Elm Roastery — Restaurant in New York

I lived in Elmhurst from 2008-2012, and while I live in manhattan now, I happily come back at least a few times a year to eat (of course!) and check out what is new in the hood. This place is truly special and a place I would’ve loved to frequent if I still lived here. the inside is absolutely beautiful. It has ample tables for friends to catch up and enjoy tasty coffee and tea drinks and food, as well as a communal countertop that is laptop, free, encouraging people to meet and greet and socialize. I love the front side wall that has all kinds of handmade things that you can buy that are made by local Queens artists. They also roast their own coffee, and you can see their roasting machine through the glass in the back of the café.

We ordered two drinks and a snack: an iced Ube latte, a jasmine lemonade, and a cheddar chive biscuit. The service was extremely friendly and warm, and they were happy to heat up the cheddar chive biscuit for my toddler to snack on. The two drinks were exceptional: the Ube latte was lightly sweetened with a rich Ube flavor, while the jasmine lemonade had a very delicious and strong jasmine taste. It was clear that this jasmine was fresh brewed with real leaves and jasmine flowers! The biscuit was delicious and had a very nice savoriness, not too salty.

And for those of us who are parents to young children, the added bonus is that the bathroom is super clean, spacious and beautifully appointed, complete with a European style changing station, similar to the ones I used for baby when I was in Germany, that come with a cushion for baby to keep comfortable while lying down during the diaper change, as well as little shelves for you to place your diaper, wipes, diaper cream, etc.

And if that all was not enough, this spot transforms into a funky wine bar in the evenings! I need to come back here just to see what the wine and the vibe are like during the evenings since we came during the early afternoon on a Saturday!!

Elmhurst needs more fun spots like this! Elm Roastery, keep up the amazing work!!!...

I have been a loyal customer of Elm Roastery for almost two years and have always enjoyed my visits, especially the soy latte. However, I was very disappointed with today’s online order experience — not because of the staff, who were polite and helpful, but because of the process itself.

I placed an online order and paid at 10:08 AM, expecting that my two lattes would be ready when I arrived at 10:30 AM. However, after notifying the staff of my arrival, they only then began making my drinks.

When I asked how the process works and what’s the point of online order, since my expectation was apparently not met. I was told that online ordering still allows me to skip the in-store line (true but is that what a customer should expect?) but that drinks are not prepared until I check in. This was surprising and frustrating, as I had expected that placing and paying for an order 20 minutes in advance would result in it being ready upon my arrival. I would understand if several online orders were placed before mine but do not understand that I had to check in to have my drinks be prepared.

While I still appreciate Elm Roastery, this system doesn’t make much sense to me. It seems there’s no way to have my coffee ready when I get there, and it depends not only on notifying the staff but also on their immediate availability to begin making it.

The response from the owner is well received. I understand that Elm Roastery wants to serve good coffee, but I still think the customers should be notified, maybe in the online order portal, that they can’t expect the coffee to be ready upon arrival regardless how early the order is placed. This protocol is set for good reason but it surprised me and can...

Was very excited to try this cafe. Eastern Queens has so far been a wasteland for great coffee. Mostly chains and just overall terrible coffee, nowhere in sight exists a third wave coffee shop. Stopped in on a weekend afternoon. Wasn’t too busy, good vibes. But let’s get to what matters. The coffee. I was super pleasantly surprised to see a slayer. Rarely do you see these machines, even in higher end coffee shops. I ordered a Cortado, and my wife got the cold brew because it was free after purchasing a bag of their whole beans (lily-Ethiopian). Cortado was honestly middle of the road. Darker roast with just your standard nutty/chocolate notes, slightly burnt flavor. Temp was good, loved the vero glassware. But the flavor just wasn’t there. Cold brew is cold brew, it’s honestly never great. You drink it for the caffeine hit. Service was great and fast. Now the whole beans that I purchased were great. Can’t complain about a Light roast single origin Ethiopian for 21 dollars. The strange thing was how course I had to grind them to get the yield I wanted on my home espresso machine. I wished they offered this as a choice at the cafe when ordering espresso drinks. The blends they were using just wasn’t cutting it. It’s a new cafe so I’m sure it’ll only improve. But this is a good start and I’m optimistic more cafes like this will open in the area. Queens deserves...