On a mobile device? Try our mobile site, optimized for faster browsing.
Category: Coffee & Tea [Edit]
Neighborhood: Flatiron23rd St-Park Ave S (6)
23rd St-Broadway (R, W)
23rd St-6th Ave (F, V)
Lately I've been on the prowl for wifi-friendly places for a freelancer like me who needs almost a whole day for doing my work.
Gregory's Coffee is clean and there are always seats available. I like that because it's spacious and no one will be giving me dirty looks while I sit and type away.
However, it seems like Gregory likes to keep his AC blasting at a chilly 50-60 degrees. Why? (!!!) I know that it's 80-ish degrees out, but still...I've never felt colder. Also, their free wifi is sort of spotty. It drifts in and out periodically. I mean, maybe I shouldn't judge them purely on their wifi connection, but of the 3 times I've been there to use the free wifi, I had to leave in a fury of frustration twice because it was so unreliable.
Otherwise, friendly staff. I haven't tried their food yet, but I wasn't too impressed with their coffee. I'm more of a Dunkin Donuts fan, anyway.
The staff was incredibly friendly, but my banana chai was way too sweet. I should have stuck with iced coffee but was easily persuaded by the menu board. A Gregory's favorite? I'm not too sure why. I didn't even finish half of it.
The music was a little ridiculous for a coffee shop. Techno, really? They should probably rethink their music selection.
Owner is stupid and all the workers are all Mexicans.
The workers wiped my cup with this pants thinking I didn't see.
The workers don't wash their hands after sneezing or blowing their nose.
You will almost never get to speak to the real manager.
The supervisor is a Mexican.
There so much dirty stuff going on there that I wish I had the time to type it as if I am in jail.
Their stuff is NOT-FRESH. HONEST TRUTH.
Date for the yogurt is on the bottom. Expired.
This place may look like a place to relax for a bit with free wifi but remember Mexicans are serving you. They are forced to work horrible hours with crazy low pay.
It's all about the money.
Nice place w/ free wifi.
Mexican Workers.
(I am so SMART)
Starbucks is just on 23rd & Park ave, South West corner.
I do however abuse this place by taking a big dump and not flushing.
Here is my new review... I still like this place, but things changed. First, their pastries are not freshly baked in the morning anymore. I was told they baked them over night which really sucks.. cuz its so hard to find a place that bakes in the morning.. I really miss the smell and the freshness of their pastries. Because of this, I took 2 stars away. Hope you start baking in the morning again.. over night pastries is just not the same.
I wonder sometimes, does the owner even try the food himself? Because if he did, he really don't care about quality.
Second thing, I also like their sandwiches, but i wish they had simple sandwiches like turkey, tomatoes, lettuce and mayo. The basic sandwich. I don't want figs or nuts in my sandwiches, or peanut butter w/ bacon? Just too weird. Please fix it.
I still like the friendly super fun crew they have there.. their coffee its excellent. I believe they have the drink side down, but need to work on their food side.
Oh, their music is really weird, I can't sit there and work, cuz it is so loud and the music is so random.. techno one minute and then some international stuff the next. Please fix that too.
Well, I will continue getting coffee here for sure, but i will have to find a something else to eat for lunch.
This place is GREAT! I try to get coffee here whenever I am near by. The staff is super friendly,… Read more »
This place is a great find! Good coffee, lots of seating, and free Wifi. What more can you ask to find in a place to hangout for awhile!
I like Gregory's coffee, better than Starbucks. My 1 complaint is, "Mr. coffee man, when you hand me my cup of coffee please put your hand around the cup and not over the top where my mouth will eventually go. This is swine flu season, you know. Thank you." Just Gross!
There's something to love about any coffee place left in the city that isn't a starbucks... Plenty of seating at any given time. The music is a little loud- but the coffee is good
It's COLD.
There's some uptempo mellow electronica playing, which could be considered modern day elevator music.
The barista girls were friendly- but fellas, don't mistake their flirty smiles and giggles as taking a particular interest in you.
Biggest disappointment is that it's a local coffee shop whose interior matches that of a large Starbucks. Now why would you go on and do such a thing? Honestly Gregory, you can't beat Starbucks at their own game.
I wish there were something special about Gregory's.
Not that there's anything so wrong with this Park Avenue South coffee shop. At the same time, there's nothing so right about the place either. I'd never want to hang out at Gregory's. It's fine for quick meetings but not the kind of space you can expect to draw any inspiration from.
The caramel apple cider is decent.
But hey, maybe I'm less than in love with Gregory's because I'm not a coffee connoisseur?
