New York coffee shops that nail the vibe

In the fast-paced city of New York, you’re never far from a hot or cold brew, and many of the city’s leading coffee shops act as proverbial living rooms for the city’s tightly packed communities.

A new wave of hyper-focused specialty coffee has also elevated the New York espresso, with laser-focused bean sourcing, global techniques and progressive roasting. You’ll find Nordic-style light roasts at La Cabra, Korean flavours at PARK at KIMS and innovative coffee cocktails at Niteglow in Brooklyn.

These coffee shops have been selected for their distinctive and unmistakable New York atmosphere, engaging baristas and exceptional pours – all hallmarks of New York’s thriving and diverse coffee culture.

Manhattan

La Cabra

Best for: Nordic-style light roasts in East Village, SoHo and Bushwick
Location: 152 2nd Avenue, New York, NY 10003

La Cabra is the Danish-born coffee company known for its Nordic-style light roast coffees and stellar selection of pastries, specifically the kardemummabullar (a traditional Swedish cardamon bun). The spacious East Village outpost has a modern aesthetic with natural wood, whitewashed walls and pavement seating for warmer days. Founder Esben Piper launched a roastery and cafe in Bushwick in 2025, which doubles up as La Cabra’s North American headquarters. Try the beautifully light and floral cold brews or opt for the signature pour over. There is also an additional outpost in SoHo, with a striking bar made from hand-glazed ceramic tiles.

Coffee Project New York

Best for: Experimental lattes and a responsible mindset
Location: 239 E 5th Street, New York, NY 10003; various NY locations

Coffee Project New York began as an intimate café in the East Village in 2015 and has since grown to include a roastery in Queens and eight additional locations across the city. Founders Chi Sum Ngai and Kaleena Teoh are known for their experimentation and high-quality coffee. Smooth espressos and elegant pour-overs use carefully sourced beans from farms worldwide, including female and family-owned producers in Ethiopia and Guatemala. Order the signature deconstructed latte, a blend of espresso, milk and sparkling water served separately to savour each flavour. In 2025, two of Coffee Project’s baristas picked up awards at the National Brewers Cup and Latte Art Championship.

St Kilda Coffee

Best for: Aussie-style coffee and flash-brewed cups
Location: 328 W 44th Street, New York, NY 10036

Arthur Rangini opened this multi-roaster cafe on Midtown’s West 44th Street, inspired by Melbourne’s vibrant coffee culture. Hinged on seasonal single-origin coffees, the menu features house-roasted beans from Mexico and Costa Rica, alongside imports such as Montreal’s Traffic coffee. Coffee styles showcase Aussie favourites including flat whites and long blacks, alongside espresso, filter and flash-brewed cold coffee, crafted from beans that change weekly.

PARK at KIMS

Best for: Korean coffee, vinyl records and handcrafted ceramics
Address: 119 Elizabeth St, New York, NY 10013

PARK at KIMS is a Korean specialty coffee shop, opened by four friends seeking to create a community space in Nolita. A minimalist wooden interior acts as a soothing backdrop for drip, cold brew and espresso pours, served in mugs handcrafted by Mellow NYC. Beans are sourced from roasters across Seoul,, as well as Loquat Coffee, a Korean-American roaster in Los Angeles. Pastries are served with house-made jams and butters infused with doenjang, a Korean fermented soybean paste. Vinyl records and retail collaborations with Korean brands such as Seoul’s Calico cement its reputation as a low-key, creative space with community at its heart.

Café Integral

Best for: Japanese slow-drip coffee and house-made alternative milks
Location: 149 Elizabeth Street, New York, NY 10012

César Vega has been serving Nicaraguan coffees at his 20-seat Café Integral since 2012, and it one of Manhattan’s finest specialty coffee shops in Nolita. The menu features Japanese slow-drip coffee, cold brew on tap, pour-overs, and espresso made from daily-rotating beans. Café Integral was among the first in the city to offer alternative milks, and it continues to serve house-made coconut and almond varieties. Beans are roasted in Brooklyn and offered in light and medium roasts.

Fasan Coffee

Best for: Thrift shop vibes and people watching on the Lower East Side
Address: 34 Allen Street, New York, NY 10002, United States

This slice of a coffee shop in Chinatown is filled with vintage furniture, sourced by owner Kim. He’s there each day, rearranging trinkets on wooden dressers, and pouring coffee from global roasters that rotate regularly. Grab an Ercol hoop back chair and sit kerbside with a latte made with beans from Sandbox Coffee in Berlin, or an inventive yazu-infused brew.

