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Categories: Coffee & Tea, Taiwanese
Neighborhood: East VillageAstor Place (6)
8th St-Broadway (R, W)
3rd Ave-14th St (L)
Mon-Thu. 11:30 a.m. - 12:00 a.m.
Fri-Sat. 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 a.m.
Sun. 1:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m.
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The bubble tea here is delicious. As of yet, I haven't had a bad experience with their drinks.
I suggest the Taro Smoothie with boba (tapioca balls) or the Taro Milk Tea with boba, all costing an average between $3-$5. Their sweet toast with sweetened condensed milk is also gloriously fattening. It's the perfect accompaniment to your beverage of choice.
Order both and you will instantly feel so much better.
Even the person you just met within the hour will seem wildly entertaining.
Awkward exchanges will be nonexistent.
Now, that's priceless.
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8:00 pm - arrive at Ippudo
8:10 pm - Told that its at least 1.5 hour wait
8:15 pm - arrive at Saints Alp
9:30 pm - back at ippudo..we're the next table!
I'm sorry - I don't mean to use you as my go-to spot when waiting for a table at ippudo, it's just that your convenient location to ippudo, and my love for bubble tea often means that you're a good choice. However, because your bubble tea isn't that outstanding, and the service is quite often just average, the review is also going to be just average.
I adore you for what you are, somewhere I stop by while waiting in line for ippudo, but I will never go out of the way for you...moreover, you are cash only - which annoys me sometimes
People thought this was:
They serve decent HK drinks, I'll start them off with a 5. The beef noodles and appetizer sampler was just what I needed to wash down the aftertaste from momofuku. My girl V got a fruity drink that was equally delicious with jelly at the bottom.
Will definitely be back.
Service was sporadic in typical Chinese teahouse manner.
SIde Note:
Why are NYC restaurants getting Yelp stickers when they only have 50 reviews?
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If you enjoy sitting on stools without backs, this is your place. No seriously, it's true! But then again, that would be fine for young students with strong backs. Saint's Alp is located in student central East Village and does most of its business with students who are looking for a place with table service that won't kick them out for lingering. That is the one cool thing about Saint's Alp. On the downside, the prices for drinks (the bubble tea variety) are unfortunately higher than normal, normal being Chinatown Bakery-style prices. This may be a function of higher rents or gouging. There is also a wait during high times, but that is to be expected with such a high student population. But whatever the case, I firmly believe that poor and not-so-poor students deserve a place for R & R outside their dorm rooms. Amen.
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Mmmmm... almond bubble tea. Or coconut, depending on my mood. Whenever I pass by this place, I can't help but stop in for a drink. The bubbles are perfectly cooked and the teas are rich and flavorful. I usually won't eat or drink anything on the subway, but their teas offer a wonderful escape from the perverts, screaming babies and obnoxious tourists.
Service is always friendly and quick.
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Food: Food is average compared to food you find in the night markets of Taiwan, which St. Alp tries to replicate. Had some fried finger foods (spring rolls and such) which were flavorful and crispy. Fresh oil was used to fry cause they came out all golden instead of brown. The pork chop over rice can be better as the meat sauce was sub par. Not much shallot was used cause the sweet aroma that it brings to this dish was missing.
Drink: Pretty all-inclusive drink menu. From teas, slushes, to fruit drinks. Sweet, sweet drinks but not in a disgusting way, so you can definitely have a second or third, or maybe that's just me. Tapioca are the large ones, well cooked and chewy. A side note, the drink portions are tiny compared to other places.
Service: Average. Order food, get food. Cash only BTW.
Crowd/Ambiance: People chit-chatting over drinks so table turn over is not extremely fast, however there are always tables open during afternoon hours. Never came at other times so can't speak for that. Wooden stools copying old style Ming dynasty chairs are the dumbest investments ever. They look ugly as hell and are uncomfortable as hell. But then if they put in comfortable chairs people might stay too long.
