Big Apple Coffee: 9th St. Espresso

So let's start with coffee. 9th St. Espresso. For three years I lived just a few blocks away from the very first 9th Street Espresso coffee shop, in alphabet city. Before I discovered for myself that this place actually does have amazing coffee, I started to get annoyed by the fact that everyone I met would tell me that 9th St. had the best coffee ever. "You live on 5th and C?'" they would say, "Do you go to 9th St. Espresso? They have the best {espresso/latte/etc} ever!" Yeah, okay, sure. I mean, everybody thinks "their" coffee place is the best ever. In fact, the more hype I heard about it, the more I wanted to avoid it.

Well, one evening I found myself working not far from the second 9th St. Espresso outpost, inside the Chelsea Market. One of my crew members ordered a latte there after our meal break. Of course, it was "the best ever." I was going to buy a coffee before heading back to work anyway, so why not try it, right? I went ahead and tried a sip. Holy cow. I ordered my own latte and went back to set and proceeded to tell everyone that I was drinking the best latte ever made.

The next couple of nights we were at the same location, we kept going back for lattes and cappuccinos. Sounds snobby, right? Well, I have to say, that does sound a little snobbish. But really, I'm not saying this to be a snob. It's just that for so long I missed out on some really great coffee just down the street, because I thought other people were being snobs! Needless to say, I started frequenting my local 9th St. Espresso on a regular basis. I'm thinking that super fresh and quality ingredients (coffee and milk, basically) and a world class espresso machine are what make this place so unique. I have had many coffees and lattes and cappuccinos all over town, and the best I've had have been from 9th St. They are about $4-$5 each, but isn't that what Starbucks beverages cost nowadays?

Now that I live way up in the Bronx, I miss 9th St. Espresso. Maybe they will read this and come open up shop across the street? A girl can dream, can't she?

For anyone in new york, visiting new york, or passing through, check it out. I know it looks intimidating (at least I think maybe that's why I was originally so hesitant to try it--you know, too cool east village coffee shop), but service is actually really friendly too! (And that's not something you take for granted 'round these parts...) My favorite is the latte, made with whole milk. Mmmm! Here's the info (by the way, they recently opened a third shop across Tompkins Sq Park, woo hoo):

http://www.ninthstreetespresso.com/
Alphabet City/East Village
700 East 9th St. (btwn ave C and D)

Tompkins Square/East Village
341 East 10th St. (btwn ave A and B)

West Village/Meatpacking
inside the Chelsea Market
75 Ninth Ave. ( btwn 15th and 16th St.)