Nook — Restaurant in New York

I really want to love this place, but there’s a few glaring issues that just make it not a positive experience most of the times I stop in.

The biggest issue is the quality of ‘some’ of the staff (not throwing everyone under the bus of course).

I understand that pretentious barista is a bit of a cliché, but a few members (and at least one keyholder/manager) always leave me feeling bad after every interaction with them, like I don’t belong here.

I am a generous tipper, patient and deferential, and yet I still get negative vibes, lack of eye contact, sighing when taking my order, not acknowledging basic friendly salutations like “thank you so much” or “have a great day” etc. (I know this is new york city, but manners still count here). I was once even denied food because they were “closing soon” (it was an hour and 15 min before close).

The other issue (and not as much the fault of staff/ownership), is the popularity/crowdedness of the spot. I get this is a workspace for a lot of people, but buying a cup of coffee isn’t a ticket to take up a seat for 8 hours. Sey, an incredible roaster 8 min away, does it right with non-laptop seating specifically for customers who come to spend money while enjoying coffee and conversation. The food at nook is great, and the coffee is pretty good, but I always have to decide if its worth risking zero seating (especially in bad weather).

Honestly the simplest explanation is that Nook had become a victim of it’s own success. Because of the popularity, it no longer needs to accommodate the individual, and staff can drive off customers because there’s enough left over that it doesn’t impact sales in a way that gets management’s attention.

I don’t think I’ll be going here anymore, and it’s a shame because it really has all the ingredients for an amazing community space. I think a staff shakeup and some regulations on seating like making the back nooks laptop free would go a LONG way towards...

The nuanced perspective of a starving artist.

Good:

It's a GREAT grab-and-go spot. If you just wanna chat somewhere for 30-45min it's straight. You can get pretty decently-priced beer or coffee.

Good coffee. Minimum 3 stars.

Good food, though a tad pricey, it tastes fresh at the very least.

Great interior design. Very inviting space to work.

Bad:

Expensive to work-

If your tryna WORK... this is where the numbers start making less sense. As they require you to purchase something every 45 minutes in order to work there. The lowest-priced item is $2.72, with a tip, of about $4. Multiple this by the average creative worker's session (3-4 hours of deep work) then you get $12-14 dollars per day to work there. This adds up to about $60-70 per week if you need a consistent place to work and take meetings. Much more if you're more conscientious than I am and can work for longer hours.

Nook's events are great, but hosts can be intrusive-

I love Nook's events cause they're cheap/free with a very high quality of talent from the local artists of Bushwick. The issue I find is that sometimes they choose hosts that tend to try and compete/perform more than the guest's artists. This isn't ALWAYS the case. And I get WHY the hosts do this, cause they're also starving artists. I just think it's courteous to avoid performing if you're the host and make sure to highlight the strengths of volunteer performers.

TLDR: Good for small sessions, decent free events, very expensive to conduct deep...

Hey David,

If you're reading this, I absolutely love the nook and am obsessed with its design, function, and atmosphere. The place is wonderful and so are the baristas. I have it saved in my maps as a "safe place" in a list of places I can go to when I feel like I need a welcoming enviormment, somewhere to study, or somewhere to support others as they practice and showcase their interests and talents. It's perfectly described as the living room some of us may or may not have had growing up.

Today was a little different in that the atmosphere was still great and welcoming, however, it seems the Baristas were a little less joyful than usual. There seemed to have been something wrong or off because this isn't what I've usually seen and experienced. I had a few hiccups during my visit today and felt that they were very upset and I felt it became personal at some point. I was pretty uncomfortable, but I chalked it up to it just not being a good day for one of them. I hope they sort out what they may be going through, and I hope no one else received the same treatment today.

Overall aside from that, it was a wonderful time again, especially with some of the friends, family, and co-workers I brought and introduced to the Nook. They all loved it and enjoyed their time there.

Thank you to the Nook family that makes it...