Coffee Shop Crawl

One thing I've learned about NYC and college is that it makes you LOVE coffee. I never liked coffee before this year. I couldn't even stand the smell of it, but I slowly started getting myself used to it and now...I'm addicted. But how can I not like coffee while living in NYC, surrounded by coffee shops?

Do you know what a Pub Crawl is? It's basically a night (sometimes a day) of going from pub/bar to pub and getting schwasteddd. The Santa Con pub crawl is hilarious because you just watch drunk Santa Claus's walk around the city all day. But what I suggest is that there be a Coffee Shop Crawl and every coffee shop that participates can have coffee at half price or something. Or they can just give out free samples...that would be nice.

With this nice weather I just can't stay cooped up in my room and do my work so I've been going to different coffee shops and doing work there and also trying their coffee and pastries. Sooo basically I'm doing my own Coffee Shop Crawl. The only thing is I'm paying full price...

One I really enjoy doing work in is Bees Knees Bakery on 113 W. 10th St. It is a small room with one large table in the middle so I sit down and I am surrounded by others doing work as well and I don't feel so lonely. They serve Gorilla Coffee and the first time I went I got a Chai Latte and then a coffee with almond milk. Both drinks were very satisfying. This bakery put a twist on the traditional cupcake and has created a treat called the cakecup, which is literally cake in a cup. Now, I don't like cake (I know, I'm crazy, right? That's about the only sweet I don't like), but I tried the banana caramel cakecup and I was enlightened. I also had their homemade granola with steamed almond milk (sort of my obsession right now) and it was soo good.

These are the cakecups: banana marshmallow caramel and chocolate slated caramel (I don't remember the exact names, but they were something like that). The guys who work there (at least the three times I've been) are really cool and funny. They called me a nerd for studying there for three hours on a Saturday evening haha. I'm proud of being a nerd. The music is a lot of old, classic rock and more modern chill rock songs so this place is for very cool people. Or nerds.

This guy is so cool.

So I am currently sitting in another coffee shop that I really like called MOJO coffee on 128 Charles St. It's in the West Village, which is my favorite part of the city, and this place is a small room with a wooden wall and a brick wall and it just has a very cool vibe. The coffee is AMAZING and the large house blend is only $2.50 (I got charged for a small house blend even though I got a large!) The tables are parts of a tree trunk and everything is basically made out of wood. It kind of looks like you're in a log cabin. The pastries also look delicious: apple walnut muffins, blueberry crumb cake, toffee pecan cookies, cheese biscuits, nutella cookies and so much more! The music is so chill and perfect for studying, which is what I'm NOT doing right now because I was just so inspired that I had to write a blog post. But, seriously, I highly recommend this place. I reallyyyy liked it. And there's Sam studying! The artwork behind her is amazing. The artist, Nina Boesch, made the collages out of metro cards! 

Here's her website: http://metrocardcollages.com. So MOJO is definitely on my Favorite Coffee Shops list...not that I have a list, but I could start one and MOJO would SO be on it. I recommend getting your mojo together and going to MOJO.

Jack's Stir Brew Coffee on 138 W. 10th St. also has really great coffee. It's a really cute, narrow, brick building and it's just so homey and the people are really nice. The girl behind the counter was so sweet that I told her about this blog and asked to take her picture. I got a mixed berry muffin and an apple cinnamon donut (I have no idea why I'm not like 700 lbs) and hot apple cider. I went back another time and had an apple walnut scone. I think I may have a slight addiction to apple pastries...

 This is the apple cinnamon donut:

And this is the berry muffin. Yumm it was so good. And all homemade!

The coffee is great, the people are super nice, and the pastries are deliciousssss! If it's not busy, it's a good place to study and has a large window with a view of a pretty West Village street. And if it is busy, since it probably will be because it's awesome, then it's nice to stop by for an afternoon treat. Either way, you're going to Jack's.

So I've been meaning to go to Joe Coffee for a while, and Joe the Art of Coffee on Waverly St. is a little small to go study in, but I recently discovered that there is another Joe on 9 E 13th St. that is larger and has wide tables and enough room to go study there.

I got a House Blend, which on that day happened to be a Brazilian coffee and they also have coffee from other places in the world, like Bolivia, Peru and Papua New Guinea. They bring in new coffee from different places all the time, which is awesome. And let me just tell you, the coffee I had was soo good so I can only imagine what other blends are like. I'm definitely going back to find out.

The Grey Dog. Also called The Best New York Cafe. And I didn't make that up; when you search them, it actually says that. As it should, because The Grey Dog is amazing. I know I exaggerate a lot about food because I'm obsessed, but when I say this place is amazing, I'm not the only one who thinks so. Not only is their food all homemade, but they have such a wide variety to choose from, the people who work there are so cool, and the atmosphere and feel of the cafe is awesome. I think I convert hipster when I go in there. And that's not a bad thing! I've always wanted to be more hipster. Anyway,
 I've been here numerous times and my expectations are surpassed each time. The first few times I went, I went for breakfast and they have this baked oatmeal that I just couldn't say no to so I never tried anything new until recently.

But seriously, how good does that look?! And trust me, it's life-changing. It's cooked oatmeal with raisins and then it's baked and served with warm milk and strawberries. I finish the entire thing every time, no matter how full I am (because oatmeal is very filling, but so good for you) because you know my love of oatmeal. So when I started liking coffee, I tried the hazelnut coffee here and it's so good. I feel like I'm running out of ways to say "so good". Sometimes it's the only way to describe what I'm feeling though. Because The Grey Dog (as well as all these other coffee shops) is so good. So I finally had to go at an hour after they stop serving breakfast (which is 3pm) so that I didn't order the oatmeal. So one day to reward myself after my long run (I'm training for a half marathon, yay!) I went for lunch and ordered one of their Michigan Sandwiches, which are around $10 and there's many to choose from.

I got the Granny Smith apple with turkey and brie and raspberry mustard sandwich on rye (I got it a second time on nine-grain bread). I can't even describe the explosion of tastes that occurred in my mouth. It was just (wait for it) so good. Last weekend I went to The Grey Dog twice in one day! I just HAD to. For lunch I got this same turkey sandwich and for dinner I tried the Cuban Press with pulled pork, ham, swiss, and mustard on nine-grain bread and it was just delicious. They have an endless list of sandwiches to choose from, salads, small plates, and of course let's not forget...the desserts. Their homemade muffins look so good and when I went there for breakfast with Christina, she ordered the blackberry yogurt muffin and asked for them to heat it up. It was delicious (I tried some obviously). Also, I forgot to mention, they do free coffee refills in the mornings when it's not too busy.

So I really really really want you to go to The Grey Dog. Please, don't let me down. It's on 90 University Place and they have other locations: 242 W 16th St. and 244 Mulberry St. Any location you go to, it's going to be great. So if you don't listen to anything I say (why are you reading this blog in the first place?), but please listen to me here: go to The Grey Dog!


So this is my Coffee Shop Crawl. I hope you enjoyed it and I will keep adding to this as I discover other awesome coffee shops :) Take my advice and try at least one of these places. They have good prices (because I don't just spend my money for nothing), chill music, a cool vibe, and awesomeeee food/coffee. Now...go!