Kuro Kirin Espresso & Coffee — Restaurant in New York

I have lived in Inwood for ten years. The “barista” working here with horrible arm sleeve tattoos has been publicly and openly hateful and mean to customers and other baristas. The environment is extremely hostile and toxic due to the presence of this person. No one who enters this shop feels safe ordering coffee if the “barista” with awful arm tattoos is working (which he always is). He insults and harasses people during service while providing low-quality coffee. He wears a beanie in the summer and sits outside on a bench shouting at the innocent passersby. He asked to pet a dog I was walking multiple times and scared me with the tone of voice he used. He used a slur to insult me when I ignored his request to pet the dog. I could never step foot in this place for fear of an encounter with him or the prickly, emotionally-vacant owner.

Many locals feel the same way about the energy in this shop. This “barista” seemed to not work here for a while and it was so great- after his return, everything was terrible again. It is sad to see such nasty energy in an Inwood coffee shop coming from a white male presenting person. Something has to change here! The people of Inwood don’t deserve their coffee to be hatefully brewed by a white man. The owner of this coffee shop should be held accountable by the community for poor business practices, unethical labor standards, and allowing this “barista” to start working here again only to treat their community poorly. This “barista” provides the opposite of a welcoming environment in Inwood. I would never recommend this place to anyone. The current ownership plus this “barista” with the ugly arm tattoos (and a personality to match) immediately need to remove themselves from the Inwood community. This shop should close to make room for a small business that serves quality products, operates with integrity, and treats their employees well. I can’t believe they are still open considering how low the standards have fallen here....

Dissapointing experience with barista. I don't live in the area but have a friend here I visit time to time. Came at the end of August and grabbed us both latte's. They had made my friends latte wrong - no problem, it's happens. Called the Cafe, lady answered (don't remember her exact name) and said she's one of the managers, said she'd take down my name so next time I come, I let them know my name and will get a latte on the house.

Went in this afternoon, tried to explain the situation to the barista, gave her my name, the exact time and day of the occurrence as well as the possible name of the person I spoke to (which I wasn't sure of anymore because it has been a while). The barista just kept saying "idk what you're talking about" "we don't have anyone by that name, I can't help you". I told her I might have the name wrong because it's been a while, but this is my name, this is the time and day I called. Again, same dismissive manner "I can't help you".

Didn't even care to check if my name was noted, didn't look at my phone where I had proof of the call with date and time. Dismissive and patronizing.

So upsetting! I told my friend about this and she's super shocked, considering she comes here weekly herself with no issues. Maybe it's because I'm bipoc and the barista was Caucasian.

Won't be coming here anymore, I don't need this kind of treatment for a measly latte of what $6-8? Was it worth it? Super...

I used to enjoy this coffee shop. The baristas were once very welcoming. I used to enjoy sitting here doing work on my computer or spending time with friends. Cute spot and decent chai. However sometime in 2024 I began to notice frequent change overs in staffing. This all seemed to coincide when the male barista/manager in the beanie began here. Since then, I’ve notice the vibe change here dramatically. What used to be a welcoming coffee shop became a spot I’d avoid. I have stopped in very infrequently since this change and only ever when I’ve had a guest from out of town with me who was desperate for a non-Starbucks cup of coffee. And honestly each of my guests all told me we didn’t have to go back there. They would prefer to wait for a coffee until getting to midtown because they felt uncomfortable at Kuro Kirin after experiencing the creepy stares and rude interactions from the man...