average, the drip coffee is horrid, and it’s always strangely humid in there, which stokes my fear of contracting Legionnaires’ disease. I guess they have okay iced coffee?
Its saving grace is being the best coffee you can run to in the span of a bathroom break.

Kopi Kopi
West 3rd between Thompson and LaGuardia
Relatively new to the neighborhood, the coffee here isn’t great, but its perfectly drinkable. More importantly, it’s got tons of tables and outlets and a pretty laptop-y vibe. Not a bad place to buckle down and write some cover letters or thank you notes. Or… studying? I don’t know what you kids do.

La Colombe
Corner of West 4th and Lafayette
The drip coffee here is yucky and the espresso drinks bitter, but the iced coffee isn’t bad, if inconsistent. They also have the benefit of still being pretty close to school and having no credit card minimum.
The line is often pretty long, but they have free sparkling water on tap, and it’s a good spot for celebrity sightings (I saw Ed Norton there!)
Seating availability is mixed during the week, and it’s not really a place to get work done, but makes for a decent quick stop if you need to treat yourself.

Stumptown Coffee
Corner of West 8th and MacDougal
Little bit further away, this new shop brings Stumptown to The Village. Their hot coffee and espresso aren’t as good as the top of this list, but they make what I think is easily the best cold brewed coffee for those hot days.
In an article from last May, The Times mentions this bar’s “custom wallpaper screened by hand in Portland, Ore,” which I think is maybe the most ridiculous thing. So, you know, maybe expect some pretense.

Gasoline Alley
Lafayette between Bleecker and Houston
A convenient stop if you’re coming from the 6 at Bleecker, this small shop spanning the triangle between Lafayette and Mulberry is easily one of the best coffee shops in the city. They use Intelligentsia coffee, take credit cards, and run a pretty tight ship.
There’s no seating or WiFi in this tiny shop, so don’t count on it as a location for getting work done.

The Third Rail
Sullivan between Bleecker and West 3rd
This teensy shop is my favorite coffee in the whole city. There’s a lot less wankery going on here than Stumptown (I bet they just bought their wallpaper in New Jersey like everyone else). It’s just delicious coffee, espresso drinks, pourovers, and cold brew. But it’s cash only!
There are some tiny tables around the edge of the shop, and occasionally there are cute dogs hanging out with their owners, but no WiFi or restrooms.
I like this place for quick meetings or getting some reading done, although it sometimes gets really crowded and you can’t even get to the counter with the milk and straws and you get hit in the face with backpacks.
So maybe it would be better if you just went to Dunkin Donuts.

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