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Categories: Coffee & Tea, Sandwiches [Edit]
Neighborhood: Greenwich VillageW 4th St (A, C, E, B, D, F, V)
Houston St (1)
9th Street (PATH)
Mon. 6:00 a.m. - 6:00 a.m.
Tue-Sun. 6:00 a.m. - 5:30 a.m.
"Ugh ugh ugh! One of my top 3 favorite bookstores ever. Two floors with a nice cafe. Great selection (periodicals, ficiton, nonfiction,…" read more »
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Ah, Esperanto. Neither here nor there, but trying to be everywhere.... so much so, in fact, that your patrons spill out onto MacDougall street, bringing your bohemian-quirky-cafe-ness with them...
Don't come here for the atmosphere. Don't come here for the food (they don't make most of it, anyway -- it's licensed off-site). Certainly don't come here to get any work done -- it's way too noisy, crowded, and the wi-fi only works half the time. You can come here for the coffee, sure, but there is better to be had nearby. You might consider coming here to meet some regular neighborhood characters, vagabonds, and artsy-wannabes, as they are in abundance, particularly after sunset (find them on the benches in between espresso shots, their heads disappearing in billows of cigarette smoke).
Not my first choice in cafes, but in a pinch, it'll do. I guess every private university campus needs its local hangout for the hippies (and those who wish they were hippies) who miss the commune back home -- and such is NYU's (probably unintended) relationship to Esperanto Cafe. Y'know what they say: If the shoe fits...
Open all day and all night, so props for that. HOWEVER: They haven't had wifi the last two times I've gone in there, and today they told me that it was off and they weren't going to turn it on again until the summer. They said this was a "business decision". I told them that it cost them my business and went up the street to the Tea Spot.
I will still go there to write at 3 a.m. but only because my other option is the gross and disgusting Starbucks at 42nd and 8th. Dear New York: Get some better 24-hour cafes.
What an adorable little cafe. This is the perfect place to sit by the window and just stare at people passing by. A fun little exercise is to fog up the window and do that thing from Titanic when Kate Winslet's character slides her hand against the glass... you know which scene I'm talking about, yes? But it's fun doing that when someone passes by, along with intense eye contact. That REALLY creeps them out.
Anyway. I had the tiramisu and vegetarian brownie here. That's right, a meat-tearing lover like me tried out the vegetarian brownie, and I must say that it was actually really good. The tiramisu was great too! The price is kind of EHHHHHH... for my taste, but the whole cafe is just really low-key, down to earth, and they have a waitress who takes your order and serves you, which is awesome. I hate it when I'm at a cafe and lounging in a squishy sofa when I am forced to go up and get my order myself.
Only downer is the single bathroom, but that's typical for a cafe that size, I assume. But still, I think I waited close to 20 minutes to use the bathroom because someone was doing something dirty in there or something. I hate doing the peepee dance in front of strangers! Oh and of course the other downer is the pricing of the foods and drinks. It ain't a Starbucks, but it sure is priced like one!
Their phones are disconnected and they don't answer email so it seems they've met their demise. Can anyone confirm that?
I was actually trying to find a girl that was hanging out there and around there during the summer when I was there. My friend is in the city now and I was going to send him on a mission to help her out a little, but I don't know how to find her aside from calling the employees that would know her or having my friend find her down there.
So, this may seem nutty, but if anyone knows who Summer is that was around there in July and August, slim black girl on crutches, super nice, if you run into her have her send me an email here on yelp.
Thanks,
Aaron
Need I write anything about this place after a handful of reviews.. ? But surely, I will anyway... :D
All I did almost every evening when I stayed in NY for about a month or two last summer was to go here with my laptop ( free Internet !), grab a table by the window, order a Cafe au lait with some Irish cream and let that take over me... that could have been some of the best evenings I have spent in US when I was not with my wife (fiancee back then !) ...
everybody that worked here was awesome (... I really hate to call those guys staff since the whole atmosphere was so friendly and casual )... my coffee was precisely the same always ( I hate places that don't serve consistent coffees while charging consistent rates,, argh )... and boy-oh-boy, that Tiramisu I used to have... I wish that some courier company can make a pact with me to deliver that Tiramisu fresh everyday from Manhattan to Phoenix and I would be buying a couple dozen of those....
