% Arabica — Restaurant in New York

I’ve always enjoyed visiting your establishment, but yesterday (July 28, 2025), something unusual happened, and I wanted to share it kindly, in the hope it might be helpful.

I placed an order for both an iced and a hot coffee—one for myself and one for my friend. However, both drinks were mistakenly made iced. It took me a moment to realize the mix-up, but as soon as I did, a very polite and kind young man immediately acknowledged the mistake and offered to make the correct hot coffee for me right away. He also kindly offered to refund the small price difference, since hot coffee is slightly cheaper, but I declined.

Since I had already touched and tasted the iced coffee that was intended to be mine, I asked if I could leave it for my friend instead of having it thrown away, and he warmly said yes. While he was preparing the new coffee, my friend started drinking the one that was initially made for me.

Just then, a woman—possibly a manager, with red or burgundy hair—came over and, while I was still waiting, asked me to return the coffee. I didn’t mention that my friend had already taken a sip, as I found the request somewhat uncomfortable and honestly a bit embarrassing. I complied, of course, and returned the drink.

While I understand policies might be in place, the way the situation was handled felt a little awkward. The young man was very professional and kind throughout, but the interaction with the other staff member could have been a bit more tactful. It’s certainly not a big issue, but I believe that with a slightly more thoughtful approach, situations like this could be handled more smoothly in the future.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I truly appreciate all the hard work...

This is a nice coffee shop. It has a simple, modern, clean asthetic that I liked. Although, the seating is not get cozy and stay a while, (which could be a good thing), it's more enjoy your drink and perhaps move along. Not sure if that is intentional or not, but is how I received the design language. We stopped in on a beautiful weekend morning and there was a line. I purchased a medium roast drip coffee and it was a bit pricey for the very small cup it comes in and I would say the coffee is okay, not a favorite. I generally have my coffee straight w/o all the sugar or milks, so I always know what is truly a good coffee for my tastes because there is nothing masking it. This coffee shop is in primo DUMBO area right behind Pier 1 ferry area. So perhaps the little bit higher price is because of the prime real estate which I can understand. Even though the coffee is not near my top gotos, it is a nice place in an awesome location and they are dog friendly, gotta love dog friendly people! So I would definitely return. The staff was also all smiles and friendly, which I love. If you go to %Arabica's website and read the owner's Philosophy tab it is a nice story, which I have to say, not everyone is so lucky to have parents with professions that take them all over the world so they can come to introspective ideas about self, but I get the owner's sentiment, and I enjoyed their life philosophy. Overall nice, happy...

Discrimination is discrimination. There is no misunderstanding. The experience was deeply offensive, and I will never return. I was already placing my order when the staff member suddenly told me to “remove back” so he could serve another group that wasn’t even in line. I was shocked and didn’t react right away. I had waited in line like everyone else. I was mid-order. But somehow, he decided I didn’t matter.

No explanation. No apology. Just pure arrogance. I was publicly humiliated and pushed aside in front of everyone.

When I finally gathered myself and asked for an explanation, he admitted he had seen me waiting as the next person in line and admitted that group was not in line but he decided to skip me and served them first —then gaslighted me, saying I should have spoken up sooner when he sent me aside. That’s classic gaslighting: blaming the victim for not reacting fast enough to unexpected, unjust behavior.

He acted like, because he claimed to be the “manager” in this store, he could do whatever he wanted.

As an Asian customer, I cannot help but feel this was racially motivated. If this is how they and their manager treat people who look like me, I strongly urge anyone who values fairness and dignity—not to...