The Hive — Restaurant in Jersey City

Family friendly, clean and well kept coffee shop. I enjoyed my matcha latte and the staff was courteous and efficient. The space itself is well air conditioned (perfect for a summer day, and nice in comparison to some other local shops where AC is a challenge).

A few improvements I’d want to see before I’d become a regular:

Decorate the inside more colorfully and pull in some charm/character either from the owners lives or the community around. Maybe a painting by a local artist? A mural by a local group of school children? The outside Pride window display was beautiful but the inside is a bit barren at the moment and I’m sure it will improve over time.

I really don’t like being charged extra for making my drink iced. The process of adding ice cubes to a cup shouldn’t cost an extra 50 cents. This also wasn’t clear to me when I ordered so I’m a bit annoyed that I saw it on my receipt.

Same with being charged for almond milk vs dairy milk. Wholesale almond milk these days generally costs the same and sometimes less than dairy milk. It would be better to absorb any additional price into the cost of all drinks and offer any milk choice or not charge for almond milk (which is the norm at most of the surrounding local coffee shops).

The base price for a matcha latte was on the higher end for the neighborhood already. It may be worth comparing against other shops nearby to stay competitive.

Congrats to them on the recent successful opening and looking forward to seeing more from...

Your experience with The Hive might depend on what you are looking for in a coffee shop. It is spacious with lots of seating, which might make it a nice place to hang out and work. But, there is also a play pen for toddlers which means you might be trying to concentrate over the sound of screaming children. It is an interesting choice and might cater to the many families in Jersey City.

Ultimately, my low rating is based on the coffee and pastry I had. The coffee was subpar, about what I would expect from a small town that has one coffee shop. But on the east coast the competition is high, and I wouldn't go here if I was seeking good coffee. I see they are using decent beans from Kobrick, but the espresso tastes bitter and flat, usually a sign of old beans or poor extraction.

The pastries generally looked old and depressing so I didn't have high hopes when I ordered a scone, which was dry and overly dense. To be fair, hardly anywhere in the U.S. does a good scone, but this was on par with a depressing Starbucks scone.

I think this place could do well based on the draw of their trendy Instagram aesthetic and playpen catering to parents. But I'm judging the coffee shop on the coffee, which they did...

Me and my partner were super excited to go since we are New Yorkers who now live in Jc looking for coffee shops. Firstly, if you are looking for place to work from home and that is quiet— avoid the weekends because there are too many kids in this location— great if you are parent. Secondly, the matcha and chai are made with poor quality products. I really dislike when coffee shops offer coffee alternatives (especially for me who hate coffee) and use really low quality chai + matcha because you end up wasting money and throwing it out. I rather them remove them from the menu because you will end up disappointed. And asking them to remake it is useless because again they are using chai/matcha that you can access yourself in the supermarket. The main reason why went was to try the cinnamon rolls and they were super good. My partner loved it. They have other pastries that look really good but avoid their matcha and chai— it was nasty and use low...