Coffee Shop
New York, NY 10003-3305
Phone: (212) 243-7969
- Price:
- $$
- Cross Street:
- 16th Street
- Directions:
- 4, 5, 6; L; N, R at 14th St-Union Sq
- Best of Citysearch:
- Late-Night Dining 2005
- Hours:
- Mon 7am- 2am, Tue 7am- 4am , Wed- Fri 7am- 5:30am , Sat 8am- 5:30am, Sun 8am- 2am
Editorial Review for Coffee Shop – by Paul Adams
The Scene
This place is past its prime but still trying hard to remain a scene, with striking retro decor, blaring music, dim lighting--and a waitstaff made up of out-of-work models whose snootiness and famously bad service is both humorous and irritating. The crowd is a mix of late-night NYU students, hungover brunchers looking to be seen, and various Union Square passers-by.
The Food
The most dependable route is to stick to appetizers--the cheese bread is quite good--and drinks. The bar does yeomanly work with cocktails, strangely excepting the acrid house caipirinha. Most of the dishes here are unmemorable, alternating between Brazilian dishes, like the thick, fishy moqueca stew of head-on shrimp, toughish scallops, and clams, and crowd-pleasers like char-grilled hamburgers and veggie burgers. The "gaucho" steak is large, lunkish, and likeable, though hardly prime; Brazilian churrasquino--grilled beef sandwich--is bready and tastes mostly of onion.
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User Reviews for Coffee Shop
08/26/2008 Posted by PoppaJoppa
wow... had i read some of these reviews before hand, i don't think i would have ever gone into the coffee shop. luckily, i am just reading them now. my friend and i stumbled in and had brunch at the bar on a busy sunday afternoon. we got nothing but smiles from the hostess and the bartender (Camille, best bartender ever!). we got a seat at the bar right away, got served drinks right away, and got our food right away. the food was really good too... the bacon, the french toast, the french fries... holy p00p! i wish i had some right now! if anything, maybe it was a tad pricey, but hey, it's the city... get over it. haha i don't know if the good service we got was a fluke, but what i do know is that i will definitely be going back again to find out.
Pros: Camille and the other eye candy
Cons: none that i saw
08/23/2008 Posted by review212
Despite the 'reputation' or just speculation this restaurant receives, I continue to go there, happy with the home-made (they bake their own bread) french toast and interesting/trendy atmosphere. it is extremely busy and service is not up to par with many other places in the neighborhood, but I still bring my friends in for brunch every once in awhile. We were witness to the scene described below as 'worst serving experience' and I must say the only time I've seen something so exciting has been in a movie scene. Our service was fine, despite the obvious hurry the waitress was in. We overheard her attempting an apology after forgetting someone's drink order and noticed the customer becoming irate, making accusatory statements; "you spilled water on our food and didn't even say sorry!' to which we all had a laugh because he wasn't going to get a free meal for such a harmless error. The waitress appeared puzzled, then said 'i work for tips. why would I pour water on your food or give you bad service intentionally?' It got loud after that and she stormed off. She at least came back to apologize to everyone around and we all agreed that the customer was unrealistic about what can and can't happen to any patron, in any restaurant. Having encountered waitresses at the coffee shop over the years, I've learned that they are often set up for disappointments because of expectations regarding customers and the unjust / illegal treatment they receive from management. It seems that these employees value the money over a respectful working environment, and therefore, tolerate all kinds of inappropriate behavior on all sides. That being said, as a customer, you get what you're out for and if you're looking for the bad stuff, you'll always find it, no matter where you dine.
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