Green Apple Café

As much as I like the Green Apple crew, I would feel remiss if I didn't knock my rating down a star based on my recent experiences.

Once upon a time, the Green Apple was a place you could sit down and chill out, maybe grab some coffee and sandwiches with a few friends or just relax with a book or a newspaper and a cup of coffee. Not anymore. They've gotten rid of more of the indoor seating and all that's left is one dirty booth in the back with a few wobbly tables. The back room is swarming with flies and the lack of natural lighting makes it seem more like a bus stop than a coffee shop.

What happened, Green Apple? Is the decline in ambiance a sacrifice of budget problems? Is it a side-affect of rampaging crowds of high schoolers and surly construction workers? I don't know the reason but I've seen the result and I have a few suggestions to spruce up the place:

A) Get rid of the shelves in the back and add some more seating.
B) Open up the door to the kitchen and knock out a window in the wall to let more natural light into the back area.
C) Get some fly paper. Seriously.
D) Scrap the halogen track lighting and try some softer incandescents.

Until they make these changes (or anything at all to improve the dine-in situation) the Green Apple is strictly take-out. Sorry guys.

My ideal neighborhood joint, if only I lived in the neighborhood. There's a certain warmth that just surrounds the cafe, which is multiplied tenfold after spending some time with the super friendly storeowner.

All the sandwiches come with a side salad and they have small but nice selection of snacks to go. The display cases of ice cream and yummy looking desserts were highly tempting. All of the menu items sounded so good I wish I had enough time, money, and stomachs to try everything. All the sandwiches come with a side salad and they have small but nice selection of snacks to go.

From the looks of this place you may think its the standard coffee shop - nothing to write home about....BUT I must say it is awesome. It is close to Flatbush so the area is "slightly less desirable than prime Fort Greene" but who cares - GO!

Cute little pastries, sandwiches, etc... Coffee is great. Staff are always super nice and its properly priced. Also on the way to B Q M R @ Dekalb.. great place to stop in for a bite or caffeine fix.

I work in the area, and I must admit it's quite refreshing to have a non-fast food joint nearby. They have a decent selection of salads, wraps and paninis, as well as drinks and desserts.

Unfortunately, I was quite disappointed with the quality of their food.

I got the grilled chicken and avocado salad the first time I went. The avocado was rock hard; no joke. My fork wouldn't go through. The chicken was nice, but it would have been nice to have something more than a shallow layer of toppings to the jam-packed romaine lettuce. The cheesecake also tasted kind of thick, like it had been sitting there for a while.

The second day, I tried out their grilled chicken fajita panini. It tasted nice, but..........microwave? I'd rather have my sandwiches toasted but what can you do. The woman in front of me also had major problems warming her coffee up with the (you guessed it) microwave. For this last bit, however, I do give the man behind the counter props for giving her a little of the money back.

My final verdict: It's the best choice of food I've found around the area so far, but it leaves a lot to be desired.

This is the perfect neighborhood cafe. Located just over the bridge, it's an ideal spot to take visitors to NY, cab over then walk back to Manhattan over the bridge. The owner is a dear friend of mine, Misha, and he is an expert in the biz, and only serves the best of everything. Recently, we had a large party of friends meet for brunch, and the place is tiny ( only seats about 15) so we pulled cafe tables into the back alley and had a big family style meal! This is the type of creativity that The Green Apple has to offer. Very special!

Sadly the Green Apple Cafe seems to have closed. There was a Store for Rent sign when I walked past earlier today. I used to frequently buy their pies, pastries and sandwiches when I had time to in the mornings between classes at uni. Lately I wouldn't find myself in the area often so I couldn't go there recently, although I've had a craving for one of their pies for the past month or so. I will admit that they didn't have the world's best coffee or the best food, but the people that ran it were really friendly and that kept me coming back. Sometimes they'd give you a discount if the portion was "small" or sometimes for no reason at all. I'm quite saddened by this and hope the folks of the Green Apple are doing well all things considered. I have this, probably false, hope that maybe they moved to another location or something because I still want a slice of pie.