Social House Cafe & Coffee — Restaurant in New York

EDIT: I visited approx. 10:30 am

I so wanted to enjoy this place, given the menu and descriptions of the ambiance.

Sadly, my experience was not a good one.

The woman at the coffee bar, it should be noted, was wonderful. She was courteous and professional. I have no negativity towards her at all.

The man taking my order seemed deeply frustrated to have to be taking an order at the register, which was a bit off-putting, but I ignored it. He got the milk wrong in one of the drinks, but it was fixed before the order was finalized. I ordered multiple pastries and two avocado toasts with folded eggs. I saw they came with dill. I asked before ordering if the dill could be removed. If not, I wasn't going to order the toast. I'm allergic to dill. I got a half smile and a "sure" to the removal of the dill. No notation was made on my order. A small cafe, I reasoned, maybe just communicated this information rather than keying it in at the register.

My drinks were made quickly and efficiently. The woman at the coffee bar was excellent.

Three warm pastries were quite literally thrown into a bag. I had not asked for anything to be warmed. I had not been told they'd be warmed. Pastries are softer when warmed - and in the case of croissants, often soggy.

The almond croissant folded almost in half with the force of its journey into the bag. The muffin was shoved into a small bag upside down and then sent after the croissant, it seemed. The top stuck to the small bag and came away entirely when the muffin was removed, a feat made more difficult by the bent sides of the muffin, which doubtless happened during its transformation into a projectile. The little white paper bag seemed to enjoy the pastry at least. I'm glad someone got to do so. The chocolate croissant seemed to be bolstered by its rather stouter filling and survived its travels from case to oven to bag.

I was told at first I was good to go. My bag had only three weary pastries. I mentioned the toasts and was told to wait. The toasts eventually came, packed in a new bag and placed next to the larger bag I was given. I repacked them. It gave me something to do as I still was missing one pastry. I mentioned this to the woman at the coffee bar. She told the man who rang me up. With a tortured sigh, he yanked the forgotten muffin from the case and thrust it into the oven. I'd have taken it as it was.

A substantial time passed. Four or five coffee orders came and went.

I finally asked that if it wasn't too much trouble, could I have my muffin. The woman at the coffee bar asked the man who had rang me out where the muffin was and to get it. This conversation, you may recall, had happened already. He boldly told her "no" and went back to cleaning counters. The woman at the coffee bar shot him a look and then put on gloves and went to get a muffin, before realizing one was already in the oven, benignly sitting and waiting to be remembered. She took it out, bagged it carefully, and handed it to me gently with an apology. The man never said a word.

Would that this were the end of the saga. Once I got back and removed the beleaguered pastries from the toast boxes, I opened the boxes. The first one was fairly slathered in a dill sauce. It was on the egg, the avocado, the toast, the box, the bewildered handful of spinach underneath the toast. Perhaps the man had gotten confused, I hoped. Maybe he thought I only wanted one without dill. I opened the second box. More dill-based abstract Expressionist action painting. While MoMa might have been happy, my allergies weren't.

I'm now itchy everywhere the dill has touched and my throat is none too pleased with me. I tried to eat some of the less artistically blessed parts of the food, considering what I'd paid. I ought not to have.

The dog liked the egg at least.

The woman at the coffee bar needs compensation for the frustrating environment she works in, and she has my thanks for trying to keep things moving. The man behind the register should probably work somewhere away from food and people if he finds both to be so...

This is my favorite coffee spot in my area. The cold brew is absolutely delicious! I never tasted coffee so smooth yet bold at the same time, those beans are something special. I don't come as often as I'd like since I mostly brew my own coffee, but when I am in the mood for a treat, this is top of my list.

The seating area is welcoming and unpretentious - a pleasant departure from some of the more austere shops nearby. The service mirrors the welcoming atmosphere, every interaction has been so pleasant.

The croissant-wich is a must-get if you're peckish, freshly made to order. Frankly, all the baked goods I've tried here are great, and they will warm them up for you.

They apparently do a happy hour and have a small wine selection, will need to try a glass soon. Support local...

This place has a super high rating. That's why I wanted to see for myself. We went there for breakfast. Found immediately a parking spot little down the road. Seating is spars. 3 bar stools, 3 tables and one sofa inside. A small hit outside. This place offers a great selection of coffee. Lots of pastry. And some sandwiches. We had croissant, avocado egg bread, and blueberry muffin. Iced coffee, latte honey oat and match something. It was crowded when we arrived and our waiter forgot to serve us for 30 minutes. He immediately made it up with 2 muffins and a pain de chocolate. That was an incredible nice gesture! The drinks were really good, the pastries were pretty fab by a French bakery and good. I really liked the atmosphere. Extremely...