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72nd St (1, 2, 3)
72nd St (B, C)
Mon-Sat. 8:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Sun. 9:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
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Winner on the 4th season of Throwdown with Bobby Flay for their chocolate chip and walnut cookies -- yeah, you're not going to make a better cookie than this! For $3.75, you get an amazing 6 oz. cookie which is just delicious. The chocolate is rich and moist and the cookie is chewy. There is a nice contrast in texture with the crunchy exterior and the pliant interior. Because the cookie is so unnaturally large and dense, this contrast comes off particularly well due to the tweaked surface area to volume ratio. Geeks rejoice, a mathematically perfect cookie has arrived!
It's that damn cookie. This gigantic mound of chocolate goodness that's not even entirely BAKED properly b/c when you bite into it, melted chocolate comes oozing out. I'm not kidding. It's THAT good.
Though I could see how it may be too rich for some people. But I love chocolate, the darker, the sweeter, the better. i think it's $4 per cookie? But well worth it. Oh, and this is not a sit-down bakery it's more of a grab-and-go. But there's a really cute little bench out front to chill for a few minutes.
How do you NOT give this place 5 stars?
Best cookie on Earth?
If you can eat one yourself, kudos to you because I usually share one.
Chocolate chip walnut is my favorite.
Just thinking about this cookie puts me in a sugar coma.
amazing...
Honestly, I walked in here thinking "How good could a chocolate chip cookie really be?"
Boy was that some serious life-before-Levain talk.
This is by far one of the most craveable cookies I've ever had in my life. And for a girl with the nickname cookie monster, that's a pretty big deal.
The moment you break off a piece of the chocolate chip walnut, you already know what you're in for. It's a crisp exterior giving way to a soft, chewy interior. The chocolate chips are somehow just a tad bit melted to cover your mouth and tongue with the maximum chocolate experience. The crunch of the walnuts and the chewiness of the dough make a little "ohmygosh" escape from your lips. $3.75 is not too much to pay for this form of instant happiness.
This little basement bakery is easy to pass (more for me), but if you find it, the thought of it will never be far from your mind.
Levain's chocolate chip walnut cookie is the best thing I have ever put in my mouth in a very long time.
And this time, I was more than happy to swallow - melted chocolate, sugary dough and all.
(They also have milk and water on the premises to assist with this. Just saying.)
Levain's cookies are not your typical cookies. They look more like scones. But I don't care what they look like-- these things are so Goddamned good!
I've been going to this place for years & I'm glad they haven't messed around too much with their formula-- they still offer the same 4 cookie varieties (chocolate chip walnut, chocolate chocolate chip, chocolate peanut butter chip & oatmeal raisin), but it's too bad they've raised their prices so much. And the crowds this place no draws (fuck you, Bobby Flay!) is a bit of a drag.. but not enough to keep my fat ass away!
I used to live around the corner & let me tell you, it took sheer DISCIPLINE to not pop in for a fist-sized mound of cookie every time I walked by. But when I did cave, my favorite was always the chocolate peanut butter chip. I love how the cookie is slightly crispy on the outside & a tiniest bit gooey on the inside (except for their oatmeal raisin cookies, which I always found to be a bit on the dry side). Also, these things are so big that it's almost impossible to eat an entire cookie (which I guess could be a good thing), so it helps to have someone to share with (plus you won't feel as guilty afterward).
I guess it should also be worth noting that Levain doesn't just sell cookies. (Their menu is still on the small side, but they offer lots of different breads & focaccia.) I haven't tried too many of their other items, but I will say that the cinnamon brioche is particularly good. (They also make some sandwiches on baguettes... I always meant to give one of them a try for lunch, but still haven't gotten around to it.)
Levain is a cute little bakery, tucked on residential 74th street.
Being a serious foodie and sweet tooth I had to try the chocolate chip cookie. It was amazing. It really was. But it wasn't mind blowing. If I died without having another, I'd be okay. Don't get me wrong, I want another.. but I'd be okay.
These cookies are the size of a D-cup breast and cost $4 a pop.
Minus two stars for raising their prices even more. I asked if they raised their prices, and they had this snotty little, "yes we did!" attitude. Fuck you guys. Then they tried to bullshit me by saying, we had to raise prices because we started accepting credit cards. Let me get this straight. A credit card chips off 3 percent. That means increasing their 3.75 cookies by about a dime. So 25 cent raise on cookies is simply nickel and dimeing the customer. I have an idea -- make a credit card minimum of 5 bucks. That way, it incentivizes the customer to buy two cookies, or a cookie and coffee or drink. But don't give me some bullshit and some attitude.
