ARVACI coffee — Restaurant in New York

3 1/2 stars

I've enjoyed my handful of visits to Arvaci, but you know what I didn't enjoy? The walk over there. Honestly, it's a big reason I'm probably not going back any time soon - the trek down 37th between 8th and 9th might literally be the most depressing, grossest stretch in NYC, which is saying something. I've never gone down it without seeing at least one person shooting up heroin right on the sidewalk, and most of the time it's closer to five people. It looks like there's a methadone clinic or something down the street closer to 8th Ave, so you have to walk past hordes of drug addicts. If you have the ability/time, I'd 100% recommend taking the long way and accessing this place via 9th Ave. Why no one is bothering to clean this section up is beyond me, and I feel bad for the tourists paying actual money to stay at one of the hotels on this block too. Live and learn.

Arvaci itself is much more pleasant though (how could it not be? The metaphorical bar is in hell.). The only time I've seen more than one other customer in there was coincidentally on my most recent trip this past Thursday, which again, might have something to do with the location. That's to my benefit - I've never had to wait particularly long for anything here. Also great? The customer service is truly excellent and sets itself apart; I think coffee places in general get graded on a curve (people love their caffeine), but the baristas behind the counter are noticeably friendlier and personable than your average bear. There's one younger woman who's always been there on my visits who's honestly just super sweet, the kind of person who yells out goodbye as you're leaving, even if she's serving other customers. Huge selling point.

I've stopped by probably three or four times now. I'm always on the look for edgy flavored hot lattes (yes, even in the midst of this crippling heat advisory) and I enjoy the strawberry latte here. Since the weekend was almost upon us, I thought as a special treat it would be nice to also order something to munch on. The proprietors, I believe, are Eastern European, so there are a few intriguing pastries/savory snacks available, highlighted by a variety of pierogis. On this particular visit, I ordered a potato pierogi and a chicken pierogi, which required roughly a 10-minute warmup before being provided. Decent. The chicken was a little dry and the middle of both pierogis was a little cold so this should be heated up for another minute or two, but otherwise was perfectly fine. My experience with pierogis is pretty limited but these were large compared to prior ones I've ingested - the two of them were more than enough for a lunchtime entree.

The interior/vibe situation isn't ideal, and I think that matters with coffee places, unless it's a straight-up to-go situation. There are two tables in here, including a full-on booth by the window that's on an elevated platform. I chose to sit there while I waited for my pierogis, and the table was noticeably sticky and hadn't been cleaned. It's honestly a little drab in there and looks like they very recently moved in and are still trying to figure out where everything should go, and I think they've been here for over a year. When you order a coffee, there isn't room for them to leave it on the counter for you (so basically, no pick-up area), and they have to awkwardly place it on the extreme edge of the counter for you to get, which requires you to reach over the prep section with the sweeteners, etc. That's probably an easy-ish fix and something I'd recommend. They're already significantly behind the eight-ball (boy does that feel like a cringy pun) based on the neighborhood location, so if able, I'd try to compensate for that by making the actual business more comfortable and hospitable.

There's a lot to like here, especially the service - I'm just not sure it's enough to compensate for the surrounding drug den and less-than-ideal...

Hate to write negative reviews, but also don't want someone else to walk in this place with the same unrealistic expectations I had. It's not bad, but it's not super, either. Hard for me to comprehend how it has a 4.7 star average. My family and I ordered an assemblage of pastries and quiches. The barista asked if we wanted the quiches heated up, which I thought was nice. Didn't realize that they had been chilled until I started to eat one. Even after a few minutes in the oven, it was still ice cold in the center. Maybe the Cognoscenti know that the items in the second counter are intended to be taken home and reheated? Even so, it would have been nice if the barista would have tipped us off on this somewhat important point. The croissants and cappuccino were fine but no better than Starbucks or Panera. The place was cute and clean, and they even had a bathroom for customers. Overall, wouldn't object to going back if a friend proposed it, but would not be...

Usually I don’t write reviews for restaurants but I felt the need to do it this time. The young lady at the front desk was giving my friend attitude while we were trying to order. We were being very nice to her, we just had never been to this place because we come from a different state so we don’t really know the menu. I work at a restaurant as a manager and I know better to not be acting the way she did to my friend and I. Her and her coworker (young man) were giving us weird looks and such a bad attitude. If you are thinking of coming here, I don’t discourage it but if you don’t want the attitude you must know what you are ordering because it seems like they don’t want to answer any of...