Le Petit Monstre — Restaurant in New York

I didn't want to write this, but I feel it's necessary for the community and for anyone considering living in the apartments above this cafe.

For the first year, life above Le Petit Monstre was peaceful. We enjoyed our morning coffees, the occasional pastry – it felt like a nice part of our routine. Then, everything changed. We started hearing bass and music blaring through our floors. At first, we thought it was a neighbor, but quickly realized it was the cafe below. So, life above Le Petit Monstre became a constant bassline. It started subtly, with music and bass throughout mornings and afternoons, then escalated into nightly noise on weekends and whenever they extended their hours. And I don't mean background music. This was a bass so intense, it became our daily alarm clock before 8 AM, and our baby couldn't nap, nor could I work from home.

Yes, I know, it's crazy to think that the music in the cafe is loud, especially when you go in and the music seems like it's at an appropriate level. But for some reason, the building's weird acoustics send it booming through our floorboards. It gets amplified as the sound waves travel through the ceiling and our floorboards.

Look, it's a structure issue, I know, something building management should address. But when you have an incompetent building management, you'd hope a small business would step up and be a good neighbor.

We tried talking to the cafe, being reasonable. Explained, 'We have a baby. This is affecting our sleep, our lives.' For months, it was back-and-forth, promises, then nothing. It felt like we were talking to a brick wall. Then, things turned… well, let's just say, less than friendly and even involved the police with someone who was doing loud renovations in the cafe really late at night.

So, we did what you do in New York and resort to one avenue: 311. Constant noise complaints. Those calls seemed to vanish into thin air. Nothing changed. There was even one night they had a loud DJ for an event, blaring music so intensely that our baby was non-stop crying and we had to step out of the apartment for hours.

I'm a firm believer that businesses should be assets to their community, not burdens. To have your home turned into a constant, vibrating soundscape, and your baby's sleep routinely disrupted? That's not community; that's a blatant disregard for your neighbors.

I'm not writing this to be mean. I'm writing it because I wish someone had told me. I wish I'd known what it was like to live above this place. If you're considering moving into one of the apartments above Le Petit Monstre, please understand what you're getting into. This isn't just about noise. It's about being exhausted, frustrated,...

Let me just start off by saying, I very rarely leave reviews unless a place has really affected me whether positive or negative. This was my first time trying them after years of wanting to, but never making it to the area. I got the bacon egg and cheese to-go, and I paid extra for sausage and even though they forgot to add the bacon and it ended up just being a sausage, egg and cheese, I didn’t even realize until midway through (and I had already left) because I was scarfing it down. It was absolutely phenomenal. I have been vegan for over 20 years and I have tried almost every place in New York City, especially places with breakfast sandwiches as they are my favorite food. Although I had two other places that I thought were my favorite breakfast sandwiches in NYC, this surpasses them in the first bite. This is easily my favorite vegan breakfast sandwich in all of New York now and I will dream about this sandwich every single day. It was huge, the size of my head!! As a proper New York breakfast sandwich should be. It was the perfect blend of textures and the perfect simplicity that a breakfast sandwich should have. And it came on a croissant, which is the main reason that I specifically came here, because I wanted a breakfast sandwich on a croissant. And the croissant was perfect for this sandwich, it held together so well and wasn’t super sweet. This was literally the most delicious sandwich I’ve had in a long time and exactly what I wanted. Literally, I was in shock the entire time I was eating it. I cannot wait to come back and have the sandwich 1 million thousand times again. And I only gave four stars instead of five because I paid extra to add something and it wasn’t there but otherwise the girl working up front was so sweet and great energy, the place itself was beautiful and the ambiance was perfect. I can’t wait to come sit in next time. The coffee was SO good and I didn’t get to try the desserts but they looked amazing. All in all, 10000/10. I will continue to throw money at them as often as I can so that they stay...

I found Le Petit Monstre while searching for vegan cakes in NYC to celebrate my boyfriend’s birthday. We're not vegan, but my boyfriend is lactose intolerant, so I wanted to find something he could enjoy comfortably without lactaid. There were many bakeries offering vegan cakes in NYC, but most didn’t offer much in the way of customization. After days of research, I found that Le Petit Monstre stood out as the best for custom cake design.

I reached out to the bakery and worked with Dominique, the cake designer and coordinator, who helped me through the entire design process. Honestly, I didn’t have a clear vision at first, but Dominique asked thoughtful questions and offered suggestions that helped me figure out what I truly wanted. Throughout it all, Dominique was incredibly patient, creative, and considerate with all my ideas and requests.

We eventually decided on a vegan red velvet cake with vegan cream cheese frosting, topped with raspberries and a playful atomic theme design—a perfect combination of my boyfriend’s favorites.

When we picked up the cake, we had two unforgettable surprises. First, when we opened the box, we were amazed by how beautiful the cake looked—the deep green color was stunning, and the atomic design made my boyfriend laugh and smile, feeling both amused and deeply touched. Second, when we tasted the cake, we were blown away. It was our first time trying a vegan cake, and it was honestly better than most non-vegan cakes we’ve had. We ended up finishing more than half of it right away.

I’ll absolutely be ordering again to try other flavors! I highly recommend Le Petit Monstre for anyone who’s lactose intolerant, vegan, or simply looking for a delicious and beautifully designed cake.

Thank you again, Dominique, for your amazing support and the...