Mandrake Café

Best for: Mexican soul on the Lower East Side
Address: 90 Orchard Street, New York, NY 10002

Recognisable by its red awning, Mandrake Café focuses on ethically sourced beans from Indigenous Mexican women producers. Owned by Alfonso Moreno, the brand originated in Mexico City and brings Mexican coffee culture to the Lower East Side. Don’t miss the La Roma hazelnut latte, served with a concha (Mexican sweet bread).

Hi-Collar

Best for: Siphon coffee, Japanese sandwiches and evening sake
Location: 231 E 9th Street, New York, NY 10003

This quirky wood-clad Japanese kissaten (a traditional Japanese coffee and tea house) in East Village is a coffee shop by day and a sake bar by night. Grab one of the counter stools for a front-row view of the baristas whipping up your siphon coffee, or order an iced coffee and a pork katsu sando. It’s worth noting there is no espresso machine here; instead all drinks are prepared by hand using various manual brewing methods.

Black Fox Coffee

Best for: Beans from the world’s top roasters
Location: 45 E 45th Street, New York, NY 10017; various NY locations

Australian-born Daniel Murphy left a career in advertising to pursue his passion for his home country’s brew, spotting an opportunity to serve world-acclaimed roasters to caffeine-thirsty New Yorkers. Black Fox’s Pine Street outpost offers seating, while the three other locations are a grab-and-go setup. Each outpost features two different bean options from acclaimed roasters such as Oslo’s Tim Wendelboe and Copenhagen’s Coffee Collective, alongside Black Fox’s own light-to-medium in-house roasts. The team is expertly trained and includes award-winning baristas such as Tom Bomford, who came second in the 2024 US Coffee Championship.

Brooklyn

Devoción

Best for: Field-to-cup coffee and Colombian-style cold brews
Location: 69 Grand Street, Brooklyn, NY 11249; various NY locations

Since opening in Williamsburg in 2014, Devoción has built a reputation for its field-to-cup philosophy, operating a Brooklyn roastery and a handful of cafés across Manhattan and Brooklyn. The roaster promises unprecedented freshness: beans move from harvest to cup in as little as ten days – a stark point of difference to the industry standard of six months to a year. Founder Steven Sutton sources single-source Colombian beans from Bogotá weekly, which are carefully roasted in the brand’s Williamsburg flagship. Here, espresso-based drinks reign, but delicate cold brews come a close second.

SEY Coffee

Best for: Micro-lot coffee served in a hip Bushwick hangout
Location: 18 Grattan Street, Brooklyn, NY 11206

SEY Coffee is a longstanding Bushwick favourite, with a low-key welcoming energy. An airy interior features hanging foliage and a large skylight, while a glass wall reveals the onsite roastery. SEY Coffee is often billed as one of America’s best thanks to the team’s ongoing efforts to source the highest quality nano-lot and micro-lot coffee beans from farms in Colombia, Ethiopia and beyond. SEY highlights the intrinsic qualities of green coffee through careful selection of plant varietals, growing conditions and meticulous cultivation by thoughtful producers. All coffees are brewed from water with a low mineral content to avoid disrupting the the delicate flavours of the single-varietal beans.

Dayglow

Best for:  Espresso cocktails in East Williamsburg
Location: 8 Wilson Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11237

With an eye-catching blue exterior, Dayglow is the Los Angeles roaster and cafe export from Tohm Ifergan, previously drummer with From Indian Lakes. Situated in East Williamsburg, the cafe is adjoined to Nitglow, its microbrewery and bar. Dayglow offers 15 single origin coffees by the cup from micro-roasters from around the world, including April in Copenhagen and Leaves Coffee Roasters in Tokyo. It has one of the biggest menus in New York – including espresso, cold brew or hand-brewed via Kalita or AeroPress. Come sunset, those who still need a caffeine fix can head over to Niteglow, where Tohm’s brother Jonny is the head brewer and creates sophisticated alcoholic versions of daytime drinks like belafonte (distilled coffee, juniper berries, grapefruit and verjus) and Warhol (bourbon, espresso, cream, citrus, cinnamon and vanilla).