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First Avenue Coffee Shop
Category: Restaurants [Edit]
Neighborhoods: Upper East Side, Yorkville1433 1st Avenue
New York, NY 10021
(212) 794-5246
- Nearest Transit:
-
77th St (6)
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
3 reviews for First Avenue Coffee Shop
peter, the owner cook of this place, is the sweetest guy on the planet, in a kinda gruff , almost sleazy way. and i really do mean that as a compliment. I love this guy. i knew him when he was a waiter elsewhere a million moons ago, and was psyched for him when he opened this place. suzie, the waitress is even sweeter than peter (see what i did there?)
the prices are half what you would pay for the same stuff at any other coffee shop in the hood. nothing is so outrageous you would talk about it 3 days later, but it is all solid - and you can grits with your eggs.
i never eat anything but breakfast food here, so i cannot comment on anything else. there is zero ambience here, but who cares? get some inexpensive eggs from nice people. 'nuff said
This place definitely has the small-time charm that other reviewers have mentioned. And in some ways the quality stands out: The orange juice is in fact fresh squeezed, and everything is prepared after you order it --- even tuna salad. Prices are very reasonable for this neighborhood.
Now for the bad. The service is exceptionally lousy. During our meal our orders were garbled more than once. The quality of the food ranges from poor to average; I would rate my hamburger meat as comparable to McDonald's. They were short a number of items, including hamburger buns (they used english muffins) and onion rings. Finally, the interior is drab, with poor lighting and noisy equipment.
Overall, this establishment still has a place in the repertoire of UES restaurants, due primarily to its low price, but I probably won't be returning soon.
First Avenue Coffee Shop is like finding a $100 bill in a pair of slacks from Goodwill.
The food - I almost always get the same thing, but here's a rundown:
Eggs: They can and WILL poach them. Whether they fry or poach them, they're always how I ask them to be - runny yolk, stiff white. Perfect.
Toast: It's toasted! They don't mess it up. The butter tastes like butter. They ONLY have grape jelly, so if that's a big deal, then this is not the place for you.
Potatoes: I like my potatoes cooked crispy, with skin on. These potatoes are none of those things. They are usually soft to very soft, skinless, and sliced thin. However, they have some sort of magic invisible seasoning on them that gives them a depth of flavor that I can't quite get over (I know that it's green pepper and onion, but it's subtle.) They're good even WITHOUT ketchup. I now like mushy potatoes. (They do get crunchy in a hash-browns sort of way if you don't mind waiting. Ask for them crispy.)
Coffee: The coffee can be hit or miss. Sometimes it's delicious, sometimes it's only OK. It's caffeinated and it doesn't ever taste TERRIBLE (which is more than I can say for my local Starbucks).
Juice: Did I mention the fact that I cried? I will, soon. This stuff is like crack, but it's less expensive and comes with food.
So, why the five stars? THIS is why:
One cold morning in the middle of January, hungry, poor, and too emotionally exhausted to stare at yet another bowl of cereal, I finally gave in and came here for breakfast. From the outside, it appears that 1st Ave Coffee Shop (the awning actually says 1st Ave Restaurant) is just one of a million filler restaurants (aka restaurants that match bodegas in both number and quality of food ) in NYC, with scary-cheap prices. I was still in my NYC adjustment period with a recent job change and suffering from the heavy "breathing tax" (Seriously! Where does the money GO here? Keeping it in my pocket is like trying to keep a tutu on a greased cat).
Finally, what had kept me at bay for so long finally drew me in - I couldn't afford to eat anywhere else! I sat down at the counter, and the cook came over to take my order. "One egg, rye toast, breakfast special with coffee please."
He walked over to the sink, and with a few pumps of a hand juicer, crushed the life out of two of Winter's sweetest gifts - fresh delicious oranges! I put the 4 oz glass to my lips... the juice was SO SWEET and SO FRESH and it was INCLUDED in the ridiculously low price! The night is darkest just before dawn? Well, there were tears of joy in my eggs that morning.
This might be the only restaurant on the UES that I will really miss when I leave. This is a genuine neighborly neighborhood joint - people feel at home and beloved. You can tease the cook and your kid will love the waitress. Not only do they take special orders (Tomatoes, no potatoes! Fry my sausage! Bacon and hashbrowns extra crispy!) but they ALSO (OMG!) give it to you the way you asked for it. The waitress calls you "sweetie." Sweet!
A month ago I figured out that the cook (who is probably the owner but I can't be sure) and the waitress (she sparkles, literally and figuratively) have exactly the same names as my beloved mom and dad. It suits them perfectly.