Overall, a true Manhattaneesh cafe experience...
Esperanto was the perfect place to duck in from the rain and refuel on a cold, wet Friday afternoon. I grabbed a soy latte and a seat by the window and enjoyed the people watching as my iPhone charged.
I found the service to be quite friendly - when one of the patrons was having trouble connecting to their wi-fi one of the employees offered up their own computer for her to use.
Good stuff - that's the type of service that will get my business.
If I went to NYU, I would probably spend a LOT of time at this place.
I needed to find a place to have lunch the other day and wandered into this cafe/restaurant. The server was very welcoming and immediately gave me a menu. He was back as soon as I was ready for him and I ordered the pesto chicken sandwich, which ended up being delicious.
The best part? The sandwich was part of a deal that included a side salad and a soda for 50 cents. Fantastic!
Cramped, but cozy. Several tiny tables. Lots of conversation. Loud-ish music. But I stayed for hours with my headphones and laptop. Great, free wireless. Hardly any power outlets anywhere, though.
Server leaves you alone for the most part if you're working [or appear to be working]. Had green tea, and a garden salad [healthy serving w/an excellent helping of avocados for only $6!]. Had another green tea. Left hours later. Tipped the server well and she took off one of my green teas from my final bill!
Dim, but I got a lot of work done. Loud, but hey, it's a cafe. A lovely one!
Welcome to the NYU Student Lounge. I liked the atmosphere, warm and relaxed, but the actual food and service were both disastrous. Stopping in late at night I was hesitant since it always seems to be teeming with bookbags and undergrads but my parents were insistent about the schnitzel so I had to oblige.
While the waitress was very good at flipping her hair back and forth over her shoulder, she could neither speak nor understand english.
me: "What comes withe the baked potato?"
her: "Pot a toe?"
me: "This potato, see?" desperate pointing at menu. "Is there sour cream? Butter?"
her: "You pot a toe"
me: "Fine whatever."
My mom and I ordered the chicken tenders which emerged suspiciously from outside....I guess the kitchen is in the basement? They came with a side of honey mustard, bbq sauce and soy sauce and were hard as rocks (not frozen, but hard) and the breading was soggy.
I guess people don't really go to this place as a restaurant, but rather as a wifi station. Lesson learned.
Not one of my favorites, but it seemed like a good cafe to have coffee and desert. I personally like Cafe Reggio better, though. But even that place is becoming more of a place for tourists.
The coffee was on the side of average, the service was good. But I am pretty sure there are better places to experience around the area.
Not too expensive, not too crowded, very warm.
The usual cafe amenities with clueless and impatient service. A nice place to study your face into submission.
Basically, a 17 year old's answer to Cafe Reggio.
Shoddy attempt at a haiku review:
The food's just okay,
The quarters quite cramped... but cute
Tushed waitstaff all night!
I really like this cafe. The relaxed environment and the yummy food and coffee all make this place special. However, some of the people who come in are rather sketchy characters. But aside from that its all good and who can complain when the place is open 24/7.
So my friend believes that 'chill' is attainable, that you aren't really 'chilling' until you reach 'chill' status.. Well, 'chill' is Esperanto Cafe. There is plenty of seating [couches, booths, and tables] for its size but the place is super, super cramped.
Four stars for its atmosphere - pleasant and the quintessential cafe. The coffee is excellent and they also have pizza and desserts...
Didn't stop by for pizza, but it smelled good. We had tiramisu and it was alright. I've been on this weird obsession with tiramisu cheesecake from the Cheesecake factory so when I took a huge bite of Esperanto Cafe tiramisu and the texture was all off, it was pretty bad. But for just tiramisu, it wasn't bad...
And since this is the cafe- the coffee was really, really good. Our waitress, however, was a bit of a space cadet.
Still, four stars and a half if only Yelp allowed me too.
My friend lives a few doors down, so we are invariably here having coffee and talking about things. I would prefer that most of its regulars would do the same, but the offering of WiFi (debatable whether its free or not) rouses every jaggov with a macbook or iPhone to clack away. Basics of Esperanto Cafe...
