OK Café — Restaurant in New York

Really nice experience here this morning.

I had a bit of extra time to catch the subway before work and decided to pop in. It's just off Ditmars, so it's taken me a bit more time than it should have to try it out.

Really cozy and cute inside. A few tables and benches outside. Clean, quality equipment and nice use of space.

Staff was friendly and quick. I was on my way, latte in hand, with time to take a quick picture for Yelp posting in 5minute. A customer coming in after me greeted the staff by name and they responded to him by name which was really sweet. I don't know, I tend to be more sentimental on Fridays, knowing the weekend is in sight. So this hit me in the heart.

Pastries, menu items and snacks looked/sounded delicious, but I practiced my self control and retorted "no, just the latte will be all" to the tempting offer from the cashier.

Latte was not bitter like they can be in premier coffee spots, which is great because my boyfriend will like this coffee and not give me a hard time when I want to stop :). I asked for the natural hazelnut flavor. Perfect amount of sweet. No need to add simple syrup. Which is cool because I didn't want to ruin the foam heart the barista carefully designed. Love that.

I will definitely be back. I never grab a coffee before work...I've been going to 60 beans prior to trying OK Cafe, and that would mean backtracking farther from the subway if I were to go there in the AM on a weekday, and I don't leave myself even a hair of spare time, most days. OK Cafe gives me a nice option that only takes me a few steps off course to work. Now just have to work on leaving myself 6 extra minutes to caffeinate.

Definitely stop in. You'll be...

I debated whether or not to make this review but seeing people had similar issues or worse issues I decided to make it. I bought an iced coffee and sat outside with a sandwich I had bought elsewhere and the owner came over to me without a mask and asked if I had bought something because she didn’t see me come out. Gives me authoritarian dictator vibes and I showed her my coffee and she walked away but it was the weirdest and most uncomfortable experience ever. The place is beyond overrated and overpriced. An iced hazelnut latte is $6.10 cents, no way in hell it costs that much to make and with non-dairy milk it’s probably $7. Theirs always some 50 something year old lady with glasses moaning about something or another as she oozes misery doing her job. The pastries are all old and crusty and have been sitting there for days. The decor is terrible and reminds me of a Hobby Lobby meets Marshall’s bankruptcy, all ugly dark colors and random neighbor fliers all over the place. The baristas are aloof and repeatedly ask questions they already got answers too. I love shopping small and frequent local café’s all over Manhattan and Brooklyn but it seems that Astoria has fallen flat on its face in this department. They also list closing hours at 7 PM but actually close at like 6 PM which is a huge irritation. The ridiculous policies they have get out of hand and the place is ugly, drab, and overall uncomfortable. I kind of hope they go bankrupt to realize that they serve the customers and not the...

I came in because of the reviews, and so will leave my own. The place is small and cozy, with good music playing, and festive decor (it's Halloween season and there's an eight ball in the glass cake holder and burnt orange leaves adorning their baked goods display and mini pumpkins on every table). Their menu is inventive, with Lavender London Fog and Spicy Mexican Mocha which are very hard to find in the city. (I've walked to several coffee shops in the neighborhood looking for a good London Fog latte and no one knows what it is or how to make it and I wound up teaching the baristas at every place.) I ordered the spicy mocha with almond milk and it cost about $6.50 which is a bit, I know, but hear me out: how much would a fancy latte be at Starbucks? 4.50 easily, maybe 5. Plus the cost of milk substitute, maybe 5.50. And they don't have Organic almond milk. And they don't make a spicy drink, as bomb as the Mexican spiced mocha. So for $1 more you're supporting an independently owned authentic and inventive coffee shop, which invests in quality ingredients (every milk type is organic!). So if you're just getting a regular latte it would be with organic milk at no extra charge. So do I think it's worth the Sunday treat to have a nice coffee at a nice place with quality ingredients? Yes, yes I do. Because I'm worth it, and so...