I visit every Sunday afternoon. I love this place. Their coffee is good and reasonably priced. The WiFi is free and works well. The music is good and does not interfere with my reading. I can always find a good seat / table. This place is a great alternative to the overpriced Starbucks.
I do like Gregory's. I do, I do.
The staff is very friendly, and quite in contrast with another review, it looks to me like they love their lives (and even GASP! their jobs). Quite the feat for any coffee shop to house employees like that.
I camped here once for the wi-fi, and my college is pretty close by. But I did start to feel anxious after about 30 minutes. Maybe it was the caffeine. Maybe it was the atmosphere. I don't care much either way.
Hazelnut hot chocolate is pretty good, and at a later date I asked them to blend me up a hazelnut "freddo", which isn't even on the menu (but shouldn't be too hard to do). It was really, really good.
I look like a hazelnut enthusiast, and maybe I am, but it is hard work finding a place that makes hazelnut coffee without it having this disgusting burnt taste. Starbucks... Dunkin... even fresh-brew places are floundering. People need to wisen up to this hazelnut issue.
Gregory knows what's up in that respect. But stylistically? He could afford to lose the tacky (and usually crookedly-hung) pieces of "art" (depicting coffee cups) on the wall. OH! And the menu's design looks really dated. Like... a la Back to the Future. I think that's what people think is "off".
Because I only know one person named Gregory and he is my uncle and when he was little he told everyone to call him Pierre, then grew out of it and then told us about it, so now my cousins and I all call him Pierre (with french accents while wearing berets) BECAUSE of all of this, I will, henceforth, refer to Gregory's Coffee as Pierre's.
Pierre's is spacious.
Pierre has great decaf iced coffee.
Pierre's has friendly staff and a lovely selection of snacks.
Et, le piece de resistance: FREE WI-FI.
Pierre's (much like my Uncle Gregory) is pretty cool in my book.
Gregory's is kind of...meh. I mean, it's fine. But, as others have said, there's nothing special about it.
I also have a couple of complaints:
1) I have been coming in five days a week at approximately the same time, for almost two months now. Every day I order the exact same thing. And yet somehow, inexplicably, the lanky guy behind the counter has yet to pick up on this. For some reason this irks me. At my old office the local Starbucks employees had it down within a week.
2) They play the most terrible music. I realize that it's supposed to be non distracting, but to me it is the exact opposite. I'm annoyed every morning when I notice the music. It just irks me.
3) A couple of the people are rude. There is no reason to rush me if there is no line. Also? Smiling might get you a tip. Just a thought.
All in all, Gregory's is just OK. I wish there was something better around.
You can't deny it's just a starbucks with a different logo but the coffee is still great and the staff are friendly
I like the coffee, the staff (big smiles and peppy voices) and the little sandwiches. I think the atmosphere is kind of blah, though -- the walls and floor are the color of coffee, the tables are crowded and close together, and it just doesn't inspire me to lounge for a while...maybe that is their strategy, in fact.
I'm with Kristine on this. It's so close to being great, but something's just off. It's all too artificially warm and friendly, but in this strange corporate kind of way. I can almost see the suits sitting around a table in a conference room saying "No no no, the wood needs to be darker. It's sexier! What do you think, Johnson?" Is it any wonder that these are only on the east side?
But that being said, the coffee's pretty good, and it's always nice to have another place to sit with my laptop. This place is around the corner from my sister's apartment, so I'll probably stop in every once in a while, but I wouldn't go out of my way to come work here.
This place is what Starbucks would be if it tried harder. Gregory's has free Wifi, it's clean, has very friendly staff, has good coffee, and even the restrooms were pretty clean. I'd recommend it if you're in the area and need a Starbucks alternative. Other mentioned that the music was techno-ish--I found this refreshing compared to the pseudo-earthy-old-timey Starbucks soundtrack.
I would give this an extra half star if this system allowed me to do this.
I like this place....
Yes, it's not incredible...so don't expect to feel like you're at a tranquil spa or something. But it's better than waiting for someone or studying at a Starbucks.
They have good wi-fi, ethnic'ish food, good tea/coffee selection, and the staff is friendly and cool. Note: their curry chicken sandwiches are delicious (but quite small for the price) ... and their lemon pound cake is yummy as well (just don't get the thai chicken salad though... eeks ... it's very oily!) Also , while I was there, they were baking chocolate chip cookies. I loved that smell....(and they also let you buy them warm!). I also like their skylight/hole-in-the-ceiling by the back of the shop. It' makes the place look less/feel like another Starbucks imitator. And ... unlike another reader here, I liked their music --- it's ....."worldly".
