2025’s New York City is a skyline of coffee abundance. Good coffee, sourced and prepared with care, is an expectation here, with residents of more and more neighborhoods spoiled for choice. Multi-roaster cafes are a thing again in full force—meaning coffee lovers can sample exceptional offerings roasted both around the boroughs and around the world.
Sprudge has embarked on a major quest to produce fresh and frisky guides to the city’s teeming coffee scene, a multi-borough affair that will roll out over the first part of 2025. Our very first guide in the series is dedicated to some of the most notable cafes in bustling Lower Manhattan (for these purposes, south of 14th Street). Read on!
Abraço
East Village
It feels like there are few East Village success stories quite like Abraço’s. From what was once a five-people-can-squeeze-inside phone booth of a cafe in the ’00s to today, owners Jamie McCormick and Elizabeth Quijada (and now, their son Mateo—the star of the coffee shop’s Instagram) have held on tight during tumultuous cafe times. Though they’re still on East 7th street, Abraço sits on the other side of the street these days, gone from the wee walk-up to a spacious spot that’s still slammed on the weekends and, sure, ok—custom branded track suits. Coffee’s still delicious (they roast their own) and the cured olive cookie that’s deliciously branded in the memory of anyone who’s tried it lives on nearly two decades later. Stop by for coffee, small creative bites, or, hey! cocktails at one of the many evening arts/music events. No laptops, minimal outdoor seating, and a restroom complete the “cafe as a public service” vibe, and the shop is now—incredibly for them—open on Mondays.
Café Integral
Nolita
Once-pop-up brand Café Integral has been rooted in this cozy spot in Nolita since 2016, exclusively serving coffees from co-owner Cesar Vega’s native Nicaragua. The stylish space is anchored by a plush corner bench and a few tables, at which you may chat and enjoy expertly crafted coffee, perhaps in the form of a house specialty drink like the horchata latte. Dairy-free folk will like the housemade nut and rice milk menu (grab some to take home), and the pastry case boasts a variety ranging from seasonal muffins to delicious Brazilian paõ de queijo. House sparkling water is Vichy Catalan—showing you the folks here settle for nothing but the best. There’s no restroom, but you’re welcome to use the one at Egg Shop next door. No outdoor seating.
Coffee Project NY
East Village
What’s now a mini-empire of ultramodern feeling Coffee Project NY cafes throughout three boroughs all started as this homey, sweet shop in the East Village. With about a dozen seats (and one outside table), this neighborhood favorite is a great hideout, whether you’re looking for an $18 Origami-brewer pour-over of a Gesha or are more in the mood for a “kickass London Fog”. AAPI-owned, LGBTQIA+ woman-owned, the vibe here is inclusive and social, celebrating coffee in all forms, including seasonal, Asian-influenced drinks with pandan and ube. Pastries appear from Colson, Sans, and Petit Chou and there is also somehow a full kitchen menu. Nowadays you’ll more likely find owners Chi Sum Ngai and Kaleena Teoh teaching SCA education courses at their Long Island City roastery/HQ/coffee academy, but you’ll always find coffee and community here on East 5th Street.
Drip Coffee Makers
Hudson Square
Step into this airy high-rise lobby steps from the Holland Tunnel and you’ll know Drip Coffee has moved up from the solar-powered pour-over cart owner Nigel Price began with. This multi-roaster spot offers a great variety of special coffees to choose from (on our last visit, we saw Broadsheet, Driftaway, Black & White, Loveless, and ONYX Coffee Lab on its packed shelves). A small and efficient coffee menu is offered alongside a small pastry selection; the lobby itself has loads of room to chill out, have a business meeting, or just sip on a quick espresso before heading to your next whatever you’re down there for. This Black-owned cafe is a great option in this part of town, and a rare spot in New York where you won’t feel guilty hunkering down and plugging in devices for awhile.