- Good enough coffee for the pedestrian coffee drinker,
- Order only the snacks on the counter, off the menu is a serious roll of the dice.
- If there's an open seat, run over and put your butt in it!
ENJOY!
YES! This place rules, all the time, since it's open 24/7. I can steal internet connections as well, and waste time and money there, feeling fully justified, since there's always someone nice working there.
These people really know how to treat a customer. I've always felt like these waiters are my friend when I leave, and the food is decent, the coffee is decent, desserts are decent, and prices are awesome.
This place is a definite success, and really makes NY what it is. There is NO 24 hour coffee hang out in NYC that compares, because if there is, I haven't even heard of it.
I've had really good sandwiches, and really good bagels as well. Not that anything here is going to change your life, but overall, you cannot compete with it since it's more than a coffee place. It's a hangout, it's a cafe, it's a performance space, it's cozy, and it's right next to all these drunk people fighting in the street. What could be more entertaining than that?
The moral of the story is that NYU students render all things totally annoying. Esperanto is adorable and ideally situated in prime Greenwich Village territory so that when you just want to sit around having a cup of coffee and a piece of cake, it's a great place to go. The downside of this otherwise perfect establishment is that it is chronically packed with NYU students who spend hours sitting around taking up tables and sometimes not even ordering anything (seriously).
In true "independently owned and operated" café fashion, there are some nice worn tables, couches, chairs and benches to just relax on. The atmosphere is pleasant and their coffee and desserts are really good and well-priced. There are some hot and cold dishes too like salads and soups to enjoy while you're there, which is a nice touch.
The best parts are the free Wi-Fi and that they are open from 6:00am - 5:30 am (yes, closed 90 minutes per day), so you can almost always go. I just wish the wait staff was a little more attentive (very nonchalant) and that the NYU students would buy something or leave.
Leaning towards a summer establishment
Small wooden tables, chairs, benches of the sort
Large windows-retractable new york romance
Succulent chocolate cake-doused with chips to a heavenly disposition
No wifi, mediocre coffee, add exasperated staff
Alas no chocolate chip cookies
Dirty Macdougal Street indeed
An ok cafe, pretty stereotypical, when you're in the mood to sit and talk for hours nursing a cup of coffee in cold, rainy weather.
Comfortably slow service helps with that.
But not a place you'd go to when you're in a rush.
They used to have tables and chairs outside so you could smoke while you have your coffee, but now there's just a bench and no tables. What's up with that?
The coffee's average priced and pretty decent, and the desserts are good but a bit expensive.
Briefly:
Decent facilities with average coffee, overpriced but not unpleasant.
Desserts looked good, couldn't personally vouch for them.
Basic coffee shop, tiny tables, lots of people, not bad.
Table service is unnecessary, and the server was kind of rude actually. What's the point?
Oh well, I had good company and got caffeine in my blood...
Very grungy, stay open all nite establishment that New York needs more of. Reminded me alot of cafes in Austin near UT. Coffee is horrible and waiters are really strange, but the atmosphere is warm and welcoming and nobody seems in a rush. May take you back to a time when the Village was more hippie and less hipster.
I stumbled on this place in search of wireless for the Internets until Time Warner gets their act together and arrive sometime between next week and the next century during the hours of 8:00am and 11:50pm. They don't have free wifi, but they do have plenty of reliable wifi around that you can borrow. There's also plenty of seating, and the staff will leave you alone while you work. I always feel bad staying for hours without ordering anything, so I tried the Turkish coffee and tuna melt. Ixnay on the Turkish coffee but the tuna melt was pretty good. Their lemonade is also fresh and tasty, but at something like $4, it's hardly worth it. 24 hours too in case you're trying to meet a deadline and know you'll only procrastinate if you're at home.
Update as of 4.8.08: Within a span of a few days, they've already gone down the drain. The service went from reasonably good to downright fucked up.
I love this place. It's so simple and chilled. You get good coffee, you can stay as long as you want - and that is almost meant literally. This place is open all day and night (they close down for like 30 minutes at 5:30 AM, but I have never mad it past 4:00 AM so far).
This place is a welcome alternative to all those weird places on Manhattan where you are rushed out of the door when you don't order something every 5 minutes.