As if this place needs another rating saying the same thing, but I agree with Sam and Kristine. My first impression when I walked in the door was that Gregory's had been a Starbucks that then went out of business (it happens), so someone took it over and kept everything looking the same.
This wouldn't be such a problem if not for other flaws.
1. Not enough outlets. If I have to hunt and fight for outlets every time I come, I'm just not going to come.
2. Closing at ridiculously early times. 8PM?? What places in NYC close at 8PM? There's no excuse for that, especially on a Friday.
3. Very strange employees. There was one guy who kept staring at me as if I was doing something wrong, but I was just sitting with my laptop like everyone else. Gah!
I'll keep Gregory's in mind if I happen to be in the area, but it's certainly not going to be my destination.
I damn-well love the coffee here. I don't work on a laptop in public, I'm not looking for a new hangout, and I don't give a crap about the, albeit, "odd" atmosphere...quite frankly, if there were a street vendor on my way to the subway that had coffee this good, I'd simply go there. But there isn't.
Especially if it's the first dose of caffeine of the day: just give me the goddamn coffee and let me get the hell on with my life. When I want coffee, I come here. These guys come through for ya.
Gotta admit, was skeptical walking in? Very very pleased walking out.
Coffee here is great. The cafe itself is perfect to meet a friend, read a book, whatever. I stumbled upon this post-Big Apple BBQ yesterday. Was very pleasantly surprised. Coffee reminded me of good ol' Peets back home... so did the place itself actually. Yum.
Lots of soy food/snacking options, too. Kinda neato.
Great coffee. Great service.
I've only been to the Gregory's on 14th and First Ave and I love this place.
The iced coffee is so strong, by the time I make it to Union Square I'm ready to beat the living shit out of the people milling outside of Forever 21 looking at the street vendor scarf headbands, large plastic beaded jewelry and sunglasses.
Damn, the best three dollars I spend all day. Starbucks has got nothing on Gregory's liquid crack, I mean iced coffee.
It's just a Starbucks knockoff, but Gregory's boats free Wi-Fi, which makes it a hands-down winner in my book. The coffee isn't the greatest, but its an awesome place for freelancers and travelers to sit down and get online while having a drinkable cup o' Starbucks style java.
Meh. This place kind of sucks. It is a Starbucks mimic, which promptly tells me that the owners are only about profits, and not about quality.
The set up is uncomfortable. The clientele is all suits from the surrounding area. Their fruit smoothies have "smoothie powder" aka some milk replacer. The staff looks like they hate themselves. The manager is inexperienced, although pretty.
The coffee is so-so. Well, it's better than Starbucks. But, it is certainly not better than the rest of NY's cafes.
Love this place; Good coffee, free wireless internet though the signal is tough to get at times, spacious, great lighting, clean, some comfortable seating. I like it more than Starbucks, and am making it my study joint...and I live in the west village! My only complaint is that it gets FREEZING cold in there!
I want to like you, Gregory, I really do. You've got free wi-fi, you're never crowded and you're half a block closer to work than Starbucks, so I can save that extra 30 seconds for *not* being outside in the cold when I'm on my break. And you're not a Starbucks, so I don't feel like I'm supporting another chain. But the thing is...you're trying way too hard to be like Starbucks and I just don't get it. From the blended "cremes" to the decor to the set-up. And talk about overpriced beverages! Really, you're gonna charge me $3.85 for a short bland green tea creme...or even a too-sweet chai latte?? C'mon, that's not cool. You're not Starbucks, you can do better than that. Why not just be yourself, Greg? Unfortunately, I have a strong suspicion that you just couldn't score the Starbucks franchise rights, so you decided to do your best imitation of it instead. Sometimes imitation is not the sincerest form of flattery, Greg, it's just a lack of imagination.
What can I say, Greg? You kinda disappoint me. But I haven't entirely given up on you yet. You're still new, you've still got some learnin' to do...And frankly, there just aren't that many non-chain options when it comes to a quiet spot to take a late-afternoon work break. You'll just have to do for now...
Reminds me of Starbucks. But the plus side is they have free wifi!
WiFi and 10% Student Discount!
Neighborhood: East Village
Yaya Combo
Neighborhood: Chinatown
Neighborhood: Flatiron
Category: Coffee & Tea
Neighborhood: Gramercy
Category: Coffee & Tea
Neighborhood: Flatiron
Category: Coffee & Tea
Neighborhood: Flatiron
Category: Sandwiches
Neighborhood: Flatiron
Category: Coffee & Tea
Places I visited during my amazing trip to New…
Listed the places below in rank order. I've…
We all gotta make a living, right? So here's…
A fairly comprehensive list of places in New York…
Loading...
