Cafe Riviera Greenpoint — Restaurant in New York

f you have lived in Greenpoint awhile you've seen the change, typical of hypergentrification. The wonderful, original, cheap ethnic places disappear and are rapidly replaced with generic airspace chain cafés; white boxes with grey oak floors and lots of fiddle ferns all selling the same bland bake-off or commissary products at sky high prices. Well, Café Riviera is thankfully still here and still going strong. The place is a immaculate with beautiful sweet young girls behind the counters and a tough no nonsense lady running the place. This is a European style café where you relax and have conversation over pastry and great coffee. No annoying ear bud tune-outs hogging tables with laptops trying to look employed. All the baking here is done on premises, French Patisserie quality and superb. Standouts are the crisp cheese and fruit filled danish, the cheese cakes, traditional buttery croissants, crème brûlée cakes, pies and of course the babkas and assorted Polish cookies (chocolate, poppy, linzer). I am not kidding, prices here are less than half what all those crummy New Brooklyn chain cafés now charge. I stop here on the way to The City and bring cookies and cakes for our office parties. My employees are very pleased and ask "where did you get this?" Don't be a New Brooklyn Gentrifying tool. Support these independently owned old Brooklyn Ethnic neighborhood places before they...

Be careful what you’re paying for.

If you choose to pay by credit card, debit card, or over the phone, Cafe Riviera will add a 4% surcharge to your bill—without informing you in advance. This is not only poor customer service but also a violation of New York law, which requires businesses to clearly and conspicuously display the total price, including any credit card surcharge, before the customer completes the transaction. Additionally , it is not legal in New York to charge a fee for debit card payments, surcharging debit cards is prohibited. I used debit card to pay for the product.

When I brought this up to the owner, she responded sarcastically, saying, “How much extra did you have to pay? One dollar?” Is only one dollar! She also claimed that they always inform customers about the fee. That’s simply not true. I’ve been to this café multiple times and have never been informed about this surcharge until I questioned it myself.

To the owner:

It takes years of hard work to earn loyal customers, but it only takes one careless moment to lose them. This isn’t about the $1—it’s about how you treat customers . Your customers are the reason your business exists and thrives. Respect them.

By the way... Since you say it's only one dollar (that's not that much) why don't you cover the...

One of those underrated places that makes you wonder why! Just come here once and get anything and you'll be coming back for more. This is genuinely my go-to spot for pastries. Nothing is overly sweet. The workers are always polite and welcoming.

The chocolate rum truffles are incredibly rich and moist. So chocolaty and satisfying. Another favorite of mine is the round shortbread pastries filled with delicious vanilla pudding with either blueberries or raspberries. The shortbread crust is a work of art. I also always get the cheesecake (the one without the apples on top). It’s so good that I prefer to enjoy it on its own, without any added flavors.. it really stands on its own.

Apparently, the owner flies to France frequently to study baking, and that passion shows in the pastries.

I guess it’s not as popular as it should be because of the space itself. It’s not really the kind of place you sit and relax with your coffee and pastry. The tables line the wall, right next to the line of waiting customers, and are usually occupied by elderly regulars who’ve long finished their pastries and sit for hours reading newspapers and chatting.

That said, McCarren Park is just steps away, so you can always take your treats there and enjoy these precious delicacies in a more...