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Kudos to their perfect quality control of milk tea! Another branch just opened in Williamsburg, and the drinks taste exactly the same as the original one East Village. I really appreciate a place where I know exactly what I am getting when I pay for something.
I admit I am addicted to the green milk tea without tapioca and I don't order anything else, so I can't be a legitimate critic of their extensive drink menu. But so far every person I've gone to Saint's Alp with have been nothing less than impressed with their orders' taste and variety. This is also the only place I have found sweet butter toast with condensed milk. What a delight! If you're hungrier for more, the rice and noodle entrees are filling, tasty, and are in the $5-$6 range. To top it all off, they still have the buy 10 drinks get 1 free promo that other tea and coffee places have usually discarded. Who can complain?
There are downsides though. The teahouse tables and stools surely give the place its character, but are by no means the most comfortable seating. The noise level from the mostly 20-something Asian college students border annoying at times, as many reviewers have noted. At times the place smells like chlorine, especially if you go during lunch time. The usually overly loud music doesn't enhance my tea-drinking experience.
But I can put up with that stuff, because their milk tea is so damn good. Or I can always just get it to-go, and everyone wins!
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I once lived in the land of bubble tea - Berkeley, CA - so I was amazed to find out that there's some excellent tapioca goodness happening right here in NYC. Haven't yet been to the Wburg location but I'm hoping they're doing the same things right. Yummy.
Step 1: Go to Mamoun's on St. Mark's and have her buy you lunch. While you gorge your face with falafel and kafta sandwiches, she proceeds to ignore you in disgust.
Step 2: March to St. Alp's and order her tea (read, dessert) to make amends for the thing-the unspeakable violation you've obliviously committed in hopes that she will break her torturous silence. Understand that you're in the correct establishment for such a feat; based on the fact that the people filling the seats are predominantly Asian and what better indicator would one need to verify the hunch.
The milk green tea with bubbles (tapioca) is exceptional, but on this sweltering day I had the iced mango green tea with bubbles and she had the passion fruit mix (smoothie-type) with bubbles. Mine was sweet enough to take the sting out of her silence and I suspect she enjoyed hers as well.
Tea, errr... dessert was $8+.
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I absolutely love this place. I know it's a hot spot for NYU college kids under 21, but it was also one of the few places I went with my sister when I would come visit and it never failed my palate.
Black tea with milk never fails with its CONDENSED MILK TOAST. What a pairing!
Tried the food for the first time today ... which is one reason why this place doesn't get 5 stars ... but do people really come here for meals? It's a classic go-to place with visitors to kill time or to enjoy some Asian tea. You don't really notice the bad service if you're in good company.
Cash only! Beware!
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I don't know how this place gets such good reviews. Such mass produced cheap quality. The food is so gross. The tea is not good compared to places where I am from, but this place is still better than most places in NYC, so I give it a 3
I'm sure there's a market for this type of place but I don't think I'm in it.
First of all, it's nice in there. Roomy, pretty to look at, and bustling. It seems like a real hotspot on friday nights and weekends. The mostly Asian customer base seems to be made up of young 20-somethings, hipsters and just good-looking people in general. I'm pretty handsome I guess, but that's the only thing I had in common with those kids and I kinda couldn't wait to get out of there.
It's obviously not my scene, but I love tea so I gave it a shot. I ordered the black milk bubble tea with wheat germ and my girl ordered a strawberry bubble tea. My tea was gritty, which you can imagine, but creamy and otherwise not bad. Her tea was a little better but nothing to write home about.
The bathroom was moderately clean. The prices were absolutely reasonable and the service seemed happy to help.
I guess it's a good enough place for anyone who is into this sort of thing. I'm not. Not going back. Too many kids being noisy and I'm more like an old man compared to them.
Okay bye.
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Heard this place was better than teahouses in Chinatown. I think not. Service was minimal (expected), drink (mixed berry smoothie) was a sugar coma waiting to happen and it was poorly mixed and melted strangely fast, price (higher due to location).
