Surrounding Counties — Restaurant in Tuckahoe

Oh, gosh, I love this place! I’m fairly new to the area and when going shopping or to appointments, I always look for coffee shops. I walked in and was just amazed. Beautiful ceramic items on display, for sale, and are created by the owner’s mom. How cool is that? Boxes of vintage record albums for sale. Milli Vanilli was playing!! I shared some humor with the 2 gentlemen working that what’s retro to them was brand new in my day! ((I’m 66). The artwork is amazing, there’s books to be shared, there’s bags of coffee for sale. I got a sausage, egg, and cheese kolache and it was divine! So good, hint of spice in the meat, and plenty of it. I also got a plant based version, enclosed in bread, which I ate the next day for breakfast. It was just as delightful. I discovered I had been given 2 big tootsie pops, but then it WAS Halloween day!!! A sweet and thoughtful touch. They also give 3 little watermelon wedges as a treat with your meal. I’m one that doesn’t really understand the massive variety of coffee options, so I mentioned what I’ve had and what I like and the owner said he would make me a vanilla latte. It was so good, very creamy and soothing. These fellas are so very pleasant and interactive with the customers. I love that. I finished eating but told them I really didn’t want to leave yet and was told to stay as long as I liked. There was a big #4 balloon over the counter and I discovered it was there 4th anniversary in business that very day. I was able to congratulate them and wish them well. I found before leaving that their company and beautiful mural are listed in a coffee magazine and that Milli Vanilli was in a book they have “Hoaxes”, fakes and scams throughout the centuries. It was one of the most pleasant places and atmospheres I’ve experienced lately. I’m a...

I really hate to leave this place a mediocre review because it's a really cool idea and the staff are a bunch of charming, enthusiastic hipsters; however, the food and coffee were really not great. I dearly hope that my review doesn't put people off the place because it has a ton of potential. Rather - I hope that maybe they will read it and work on the problems. I would be happy to go back the next time I'm in town. First the coffee, since that was the central purpose of my visit. My bandmates and I travel all over the world, and wherever we are, we seek out the best coffee. It always seems like the U.S. has the weakest game. I had a cortado. The espresso was some of the strangest, not good tasting coffee I have ever had in a "proper" cafe. One of my mates described it as tasting old and badly roasted. I couldn't be that specific - I only know it was odd tasting, bitter, and required sugar to choke down. I also had a grits dish, with bacon, cheese, egg. It was oddly sweet - not just the maple bacon, the whole dish. It was also lacking in salt. I salted it and it didn't solve it's problems, which is often the case with savory food that's too sweet. All the elements were well made, and the grits had a distinct corn taste which I liked, but the combination of elements did not work, and it was consequently unsatisfying as a savory dish OR a sweet dish. What I like about the place is that the staff is very nice, the service was warm (although very very slow), and they have a pay what you want policy on the food, which I approve of although I did not take advantage of. I hope they get it together cause it's a nice place and they clearly are shooting for quality. They just haven't attained it yet, at least not in the items...

Went to Surrounding Countries for the second time this morning and was super disappointed. Upon arrival the girl behind the counter got an attitude when I said I would like to do their kind of “build your own latte” and I asked for a latte with sweeten condensed milk in. She said “we can’t steam that” and I told her I didn’t want it steamed, just added like a syrup (a cafe con leche) she then switched to “we can’t use the SCM for that” which seems incredibly…weird? You have it, boast a “build your own latte” of sorts and you won’t use it? We finally settled on iced lattes with flavoring. My boyfriend and I both asked for oat milk. Because we had also ordered food, we sat down by the sandwich prep and waited. I watched as she added syrup to two cups, and pulled out a pitcher of premixed coffee and milk, and added it to the cups. Iced them, and then handed them to us. I paid almost $6 a latte for a premixed coffee and milk drink? I even questioned her on the milk, as it tasted very whole milky and not oat. She assured me it was oat. Our kolaches were delicious and while we were eating she brought us two quarter sized cookies, I assume since she knew she had gotten things off on the wrong foot. All in all our breakfast was $27 before tip and lacked the artisan flavor and quality they boast. I’d give them one more shot, maybe 2/3 will be best for...