Don't you just hate it when places think it's ok to treat customers badly and overcharge them simply because their store or restaurant is in Manhattan? I'm sick of it.
Follow these directions to go to heaven:
-- pick up a copy of the sunday times
-- Walk to Levain, get…
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Levain's Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies are the stuff that (fat kid's) dreams are made of. How can one cookie be so perfectly crispy around the edges, yet so irresistibly gooey in the middle? It's even delicious if you can't finish it in one sitting and want to toaster oven it back to life.
Perfection again...
Recommend oatmeal raisen too!
We thoroughly enjoyed sharing a delicious walnut choc chip cookie. Yum, yum. My husband's one… Read more »
This bakery smells like Grandma's house.
In a good way.
If Grandma baked you fresh out of the oven gargantuan cookies in four different flavors and decided that only cookies would do you good. She would forgo your favorite meal. Your diet would consist of butter, sugar and flour at Grandma's, except this Grandma charges you $3.75 for a cookie. She doesn't accept anything, but cash. Even your gleeful hugs and lovable kisses won't count.
But who cares! These cookies have the power to bring world peace and make Dave Letterman celibate for the rest of his life.
Umm. Yea. That might be a stretch, but these cookies are so so so goooooood.
I've only tried the Chocolate Chip Walnut cookie and this hunkin' piece of sweet loving was given to me straight out of the oven. The half-baked cookie oozed out chocolate and nuts and the whole experience was simply divine. They're probably the best cookies I've ever had so far in this very young life of mine. I was speechless for a few minutes, secretly dying for a carton of milk. A good thing to note: this place is BYOM.
Also, the bakery is really tiny so buy a few to take home with you and eat them outside. You will be getting jealous stares.
So .. I'm from the west coast.. and it's my first time to NY and my sister lives on the upper east so my Mom and I decide to go to this bakery to buy some cookies bc I heard they were so hot on Yelp and everywhere else
So we take the bus across town to the cookie place and holy shit their $4 a cookie but we have to get them bc we have to try it. So I buy a dozen, 3 of each, because I'm thinking I want to bring back some to the OC for my fiance who loves cookies. And we also get thier rasberry jelly doughnut thing which I forgot what its called.
So then I said .. lets just walk back to the east side, it cant be that hard going through the park. *dumb idea* so then we get lost and it takes us FOREVER to get to the other side, but as soon as I see 5th avenue its like an "aha we made it!" moment. Oh and did I mention its like 40 degrees and my dumbass isn't wearing a jacket? and the strings from the levain bakery box are cutting through my frozen hands..
well anyway .. to the cookie review! after all that hurrah in GETTING the cookie i have to say it WAS ALL WORTH IT .. hands down THE BEST chocolate chip cookie i've had. I mean, it has ALOT of butter, and I mean ALOT but it tastes so good!! and the fiance loved all the other cookies too, the peanut butttery one especially (and hes a big cookie person). The jelly doughnut was really yumm too.
for $4 a cookie, I mean it was expensive, but I guess they can charge that much bc of all their fame .. and it really isn't a cookie you can eat in one sitting, unless .. well there are a lot of reasons unless .. but I can't .. its just too rich and i'd feel too guilty!! but seriously .. worth it, even for just a taste
Next time .. I'll take the bus, both ways.
I didn't fast for YK yesterday, which I'll totally atone for next year, I swear. I did, however, make a rare journey to the UWS for a break-fast at my cousins' apartment because a) my cousins are amazing, and b) Levain Bakery is on the UWS.
When we got out of the subway at 72nd St it was pouring, and J was like, "Wait, if they live in the 80s, why did we get out here?" and I was like, "Because we have to get the COOKIES!" and J looked down at his increasingly rain-spattered pants and said, "these cookies better be fucking amazing."
After gorging ourselves on obscene amounts of bagels, lox, whitefish salad, chopped liver, and noodle kugel (naturally, we had to keep up the APPEARANCE of having fasted) it was finally cookie time. There were some other desserts as well, but I don't remember them, because these cookies were fucking amazing, and even J, who NEVER thinks that things live up to their hype, conceded that our little detour in the rain was completely worthwhile.
Crispy on the outside, gooey on the inside, this is how all cookies should be. The dark chocolate with peanut butter chips was a surprise favorite, but I can totally see how the classic chocolate chip won the Bobby Flay Throwdown, too. These Levain ladies, they know what they're doing!
