We return to our series with another NYC coffee guide, this one highlighting neighborhoody, population-dense South Brooklyn, where a fine coffee scene continues to emerge. For the purposes of this guide, we’re defining “South Brooklyn” as south of Atlantic Avenue.
Catch up on recent entries in this NYC coffee guide series as we explore Lower Manhattan, North Brooklyn, and Queens.Â
Ciao, Gloria
Prospect Heights
An unexpectedly delightful contemporary-styled cafe (with a little old world Italian gusto), this ground-level addition to a new Frank-Gehry-designed condo development along Vanderbilt Ave turns out to be welcoming, delicious, and—as a result—quite busy. Serving Sweetleaf Coffee roasted in Queens, Ciao, Gloria is as great for a bite (or two) as a coffee, with a full kitchen of health-ish and comfort items and a packed pastry case of housemade sweets like Italian-style cakes, seasonal danishes, oatmeal cream pies, and the like. The energy here is queer-friendly, and, frankly, just super-friendly, with staff making a point of ensuring everyone feels at home. A small selection of imported Italian dry goods and treats is available to peruse while you wait in the fast-paced line. Ciao, Gloria is accessible, has a restroom, and offers plenty of fresh-air seating out front.
Everyman Espresso
Park Slope
Park Slope is certainly spoiled for coffee shop choice, but amazingly, this tony part of town isn’t awash with high-caliber options. Enter Everyman Espresso, who opened a sunny outlet here in 2016, unpretentiously serving great coffee in a small but cheery space (we love the tile backsplash). The house roaster’s been Black & White for a few years now, prepared by some of the best and best-trained staff in the city, served alongside requisite Colson pastries. There’s a small amount of seating (a few stools at the back, a table or two out front), and there is a restroom. Don’t miss the gallery of cows.
Hamlet
Prospect Lefferts Gardens
A quintessential neighborhood cafe, Hamlet offers the Prospect Lefferts neighborhood the great coffee and gathering space it deserves. Opened right before the Covid-19 pandemic and going strong, this AAPI- and women-owned cafe keeps the focus on quality and service, drawing on the owners’ years of coffee hospitality knowledge and great palates. Though the decor is super-simple, the coffee selection is not—look for international roasters like Three Marks, 3fe, and Subtext alongside closer-to-home folks like Portland, ME’s Tandem Coffee, and of course the ubiquitous Sey, on the menu and the retail shelves. Besides coffee you’ll also find baked goods like Dank banana bread and some non-gluteny grab-and-gos like salads and parfaits. Though the Rogers Avenue streetscape may be a bit plain, you’ll find a cozy garden refuge out back, perfect for hanging out in at least most of the seasons. Hamlet also has a restroom.
Principles G.I. Coffeehouse
Park Slope/Gowanus
The economic realities of NYC seem as if they’d make a coffee shop like Principles impossible—a basically gigantic bike-culture-centric, queer-owned, activist-friendly, community hub with high-end coffee and well-compensated workers in (sort of) Park Slope. But owner Katie Bishop is making it work, with a loyal following among cyclists and coffee geeks alike. Gratuities are included here and there is a pay-what-you-can option for coffees. Espresso drinks are offered with plant-based milks only. Coffees come from a shifting kaleidoscope of small roasters—Necessary Coffee, Luminous, and Brandywine are recents—proffered alongside vegan treats like Duh Donuts.
Principles is definitely a personality-driven cafe, with a strongly opinionated vibe (the pourover menu, for instance, explicitly specifies you must only drink those beverages black) and it won’t be everyone’s cup of (plant-milk enhanced) tea. But Bishop’s outspokenness falls squarely in line with the Principles mission to dialogue with the community and do something different—a welcome endeavor in a sea of sameness and tumultuous times. This spot has bathrooms, as well as a bike repair area. There’s also a bench out front, and the garage door opens in warmer weather.
Southside Coffee
South Slope/Greenwood
Southside is an anchor, a place with minimalist vibes, high coffee quality, and some of the more wonderful pastries in South Brooklyn. Once a traditional cafe space, the shop has been window-service takeout only since 2020, now utilizing the interior as comissary prep for the shop’s creative, daily-rotating treats and hugely bready sandwiches. The cafe draws long lines (largely families, dog owners, and the like) and is an easy walk to beautiful Greenwood Cemetery or simply the playground kitty-corner. Coffee offerings are anchored by Counter Culture, with accompanying goodies like cinnamon buns, cheddar jalapeno corn muffins, seasonal cakes, cookies, and scones. If you’re not sure they’re worth lining up for—they are. A bench or two may be available out front; no restroom.
Villager
Crown Heights
To say that Villager is inconspicuously situated is an understatement, but this chic, very specialty spot on a quiet block of Classon Avenue draws a young, steady crowd of folks who love its sophisticated offerings and interior design energy. One of the more coffee-serious shops in Brooklyn, this multi-roaster cafe stocks beans by a slew of elite roasters like DAK, La Cabra, Duck-Rabbit, and Little Wolf, and serves a variety of espresso and pour-over options from their rotating cast—and yes, they attenuate their water chemistry with boutique minerals. Customer service is notably good here, with every drink hand-delivered by your barista, and botanical elements, too, warm up what could otherwise feel an austere space.
There’s just the  right amount of hanging plants in the bright front window, and small, tasteful, bouquets atop tables both inside and out. Pastries are precious here as well, with what seem like especially adorable baklava squares, gluten-free cakes from Baked by Scratch and wee gut-friendly muffins and cakes from Keyak micro-bakery. We’ll forgive that the owners have called Villager an “Australian coffee shop”—it’s pretty Brooklyn in here by now. Restroom available.
Yafa Cafe
Sunset Park
Though Sunset Park has seen its share of explosive development in the fancy/bougie food category thanks to Industry City, high-caliber coffee shops remain somewhat few and far between. Make sure to stop in at Yafa Cafe‘s flagship (they have a second one in Downtown Brooklyn now, too) on 4th Avenue—a cozy, stylish oasis exclusively showcasing coffees from Yemen and hosting a full, all-day kitchen. The vibe is modern, friendly and warm, the brick-lined walls decorated with art and books celebrating historic Arabic culture, opposite decidedly Third Wave coffee retail and gear. While pastries here are pretty regular, the brunch/hot food menus include temptations like slow-cooked lamb, za’atar fries, and plenty of sujuk. Opt for a house-roasted filter coffee or a more creative twist like an indulgent pistachio cappuccino with cardamom. Yafa has a bathroom.
Liz Clayton is the associate editor at Sprudge Media Network. Read more Liz Clayton on Sprudge.
Photos by Liz Clayton.