Meh, there are plenty of other drink options in the area. I feel like this is just one place to go when people don't feel like boozing up.
Should I give them another chance? Maybe.
Possibly some of the best bubble tea I have ever had.
On another visit to NYC, I wanted to try the food here, since I didn't get a chance to last time. I came here for a late lunch with my boyfriend, who had never came here before.
He got a lychee shake, which he liked so much that he got a second one to go when we were done with our meal. I ordered a warm almond bubble tea- so good.
For food, we each ordered an appetizer and a main dish, since the food is so affordable here. I got deep fried cuttle fish balls, as well as the minced pork and vegetable dumplings with green tea noodles, while he got deep fried chicken chunks with salted spices and the Taiwanese Succulent Chicken Chop with rice.
The food was pretty good, but nothing too impressive. The portions are very reasonable, especially given what you're paying. I would want to come back and try their other dishes to see if there's anything that may be more tasty. It's definitely the bubble tea and the cheap prices that has me wanting to come back for more!
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I love me some good bubble tea. And this place has got it. I love the presentation of it. It is… Read more »
I love this place. It is a HK interpretation of Taiwanese goods. A lot of these places have the same decor, but my Taiwanese friend says that's not how any Taiwanese place looks. She did say that Saint's Alp makes a good interpretation of Taiwanese small eats. This place has good food as well as good drinks. I have yet to try their toast, but it looks good! Their bubble tea is the best. Extremely good bubbles with very tasty tea. Like I had said for Teariffic in Chinatown, don't get the regular size drink to go - they give a lot when you sit down, but the to go drink cup is really small. Also they have a frequent drinkers card! I love places with those!
One of my friends first brought me in 2006, after my first experience eating amazing Japanese food at Yakitori Taisho. I only had tea at the time, but it was decently priced, considering the selection available. The tea was delicious. I think I had the cold Apple Green Tea then, sans tapioca.
I've brought a few people here since, usually after going to Yakitori. We've all enjoyed it. The atmosphere is nice. It's not too loud.
The only food item I've had here is the condensed milk toast. It sounds absolutely bizarre if you've never had it before, but it is quite a tasty snack.
The drinks I recall ordering at some point are Green Apple Tea, ChocoMint (not tea), Peppermint Green Tea, Jasmine Green Tea, and a couple others. I haven't been disappointed with any, although if you are not a fan of mint, all the mint items may be a bit too minty.
People thought this was:
The bubble tea is perfectly fine here but the portions are smaller than any place I've ever been to for bubble tea.
They have this order system where everyone has to go through the person at the front even if you want bubble tea.
Didn't get any of the food but there were a few things on the menu that I wanted to try.
I think the fact that I really don't have much to say puts this place in the average category.
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How can a girl turn down a good bubble tea. The funny thing is I know this place exist for years and never really went in. I believe it's a taiwanese brand and they have several locations through out the city, queens and brooklyn.
I came here few times now and good bubble tea and good food. They close at 12am.. to east village standard that's early. so if you want your bubble tea.. get in early.
Now I don't have to travel to chinatown to get my bubble tea.. this is great!
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Dear Saint's Alp Teahouse,
I have been scouring the city looking for a decent serving of bubble tea. I have seen the good, the bad, and for sure the ugly. Well, your joint is going on the good list. I could taste the coconut, it actually had flakes of real coconut, the tapioca was good, and the price was decent. So hats off to you, for creating the second best bubble tea I have had here in the big NY.
Lover of those squishy balls,
T
People thought this was:
The bubble tea is standard fare, nothing special, not bad, but not really all that different from other places in the area. Portions are SMALL.
The food is not good. Really flimsy fast food, like knockoff versions of real food.
I say, pass. There are other places near St. Mark's that serve better bubble tea. Or venture down to Chinatown, it's really not that much further, but infinitely more satisfying.
