The Bean Coffee & Tea, New York, New York Restaurant Details

Food:

I had mac ha latte, and it was pretty good .

Food:

Cool cafe feel and great assortment of drinks available. I enjoyed the chai tea iced and hot along with their lemon poppy seed muffin! Not too expensive either. Great location as well and friendly staff, just don't bring your own food. Luckily I was able to finish my lunch I brought in before anyone said anything to me, but they were giving me the hawk eye the whole time I was there.

Food:

With Vagabond Cafe going out of business/turning into some weird fusion tapas bar, I needed a new place to sit and write. This CB&TL location is closest, so I pop in every now and then. I don't make a habit of it.

Like every other location in the city, the drinks and food are overpriced for what you get. Tasty! But overpriced. Also, it seems to be a thing with this chain that they hire people who aren't the best at their jobs. They take a long time to make drinks, sometimes they are super unprofessional, and it's always a crapshoot if you're going to get someone friendly or surly.

The actual space is pretty large for the area, it's just not designed well. They could utilize this space much better and don't. Plus, the lack of outlets is appalling. You're in NYU territory, thus you're going to get studying students. Why are you making it hard?

They have two chairs for laid-back lounging and people watching--and lord knows this spot is good for that. Right on Bleecker street, floor to ceiling windows all around, open until fairly late, you're going to get a good view of the neighborhood's denizens. The problem? Every time I've gone in there recently those chairs have been HELLA DIRTY. Just covered in lint and animal hair and who knows what else. The tables are clean. the floor is clean. Why are these chairs always filthy?

The music situation is untenable. It looks as though employees can hook up their iPods or whatever to the sound system and play what they want. But it means that sometimes the music is more appropriate to the club than a cafe, sometimes it's too loud, and sometimes you just can't relax into it because a song will come on and an employee will go: UGH, I HATE THIS and change it. If this happens once and a while, okay fine. It happened about 4 times once when I was waiting for a friend for 20 minutes. We left.

There are some redeeming qualities. The tables and chairs are good for sitting for a while. Though the communal table doesn't have outlets it's a draw for people with laptops and no one bothers us. It can be a great place to meet people before striking out elsewhere. They are open late. The chai really is good.

Food:

You can't go wrong at this place - there is a good amount of space, a pleasant staff, and a decent selection for both teas and coffee. I'm a tea drinker myself, so I can't speak for the coffee, but the tea is great when you're looking for something quick and with a little bit of a twist!

Food:

Having lived in LaLa Land, home of Coffee Bean, I'm well versed in their chocolate frozen drink which I always wished would be found in NYC. But today, it was freezing out and I really wanted hot chocolate. I didn't want to have Dunkin Donuts' hot chocolate as I wasn't in the mood for something as sweet as it is. So I decided on Starbucks as theirs has more of a serious chocolate flavor.

When I happened upon this Coffee Bean today, I realized I've never thought of them as a "go to" for hot chocolate. I'm very glad I gave them a whirl because it was sooo good! If I'd have to classify it, it'd go in between DD & SB---sweet with a more refined flavor.

This location happens to be beautiful, in part to the floor to ceiling glass windows. I don't recall seeing Coffee Beans created that way in LA, but perhaps their model has changed.

The "fixins bar" seemed below standard---a bunch of jars and packets strewn around; a far cry from the organized, clean and well stocked areas I've seen at competitors.

2 interesting things I noted:
1. There's a sign stating CB isn't responsible for belongings. Highly ironic when a customer asked the barista to keep an eye on his things for him as he stepped out of the shop a moment.

2. I paid and thanked my order taker, saying, "Stay warm." He said I was the first nice person he'd seen all day. Really? Hmmm...maybe it's because all those he saw didn't have their morning coffee yet? ;)