Joe Coffee Company
West Village
We’re biased, but there are few coffee shops as iconic as the original Joe Coffee Company location at the corner of Waverly & Gay in the Village. First opened in 2003, this now-citywide local chain still somehow retains the small coffee company friendliness and vibe it’s truly always had. (On my last visit, I ran into the founder’s parents, having their usual morning latte and drip coffee—this place is basically the Cheers of the NYC coffee scene.) Along with a portfolio of thoughtfully sourced coffees the Joe team roasts at their Long Island City roastery cafe, the pastry case is just heaping with muffins, quickbreads, and other treats, and they also offer a cooler with a few more protein-y grab and go food items. There’s outdoor seating, of course, in the form of the two iconic benches along the front of the shop that are paid tribute in the company’s logo.
La Cabra
Soho
When Danish coffee and bakery experts La Cabra landed in NYC, they arrived with a big reputation to uphold—and if anything, they’ve exceeded expectations. First opening a slammed spot on 2nd Ave, and now claiming three locations citywide, the Soho outlet is a boon for this busy, shopping-pandemonium section of Lafayette Street. Opened in 2023, the cafe has a sleek, U-shaped center bar anchoring a sort of organic coziness along with the latest in unobtrusive coffee tech. Streamlined taps for cold drinks, tea preparation, and two undercounter Mavam espresso groups line the south bar, while the north leaves plenty of space for pastry-ogling and more experiential coffee service like V60 brews. And there’s bona fide seating in the shop as well—tables to share bread and coffee moments with friends at, a couple of cute solo window perches. No outdoor seating.
Ninth Street Espresso
Alphabet City/Lower East Side
People have been meeting up at this no-nonsense spot at 9th St & Avenue C from what feels like the very dawn of specialty coffee time. The vibe inside Ninth Street Espresso remains pure: a serious espresso spot, but one with a staff whose friendliness warms the bare-bones aesthetic. Ninth Street roasts its own coffee these days (and has for some time) at its outpost in Long Island City, and maintain a few other cafes across the boroughs. But it’s here—in this wide box of a shop with a picture-window view of the community garden across the street (sadly, down a couple weeping willows in recent years)—that it really feels like NYC’s coffee scene is still its very own animal. Pastries are (like everything here) minimal: cookies from nearby C&B bakery and vegan mini-loaves from Dank. Enjoy some fresh air with your coffee on the benches out front, and rejoice that inside, they have a restroom.
Suited
FiDi
If, like many, you’ve had the thought “if only the Financial District had a men’s cafe”—you’re in luck! Suited, a name partly inspired by the tailor father of one of the founders, brings a definite masculine aesthetic (mirrors, black accent walls, poured concrete, etc.) to this serious coffee space within Manhattan’s deep chrome canyons. Expert-level preparation and top-tier gear abound here, along with a wide multi-roaster selection on both menu and shelves (Preface, Prodigal, Subtext, Heart, etc.). Service takes place at two arc-shaped bars, with coffee prep options including a Decent espresso machine fitted out for by-the-cup drip brews. There’s a small, tasty food menu here (brekkies, burritos, bowls, soups) and an array of housemade pastries, and of course, it wouldn’t be a men’s cafe without wine.
Though there’s no question you’re in the tip of Lower Manhattan when you peer out at John the Methodist Church, est. 1766, there’s a decisively Brooklyn vibe in here as you nibble a fried chicken sandwich to the lilting strains of the Shins and Yo La Tengo. Laptop seating is limited, thank heavens, and a few real tables are set up outside, a little bit like sitting in traffic. Certainly the best and most adventurous coffees you’ll get in this part of town, if not most of the city… and they have a bathroom, too.
Everyman Espresso
East Village
Everyman Espresso 13th Street has become a true anchor not only for those of us here at Sprudge but for Union-Square-proximal-coffee-seekers and theatre people alike (it’s housed in the spartan lobby of the beloved off-Broadway Classic Stage Company). The shop’s ample windows are perfect for people-watching from the confines of the shop’s many simple seats and the comforts of the staff’s warm hospitality. Top-tier coffee here is roasted by renowned Black and White out of North Carolina, with treats by closer-to-home Brooklyn baker Colson. And while it isn’t what draws us here…may we recommend the clean and convenient bathrooms?
Liz Clayton is the associate editor at Sprudge Media Network. Read more Liz Clayton on Sprudge.
Images by Liz Clayton except where noted.