Probably the best cookie in NY. 6oz -- hard to take down in one serving. But if you really want to go all out, pick up some Breyer's vanilla ice cream and a Levain chocolate chip -- nuke the cookie for 30 seconds, and serve a la mode with a scoop of vanilla. Out of this world.
And, for some reason, I find it easier to eat a la mode than as a cookie alone (can never finish it otherwise...odd).
Holy Macaroni.
I reaaaally didn't want to like this as much as I did.
Anytime I've heard anything is "the best in the city", it has been anything but. This title is typically reserved for tourist traps, or over-rated/over-priced/over-exposed joints cashing in on the 3 minute segment they had on FoodNetwork 4 years ago.
So, this place isn't much to look at, but the melange of different cookies baking simultaneously stimulated my olfactory glands well beyond the point of acknowledging the fact I was crammed into what amounts to little more than a few ovens in a basement on a non-descript brownstone in the UWS...
Not just one of my favorite cookies I've ever eaten; one of the best...things(?) I've ever eaten, period.
They have cookies that are brownies with a crispy exterior. At first, I thought I got two lemons when they handed me a bag of hard cookies that were cold and don't break apart easily (I saw him take it straight from the cooling rack, though). But when I got home I cut them in half and put them in the oven for literally 2 minutes. Out came 2 miracles: now THIS is what I wanted! NOW it is as ooey gooey as the other people say. This wins the world cup for big chewy chunky melty mmmm. Next time though, I'll ask for cookies that are fresh from the oven, and not cold.
$3.75 yes that's pricey for a cookie but it's more like $3.75 for two cookies that got stuck together. OK? They are huge.
Chocolate chip walnut and dark chocolate peanut butter seemed to be the most popular, and they haven't failed me.
When I got home, I was amused by the webcam pictures of myself that I accidentally found up on their website.
If I had a magic wand that could make one food item free of calories for life, it would have to be this cookie!!!
What you get is a delicious crunchy on the outside, gooey on the inside piece of heaven that would probably fall from the sky since it's so heavy. I have a sweet tooth so I could eat this one on one sitting, but it's perfect enough to share with someone lucky.
They also have cold milk in the fridge which makes the experience more delightful.
I really CANNOT pass by 72d street and not feel my head spinning with a wild craving for these cookies. It truly is worth the 67 mile run and all the climate obstacles it might take to get here.
This bakery knows what a fantastic cookie should taste like and beat Bobby Flay on the chocolate chip cookie throwdown on Food Network. Not that I needed another reason to visit a bakery for an afternoon cookie.
These crunchy-on-the-outside-chewy-on-the-inside creations are hard to consume all in one sitting, even for the cookie monster that I am. Mine was still warm when I took it out of the bag, and not only did it win over my taste buds, but the cookies are so aromatic that I could smell it sitting next to my friend as she was finishing the remains of her cookie later that night!
There's very limited sitting space inside, so you'll find customers standing outside or perched on neighboring apartment steps savoring their cookies.
This is the best cookie I've ever had...and as a general rule, I don't like cookies. But these cookies are ADDICTIVE. Everyone I've introduced them to has come back like a junkie to ask me where they can score their fix!
If you love half baked cookies, Levain is the place. These cookies are not for a snack, but a meal. I love the chocolate chocolate chip, the peanut butter, and the chocolate chip walnut equally. I would go with friends and get each one and share. I even brought one to London for my friend who loved it.
Cookie Bombs!! (3-5 cookies combined into one!)
Tiny little storefront nestled into a Brownstone basement close to Central Park and the picturesque Upper West Side.
Okay so the bench out front isn't very comfortable. There are only a few stools to sit on inside, but if you're looking for a tasting treat to pick up and take with you when you go then Levain will change your perspective on what a cookie could be.
Breads, Pizzas, and COOKIE BOMBS!! Piping hot just from the oven, my walnut chocolate chip cookie was SUPER sweet and gooey on the inside. After letting the cookie cool I have to say I actually prefer the taste an hour later instead of fresh out of the oven, but either way the semi-sperical mound of gigantic cookie was not something I could finish on my own. I have to say I'm a fan.
Date Rating: 3
Pick up Scale: N/A (Srini will say it's a 10 because you have to pick up the cookies, but this isn't a place to come sit, have coffee and meet people so sorry Srini it's not applicable)
Strong Suggestion: BYOB - whatever beverage you want just bring it along with you since you can't sit inside, why not?
