Afficionado Coffee Roasters — Restaurant in New York

UPDATE:

I’ve been an ACR customer for years now and I’ve stopped going. The new staff has no idea how to make coffee (always burnt and bitter) and they’re unprofessional (inexperienced with both coffee and customer service). Hakeem used to be the gem of this coffee shop. He knew all his regulars, would take care of everyone’s drinks/food and provide excellent customer service. It seems like he no longer works there. I’m afraid ACR is not worth the stop (so overpriced) without the attention to detail and charm that Hakeem brought to the place. This is just another random coffee shop with subpar coffee. Pastries are still excellent (not made in house). RIP afficionado.

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This neighbourhood has needed something like ACR for a while. The vibe of the place is absolutely immaculate. The coffees are almost always on point but some of the newer baristas they’ve hired are definitely not as skilled or polite as the previous ones.

My last 2-3 coffees had the taste of burnt espresso and badly foamed milk. Picky? Yes, but when a small latte and a plain croissant cost $11 (insane) I feel like I’ve earned the right to be picky. Especially when ACR has otherwise consistently delivered. Whenever their internet doesn’t work, their new baristas always just shrug and say “that’s not my problem I can’t do anything about that.”

Hakeem is the model for perfect customer service and good vibes. The other staff should take a page from his book and would make ACR...

They got me. I originally ordered the percosta latte cause I wanted to try it out, but I wasn’t aware of how sweet it would be, I was drinking my latte and conversing with my husband about the lattes and the staff overheard😬 I normally don’t add sugar to my drinks and the sweetness was a little too sweet but I was sucking it up and drinking it anyway when Bryan walked over to us and asked how we liked our lattes. I lied at first and said it was good just a little too sweet (not saying its not good its just up to preference) but he caught my bluff and offered to make me another drink. It was my decision to get this drink so I was okay with it but he insisted and I eventually accepted. He made me another latte, this time just a plain latte with whole milk, nothing crazy, and it SLAPPED. 1000/10 for customer service especially Bryan, he made sure I left satisfied. He didn’t have to do what he did, but he did and thats what makes him an exceptional person, he actually cared for my experience. Give this man a raise; and if you already have, give him another one. Also peep the bear!! I forgot to take a fresh photo before...

Went in this morning for a hot beverage on a cold day. The barista said some rude thing about me pertaining to a rumor he had overheard - this was shockingly inappropriate. Service was slow - there was no one standing at the counter to take my order and then the second barista jumped out of the corner of the cafe after I was standing there for a minute and about to turn around and leave. The two baristas then had an argument in some guttural ghetto language that was totally off-putting.

They served my tea in a short cup meant for shots of espresso or cortados etc. It was ounces of tea which immediately went cold.

The cafe was FREEZING - the temperatures dropped to freezing the night before and no efforts were made to warm the place up (the space seems to rely on the building's steam heat). The countertop was like a block of ice and my arms froze when I placed them on the surface.

In short my experience involved verbal abuse, a wrongly served beverage, ghetto rage from behind the counter and a cafe seating area roughly the same temperature as a cold storage room.

TOTAL...