Also, after 1:00 AM it's kind of fun when you are all sober working on your laptop (did I mention free wifi) and all the people outside are so drunk beyond all believe. ;)
You also get to meet a ton of - let's say - interesting folks the later it gets.
Aside from using the Wifi, I had a lot of good coffee, various teas, and a cookie there. Good stuff.
Two Good Words: Decent Coffee
Two Bad Words: Boxed-In Badness
The only friend I would take to this place would be a laptop computer, which pretty much everyone who came here did. The tables are uncomfortable, small, and you either can sit in the corner or in the middle of everyone's buisiness. I had a decent chai latte, however it was rather small for the price, and they have a six dollar minimum, WHICH, the barista was kind enough to tell me that if i tipped her the rest, would count. I imagine coked out rockstars coming here to finish their online GED degrees and writing poetry about starfishes. Basically, It's a style of a place more than a place, and if you're into dreadlocked counter culture, go. If not, go elsewhere.
PRO:
- Price was decent
- waitress was very helpful and kind
CONs:
- weird homeless/crazy person walking in and out (constantly),
- way too dark, if you're planning to study + read
- too hot in the back (during the summer)
- only few outlets available for your laptop
I like this place, but I don't love it. It's true that there is plenty of seating, but I only consider half of it to be ideal, namely, the bench seating along the wall and/or the tables by the large front window. Otherwise, I feel like it can get quite dark, especially when the sun is in hiding. The dark red paint and brick on alternating walls, coupled with well-worn dark wood furniture don't help to brighten up the place either. (If you've read my other reviews, you'd know that good lighting is a key factor for judging a cafe as a writing spot.)
On the plus side, it generally doesn't get too crowded in here, and they really don't seem to mind if you spend several hours occupying their tables. The outlet situation is a bit iffy, but doable. The menu is surprisingly extensive, and I had a hearty grilled chicken panini with small side salad for lunch (between 11a-4pm, add a drink for only $.50). They also seem to serve breakfast all day long and have a large display case full of tempting baked goodies.
Oh, and the biggest plus of all is the fact that it's open 24 hours. So all you insomniac writers out there, take heart in knowing that you have some place nice to go.
There is nothing like esperanto anywhere else on the planet for the following reasons:
A) There are always incredibly hot women inside.
B) And men.
C) The chai lates are the best on earth.
D) Shmulik.
E) Free random vegan dessert tastings at 3:40am.
F) People will loan you their lap tops.
G) Scandinavian friendly.
H) The people working there will literally kiss you on the lips in front of everyone.
I) Free Hebrew lessons.
I will keep adding to this list when I am not about to pass the fuck out.
I have tried to like this place, but yesterday I've determined that I will stop trying. Yes, screw the boho vibe and I will pay for my overprice tea at the tea spot.
One, I couldn't get anyone's attention for a good 25 minutes and the server seemed to acknowledge everyone but me. Cappucino was decent but tables were cramped and small. I had to listen to some crazy guy on headphones come in and out of the shop. Yes that might give it ambience and at least the headphone guy was friendly but I was sick of the too cool for school vibe too and the lapsing in and out of wifi (ok fine I was stealing it but so what).
It took me 30 minutes to be able to pay even thought the server said she was bringing the check. Really both times to order and pay I ended up going up to the counter (which is fine and thats what most places do), but then I ended up having to go through the server and find her where she was going through magazines with her friends. On top of that, I got charged for a large when I had a medium and when I acknowledged that, they charged me for a large anyway. My cappucino ended up being almost 6 bucks. The whole experience was just annoying and I would rather go to a nicer, friendlier, and cleaner place next time. And yes this was my final time there.
I hate to give such an awful review, but after going here enough to verify that it wasn't a one-time experience, my final take on the place is it's a great cozy place that's all you ever dreamed of for a cafe, it's open 24/7, but it can't do drinks.
I sat down once next to a girl who looked like she had a mint tea with mint leaves. Thinking that it looked nice, I asked her what she had, hoping maybe it was some sort of Morroccan mint tea. She told me, "mint tea, but don't get it. It's so weak, and awful, that I just played with it the whole night after one sip."