OMG...
this had to the biggest, meatiest chocolate chip cookie i've ever had! it's seriously sooo good. best of all, it's only 1 stop away from where i work! loves it!
they are definitely not cheap, but its worth it if not eaten in one sitting. =)
OK, come on guys... best cookie you've ever eaten? These monstrosities are a bit much for me. Perhaps I'm too much of a cookie purist but how do you even start with these things? It probably is the caloric equivalent of an entire cake (and I think I'd rather have the cake). Don't get me wrong - they ARE good. As they say, crispy on the outside, incredibly rich and chewy on the inside. After carrying a paper bag full of them across town, there was a distinct oil soaked ring around it - always a good sign for a cookie, I suppose. But I don't think it needed to be the size of my head to satisfy me.
Oh, and did anyone else think they're about the same as a Specialties cookie you can get on every block in SF?
This quaint little bakery is at the basement level of another store. Since it isn't even at eye level it's easy to thoughtlessly pass it by until you smell the distinct aroma of cookies being baked and your nose suddenly forcing you to make a U-turn and leading you down a flight of stairs off the sidewalk.
They offer about four different kinds of cookies but I only ordered a dark chocolate peanut butter chip cookie and a chocolate chip walnut cookie since they were nearly $4 a piece. The cookies are massive and delectable. Still good the next day too.
Imagine a cookie the size of your fist. Then imagine that cookie is crisp around the edges, golden brown on the top and bottom, chewy just inside, and then mushy and underdone in the middle. That is a pretty nice daydream.
Then imagine going to the gym every day for the next several weeks--because that's what you will need to do. I got two cookies and my bag weighed about 4 lbs., and was soon almost soaked through with butter.
I tried the chocolate chip walnut and the dark chocolate peanut butter chip. The latter was definitely the standout. Gooey chocolate and melty peanut butter chips just coat your mouth and make you absolutely need a glass of milk.
At $3.75 per cookie and who knows how many calories, luckily you can probably only eat just one.
This simple no frills bakery hit home immediately with the gorgeous smells coming from the oven where humongous cookies are baked fresh daily. We had the Oatmeal Raisin. It was still warm, delightfully moist in the center, and not too sweet. Can't wait to try their other cookies next time.
$3.75 isn't cheap for what some would qualify of "just a cookie". But once you have put one of these heavy bad boys in your mouth and you feel it release all its melted chocolate....
http://www.levainbaker...
I'm glad I don't live in the UWS anymore. I would have to be on a treadmill 4 hours a day to keep my figure.
Mmmmm! Nom Nom's!!!
last night:
two levain chocolate chip cookies microwaved at 20 seconds.
1 small dish hershey's syrup warmed in microwave 20 seconds
2 scoops vanilla ice cream in small bowl
mix in warm cookies and syrup
mix it all up
house that shit
PMS NOM NOM HEAVEN!!!!
i ate half of my levain cookie just now.
it was fabulous. chocolate chip.
i drank cold milk with it.…
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I discriminate against fat cookies and at sight of these cookies, I was sure I wouldn't like them. I was wrong.
I also thought i didn't like chocolate cookies. I was wrong again. My favorite here happens to be the dark chocolate chocolate chip cookie, which isn't too sweet, even with the gooey chocolate chips. I was surprised that these cookies were still good when i took them back to Baltimore with me, 2 days later.
I went here other day for the second time. I had to compare the walnut chocolate chip cookie to the semisweet chocolate chip cookie from Specialties (San Francisco) while it was still fresh in my mind. It wasn't an apples to apples comparison since the walnut chocolate chip cookie is a bit larger and the Specialties cookies doesn't have walnuts in it. As far as chocolate chip cookies go, I like the semisweet chocolate chip from Specialties better. The walnut chocolate chip cookie is still at the top of my list for chocolate chip cookies (and I usually don't like walnuts).
I love the texture of these cookies. They're not mushy inside, but are still soft and chewy (even two days later!). Levain's cookies defies everything I thought I despised in overweight cookies.
These cookies seem pricey, but they're very filling and good for sharing (if you can, I disgustingly ate 1.5 as a snack)! This place is cash only, so make sure you bring cash.
I don't think there's much need for me to add my review to this venerable establishment on the upper west side. The stars speak for themselves. The greatest cookies in the universe, as far as I know.
Oh My god this place is so overrated and overpriced. DO YOU NOT REALIZE IT IS THE NESTLE TOLLHOUSE RECIPE.
I didn't go in there and I don't see myself going in there any time soon because they are waaaaay uptown and I'm not. But my cutie pie brought me a couple of cookies from this place for my lunch break and they were MIND BLOWING.
These mutant cookies have 900 calories in them, so you're not eating them to stay fit. You're eating them to be happy and feel like the Lord has just given you a piece of His soul through gooey chocolate chip goodness.