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It's not as good as the Saint Alps in Hong Kong, but it's good enough (:
Saint Alps originally is from Hong Kong, and if you notice the menu there, they have HKD listed, which I find funny =X
I go there for lunch once in awhile and it's a decent price for a filling meal. They make it fast, and very delicious. It's technically 'fast food' but not as 'fast' as McDonalds. Either way I really enjoy sitting there. Besides there's free wifi, you can just sit there, eat and study at the same time. Good for Cooper Union students :D
Try the desserts there. I love mango pudding!
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if you're craving bubble tea and don't feel like traveling two more subway stops, this is the place to go. it's much roomier and better decorated than its chinatown counterparts, but its bubble tea isn't quite as good or quite as big. (pet peeve when my drinks look smaller than my hand)
I haven't tried any other things there so can't comment
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This place reminded me so much of Sago, the tea place in Flushing. But much cheaper! If you've ever been to Sago and like their food, I recommend just travel to the city.
I had the apple green tea (as always no matter where I go) and they have not failed to satisfy this taste. It's a cute little place with wooden seats and all.
I liked it. :))
One of my USC friends said it was a bigger, better version of Cup O' Joy. So if anyone from USC happens to stop by NYC and wants some boba.. try here! :))
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For about a month I was wondering who Saint Alp was, until I discovered I had put the apostrophe after the wrong word. The bubble tea is good and the service is accommodating. My friends and I hang out here from time to time when we all need to meet somewhere together.
They could stand to have some better seats, or a place to put your coats. There are just little stools and if you are wearing a jacket you need to shove it under the table or something.
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I love this place! I have been coming to this awesome tea house for a few years now and I always bring my new friends to the best places in the city! This is by far the best bubble tea house I went to so far. Every time I come here, I always ordered my honey green tea, hot or cold, and sometimes the Taro drink. They are both a must! If you're a coffee lover, I recommend the sumiyaki, its bittersweet! But if you're here for the food, the only dish I recommend is the marinated pork pieces with rice, and if you're looking for something small like an appetizer, I recommend the fried chicken pieces. Both the appetizer and the dish are amazingly delicious! Overall, this is a must place to chill at, and if you're not here, you're totally missing out on some good bubble tea!
My friends and I stopped by one day to grab a quick snack and something to drink. It's a typical HK dessert joint with an extensive menu of milk teas (hot or cold) and blended beverages as well as Asian food items. I thought the drinks were really overpriced for the sizes AND it was significantly more if you wanted to add boba. Here's what I had:
regular almond milk tea - 12 oz without boba...it was all right but nothing spectacular. The drink tasted heavily of almond but didn't get much of a tea flavor in there. It was still refreshing though. (http://www.yelp.com/bi...)
condensed milk toast - Thick but fluffy toast drizzled with condensed milk. I thought this was really yummy and not overly sweet. Forgot to get utensils and ended up being a little messy though. (http://www.yelp.com/bi...)
I'm not sure if there are other HK dessert places in NYC but so far I prefer the ones in the Bay Area based on quality and price. The drinks also seemed bigger if you ordered in instead of taking it to-go.
Cash only, typical of Asian-run establishments.
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We arrived here about an hour and a half before closing time. When we came in, the staff sort of just looked at eachother kind of deciding if they should let us stay or not. Finally someone approached us and let us know they were going to close a half hour early, so we could order drinks, but no food. I agreed, and BF and I ordered a drink each. I finished mine pretty quick because I am a boba monster and I wanted another drink. The waiter came around and had brought the check! I told him I wanted to order another drink, but he said no because they were closing now. So yes, we got kicked out of there, and I was not a happy camper. The least he could have done was offer it to go, but he didnt even give me that option! You can find me at green tea cafe in chinatown!
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Hot gingerbread milk tea FOR THE WIN. Just shy of $3 for an amount of liquid equal to about two mugs.
The milktoast was interesting. Never had this snack before. We ended up splitting each order of milktoast between 2 people.
