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Charming Coffee Shops on Manhattan's Side Streets

Written by: Sarah Beling.

Need caffeine? Manhattan’s side street storefronts serve up some of the best buzzy beverages in welcoming atmospheres at Ramini Espresso Bar, Pennylane Coffee, Terremoto Coffee and The Sensuous Bean.

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Pennylane Coffee 1 Coffee Shops Turtle Bay Midtown East Midtown

Pennylane Coffee

Much of Pennylane's personality is evident in its chic - yet stark - decor. The walls are painted black and grey and the people who queue up around the wooden countertop are clad in colors from the same palette: office grays, blacks, and blues. Founded by a former member of the fashion industry, Sung Kang, Pennylane encapsulates the trendy New York vibe. Just off Second Avenue, it is a haven for aficionados who crave a serious cup of coffee from producers like Parlor Coffee or Heart Roasters. It is also a great place to unwind with a stronger beverage, as Pennylane serves wine and beer later in the day.For most of his life Sung had been complacent about his coffee choices. He would stop by a familiar Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts for a cup of joe and would go about his business, like many other New Yorkers. One day, a few years back, he came across a cafe in TriBeCa that changed the way he saw coffee. Sung was so impressed by the flavor, its richness and texture, that he started doing some research.Sung read every book on which he could get his hands and spent some time on the web reading NY Times writer Oliver Strand's famous coffee-related column, "Ristratto." Eventually, Sung realized that he wanted to start his own cafe and began to ask his friends what they thought was the best coffee shop in the city. A couple of friends pointed him to Sweetleaf, a cafe in Brooklyn. Sung offered to work as an unpaid intern there so that he could learn about the business and, after chatting with the manager, got the job. He stayed there for six months before he got up the courage to begin his own business – Pennylane Coffee.In the early summer of 2014, while we were walking 45th street, Sung was coming up on his first anniversary and reflected on what he had learned in the past year. The thing that was most different from his previous job, he thought, was facing the consumer. As a merchandiser, he never had to interact with the people who bought the final product. Instead, he would work with store representatives and stay behind the scenes. As a barista and business owner, Sung has had to learn to interact with customers and try to gauge whether they like the coffee or not. Sung prioritizes customer service and tries to talk to people about the coffee they are drinking when patrons are not swamping the counter.

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Terremoto Coffee 1 Coffee Shops Chelsea

Terremoto Coffee

Coffee is an essential ingredient in the everyday lives of many New Yorkers, and Richard Agudelo, the owner of Terremoto, takes this fact very seriously. He only provides single origin, best trade coffee, which means that he knows exactly where his coffee is coming from.In sitting down to discuss his business with him, I learned that he owns fifty percent of a coffee farm in Colombia, which allows him to have a close relationship with the people who grow his coffee and to ensure that the end result is the highest possible quality. “We know our farmers, milk purveyors, water suppliers, everything. We make sure that it is locally-sourced as much as possible - everything down to our grill.”Richard, who is also a creative director, has always loved coffee. After several years of research, he finally decided to open Terremoto on 15th Street in 2016, recognizing that this particular neighborhood "needed a place for high-quality coffee.” Terremoto, which means earthquake in Spanish, is named in part after Richard. He spent his summers as a child staying with his uncles in Colombia, who often called out in Spanish, “Look, the earthquake arrives” upon his entrance. “I was a handful,” Richard admitted. Laughing, he added, "Our caffeinated drinks will wake you up, just like an earthquake."Terremoto first made headlines for its famous espresso machine, which is covered in twenty-four carat gold. While the machine is certainly flashy, Richard said that he decided to buy it to serve as an homage to the original espresso makers from the early twentieth century. They were similarly plated in metal, usually copper or brass. In order to add a little twist, Richard decided to buy one covered in gold.Terremoto serves a wide variety of classic espresso-based drinks and a number of specialty teas. Richard donates twenty percent of the revenue generated from three of these drinks to charity: the Purple Rain, a lavender and vanilla based drink, the Space Oddity, a rose and vanilla based drink, and the Terremoto, a dulce de leche beverage. He has worked with various artists throughout his career, hence the references to famous songs. He donates to Music Cares and to a variety of emergency relief funds. Richard shared with me that he was a first responder at 9/11. He lived three blocks from the site, and grabbed a respirator from the hardware store below his apartment before going to help shovel out the debris. He has remained committed to helping other emergency relief efforts, having donated money to the earthquake in Haiti and the tsunami in Indonesia.Terremoto’s 15th Street location was his first, but Richard has already expanded to Brooklyn with the hope of continuing to open more shops while providing high quality, single origin coffee.