Had the plain chocolate mountain of a cookie and the plain chocolate chip planet-sized concoction and I haven't decided which I like better because both of them make me smile all huge while I'm screaming "OH MY GOD!!!"
These things are orgasmic and you shouldn't eat them in public unless you're a pervert.
Okay bye.
This review is based solely on Levain's much ballyhooed cookies.
I got both varieties, the regular choco-chip w/ walnut and the chocolate choco-chip avec peanut. I bought three. These cookies ain't cheap but I can tell you that as I walked uptown on Amsterdam with my little paper bag with three cookies inside it felt as though I were carrying a cinder block. Epic size aside, they are incredibly chewy and buttery delicious. One cookie can easily serve two people (but probably won't bcs once you start munching one of these suckers you ain't stopping til it's gone. Kinda like crack).
Whenever I die, if one of the monstrous chocolate chip and walnut cookies somehow gets lodged in my coffin or urn, I will not complain throughout eternity, I promise. This is one of the best cookies I have ever had.
It is large, a two-hander for sure. The outside is solid and this thing has some weight behind it. If you do not like to eat with your hands or have severe "I need napkins all the time" issues, this cookie is not for you. The chocolate is just oozing from the inside when you break it. It is the perfect marriage of outside and inside in a cookie without the feeling that you are eating cookie dough.
I once had the dark chocolate/peanut butter one and it was a far second in my mind. It was too much chocolate for me and it did not carry the same gooeyness as the chocolate chip walnut masterpiece.
http://Yelp.com helped me discover some of my favorite places in NYC. I randomly do a search for a particular type of place, and I read the reviews, with the highest grade's.... Levain Bakery is another discovery. By looking at the pictures, I was expecting a much bigger place. I was walking along AMS avenue, and Levain bakery comes up quickly after turning into 74street. It's a small place. I was coming here for the cookies. They only had three. (not sure if that is the norm). I ordered one of each. I didn't mind paying $12.00. When the girl handed me, the bag of cookies, it felt like a brick. Moving on, the cookies were amazing... Very tasty. The chocolate walnut cookies, is not overloaded with walnuts. IN-fact it is very subtle. Other than cookies, I noticed they had blueberry muffin tops. They had a few other things, but I was distracted by the cookies.... I do not find my self on the UWS too often, but I will be back at Levain if I am in the area...
The cookies here are more famous for being big than for being delicious and I think that's sort of unfair because they are goddamn good! They're fresh, warm, gooey, soft, doughy, and just incredible. My boyfriend and I split the walnut chocolate chip and it was _almost_ too much for both of us.
The $3.75 price tag seemed like a steal for the amount and quality of the cookie.
The dark chocolate peanut butter cookie here is just unreal. I was introduced to this place at the branch they have in the Hamptons but when I discovered they had a spot on the UWS, I became somewhat of a regular. Everything they make is delicious (that I have tried) but I can't stop myself from ordering the DCPB cookie. They sort of 3/4 bake it and give it to you warm so you're sort of eating a fully done cookie and then sort of eating cookie dough. Hard to describe, but oh so easy to eat :)
These guys make my favorite cookie of all time - this is what I dream about when I think of a cookie. I love nuts - I like chocolate when it's with it's best buds cookie dough and nuts. And I like them best when they are all warm and huggie and delicious. They slightly under bake these monster cookies so they come out chewy and gooey - but the walnuts give that nice crunch. Did I mention they're huge - as big as your fist! They dwarf little children! Until the kiddo munches it too death and is covered in chocolate chip goodness...
I need another cookie.
It's like how people have a certain type of girl or guy that really turns them on, and for me, in the cookie dating world, this cookie and I are soul mates we have eHarmony chemistry.
I've tried to bake a cookie like this myself and get stymied time after time - it's very hard to make such a large cookie with this consistency.
I stared at my chocolate chip walnut cookie for a bit. Just stared. Blinked. I knew I wouldn't be able to finish this cookie in one sitting. It's that big. It was a little too sweet though with a warm gooey middle. I only had about 6 bites and I was done. I wish they had milk.
I had a major craving for these cookies and can't get them out of my mind!
My sweetest bf ever ordered them online and shipped it straight to my house.... they were as good as the day we got them when we were in NYC.
My cravings were yet again satisfied with these over sized cookies. YUM!
Case in point-- you can get these cookies anytime even in a different state... they just might cost a little more to be shipped.. =P
OMG, these cookies are sooooo good and can last days! Well it took me days just finish it up. The… Read more »
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