Taking her advise, I took coffee instead. I asked for a cafe au lait with a bit of caramel. It's really not too hard-- coffee, steamed milk, a bit of caramel. I ended up getting a coffee with milk (no foam) and way too much caramel that I couldn't drink it. It tasted like the coffee at Burger King, really. My cousin told me it was a better that way because the coffee (he had the Turkish) wasn't too great either. After coming again, I do agree with him.
It's a great place to lounge around, but not to enjoy your drinks, unless you have some sort of penchant for bad coffee.
On my second trip to New York I hung out here with a friend from NYU and I fell in love with the place. It's cute and the service was great. It reminded me of a local cafe here in Long Beach.
I was looking for a place to study on Monday night and found this place on Yelp. Unfortunately I picked the wrong night because they have live music on Mondays, LOL.
The singer was great, she had a good voice. The place was chill, and it was too bad I couldn't stick around.
I didn't oder coffee just a house salad- which tasted great! specially because it has avocados - and a sprite.
I would definitely go back.
This is the home of the lounging New Yorker, the relaxer, the loiterer.
I come to Esperanto to study, because the atmosphere begs me to. The staff is slow, but in the good way that makes you feel as if time has slowed as well. You could really spend a whole day here reading, studying, munching, doing nothing. Don't come here if you are in a rush, you will only be dissappointed.
Try the egg meal. Oldstyle and cheap, it never fails.
Good Coffee
You can get a lot of writing done here
Nice Staff
Good Food
The one and only place where I'll walk in to actually have coffee or a latte or something that I don't usually get, its such a cozy place, great for people watching outside and inside, inflated prices but its tempered by great service and good shakes.
I went when I was at NYU and I still go there on occassion when I'm in the area.
Israeli run (and I think owned), this slightly dark cafe is great as well as accommodating. They have free wifi (its not super strong, but it does the trick if you're trying to distract yourself from endless Constitutional Law reading by chatting with cuties online) and a pretty good selection of snacks and drinks. The hot water with mint is exceptional.
Like a good foreign-feel cafe, they will never bring you the check unless you ask for it, so if you're in for an all-nighter (they are 24 hours), you don't have to feel guilty for only buying two coffees over 5 hours.
On a side note, the waitress (who I am pretty sure was from Israel), noticed my kippah and very informedly (i swear this is a word but my computer says it is not... I'm keeping it in anyway) asked if I wanted a fruit salad with a plastic fork (which would be kosher). I was very impressed.
I was in New York for a weekend and only had two nights to spare. Each night? Pecan Pie and a milk at Esperanto.
It was solely by chance that I stumbled across this place initially, but once I tried their fine Pecan Pie I knew I had to come back for more. Statue of Liberty? Times Square? Screw 'em. That's some fine pie.
Great pricing, killer staff. I'll be longing for this place.
I came here with Kelly S. after dinner to relax and chat. This place was not relaxing at all. We felt very cramped and were able to hear the couple behind us talk better than each other. My latte was not hot enough and got cold in about 10 minutes and our tiramisu was too chocolate-y. And oh yeah we must have had the same server as Jasmine M because it took 20 mins for the check to get to us.
I'm giving this two stars instead of one because of its location and rambling layout. The coffee is bad as is the service. I had a turkish coffee and an espresso, both of which were weak. I can't imagine going back.
One thing I love about New York is that one is never in short supply of New Favorite Places. Like, every week I find myself saying "[Establishment X] is my new favorite [Type of establishment]!" That said, Esperanto is my new favorite late-night Village coffee shop! And not just because the name kind of makes me laugh!
I like the coffee drinks and the staff is detached enough that I don't feel guilty lounging in the corner for three hours with all of four dollars on my check. It took an especially strident group of heterosexuals to finally drive me out around one o'clock in the morning. Also, the seats along the windows and wall could also use some pillows. But! I had a nice time and will definitely go back. There is a ton of seating. And Turkish coffee! The music comprised exactly the kind of Stereolab-y music I want to hear in cafe, too. The best part is that they're open 24 hours, obvs, so it's a nice place for a late-night whatever with friends. For a date, though, I'd go to the more intimate Caffe Reggio across-ish the street.
WiFi and 10% Student Discount!
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