We'll never turn down the chance to spend a leisurely morning wandering through Manhattan’s coziest coffee shops, where you can find everything from potent shots of espresso to smooth latte art served in distinctly non-Starbucks settings. Rushing around Midtown? Grab a cup at Fashion District favorite Ramini Espresso Bar — known for its latte art, vintage decor and delicate macarons — or a gluten-free olive oil cake and a Flat White at Pennylane Coffee. Take a break from lounging in Union Square Park to snag a Colombian coffee at Terremoto, where you can have your pick from single-origin brews and specialty drinks like the lavender and vanilla Space Oddity. And if you’re spending a Nora Ephron-esque day around the Upper West Side, don’t forget to make time for a chai latte or a coffee from one of their globally-sourced brews at New York’s “Friendly Little Coffee Shop” since 1976, The Sensuous Bean.

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Java Girl, Inc 1 Coffee Shops Upper East Side Uptown East

Java Girl, Inc

Walking into Java Girl feels like coming home. In addition to the cafe being host to a friendly assortment of mismatched cushions, a cuckoo clock, an antique mirror, and other objects of curiosity, this was my go-to shop when I lived on East 67th Street. My friends and family members knew that I did not own a coffee pot and therefore we always had to stop by this neighborhood favorite. I was thrilled to be revisiting an old haunt, and on this particular day, I chose a seat in the window nook, settling in for a chat with Java Girl herself.In the mid-nineties, Linda Rizutto was working for a major retailer, wondering what it was that she wanted to do next. She would sit in a coffee shop with her journal and contemplate her options. "And then the opportunity came," Linda told me. In 1998, the west half of Java Girl became available for rent. Linda decided to take her own journey as inspiration, and create a coffee shop that would give other people the space and time to think about their lives. In 2001, Linda expanded into the second half of the cafe. "It created what I was dreaming of, and that was a place to let people come and decompress, whether it's for twenty minutes or two hours."Linda truly is the "Java Girl." She has crafted an amazingly diverse selection of coffee offerings, each 100% Arabica and hand-picked, from the volcanic soil of Mount Kilimanjaro to the fertile Costa Rican rainforest. Java Girl's exotic beans are all roasted locally by third generation roasters in Long Island City and the flavored coffees are done so by hand without any chemical processing.Not only does Linda know coffee, she also has a well-curated and enticing selection of gourmet loose-leaf teas, some of which are blended in-house. In the mornings, her oatmeal smoothie is a popular choice and hearty kickstart to the day.Over the years, Linda's customers have become regulars, allowing her to develop strong relationships with many of them. On the day that I stopped by, Linda had purchased flowers for someone who had recently lost a family member. "We've also celebrated marriages and babies," Linda proudly shared. Clearly more than just a coffee shop - Java Girl is a community. And a community is really what Linda set out to create. "I didn't have a business plan, I just had this idea... and it worked."

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Blank Slate 1 Cafes Coffee Shops Murray Hill Nomad Rose Hill

Blank Slate

“We wanted to be that diamond in the rough,” explained Ashley, the co-owner of Blank Slate. When Ashley and Zach, spouses and co-owners, were searching for a location for their restaurant, they wanted to find a neighborhood with a large crowd but not a lot of quality spots to eat. Blank Slate is successfully that hidden gem located in NoMad, one of Manhattan’s up and coming neighborhoods. Blank Slate attracts a crowd full of young, creative professionals who are quickly changing the area.Ashley and Zach established Blank Slate, which opened in November of 2015, in an effort to create the first coffee-shop-restaurant hybrid in New York City. Ashley explains that they were tired of going to places that provided quality coffee but low quality food. She wanted a place that offered superb grab-n-go coffee as well as more formal dining where friends could meet for a long meal.Ashley and Zach’s vision has been realized. Blank Slate serves killer coffee as well as an impressive assortment of salads, sandwiches and even gourmet desserts. Their coffee is proudly served from farm to cup in close to 20 days. They have a sign at the cash register indicating the green date and roast date of the coffee being served that day. My intern, Emily, hesitantly tried their brussels sprout Caesar salad and only had positive things to say about it, even though she usually does not enjoy Brussels sprouts. Blank Slate also has a small but wonderfully curated market located inside the restaurant, which offers primarily locally sourced products such as cookie dough, yoghurts, pickles and a host of beverages.In addition to serving excellent coffee and food, Blank Slate has a fun, creative atmosphere. Ashley and Zach chose Blank Slate’s name because they wanted to convey the idea that people can make or create everything here. While customers wait in line for coffee, for example, there are etch-a-sketches on which to play. They even have Instagram competitions that reward one talented etch-a-sketcher with a free meal. Ashley hopes that Blank Slate can be a space for people to create. She explained that the etch-a-sketch sends a message: the “possibility of everything."

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