The total for 4 orders of milktoast and 8 beverages was $37 - not bad at all!
Small stools were a bit uncomfortable.
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They have my staple bubble tea (passionfruit green tea) so I stop by this place a lot when I'm in the east village. Their tapioca balls are not as flavorable as Ten Ren's, but I think the convenient location makes up for it.
One time I was craving a yogurt jasmine tea flavored slushy so I poured through the menu, but it was nowhere to be found! Pleease add that to the menu!
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The location of Saint's Alp is great - when the craving for bubble tea strikes, there's no need to venture down to Chinatown or take a trip to Queens. I was pretty sad when the location closer to Bleecker Street closed a few years back. But the seats, interior, everything, screams Chinatown bubble tea shop. Because of the prime location, they evidently have to pay the rent, which translates to a $5 Jumbo bubble tea. (FYI: The Jumbo size at various bubble tea shops in Chinatown is much bigger and it's also half the price.) The food is reasonably priced though - a big, satisfying bowl of ramen soup is less than $8. Go for the green tea noodles when you order the soup, they're really good.
The menu at Saint's Alp is quite extensive, for both beverages and food. I love the Gingerbread Milk Tea in the winter, it's such a treat. I've had both the Strawberry Black Tea and Mango Black Tea with tapioca, and both good albeit a little bit syrupy.
Saint's Alps is a good place to sit down and catch up with a friend because there's plenty of seating. On the weekends, they're open fairly late. The staff is also very accommodating. Back in my NYU days, my sorority hosted an event here. There were about 20 of us, we called ahead, and they made sure that the seating was ready when we got there.
The employees are super-secretive about this and keep it on the DL, but there is a frequent buyer card. After 10 bubble teas, you can get a free Regular sized bubble tea.
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After stumbling upon Saint's Alp Teahouse in Williamsburg, I was hoping there would be another one closer to home. I brought Thuy L. here for some post-Ippudo bubble teas. The balls in the milk tea were as perfect as when I had them in Hong Kong. We also split the toast with butter and condensed milk. The bread was toasted a little unevenly and was dry in some parts. Nothing a little more condensed milk couldn't fix.
The Williamsburg location feels a lot newer. The menus here were worn and tattered. The staff here was a bit more attentive.
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Can't knock the ALP. Alot of people call this place Saint alps, its actually Saint's Alp. Gotta love the snacks and seating here. Service is not great, but its not bad. They have a cool menu and some drinks that you can't find anywhere else. I always find myself sitting here for way too long and ordering multiple drinks. This place is good for groups and parties when you want space. I give four stars for overall solidarity.
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I heart bubble tea! And I forgot how much I loved it from Saint's Alp. I used to hit this spot up pretty frequently in college (my dorm was 2 blocks away). But my visits have been few and far between since then, probably out of laziness. In any case, I went with my friends last week and was reminded of the delectable delights they have to offer.
When it comes to bubble tea, I usually stick with a taro milk tea (my fave) or a sweet green tea flavor with tapioca pearls. I decided to change it up a bit and tried the lime-kumquat tea. It was really tart, but good. Almost like a limeade with tapioca. I also had the condensed milk toast, which is essentially a thick fluffy piece of toast with condensed, sweet milk poured over the top. Can you get any better than that?! I heart carbs, too!
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Hi
I must have dragged alot of my friends there, they not knowing what to expect. At the end, they all became fans of this place. It is a NYU hang out and I feel young again. :-)
Just make sure when you order a bubble tea, ask for COLD. I have had some bubble teas HOT since I did not specified and having the wheat germ tea with bubbles HOT is not my first choice.
I hope its low cal. hehe
Enjoy!
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Ok I want to apologize to everyone who is going to hate me for this... I really dont think Saint Alps Tea house is all that. The Bubble tea is good but the food is very disgusting... Everything was extremely bland... I cant believe majority of people is saying the food is AMAZING. I have been to many taiwanese restaurants and the worst ones have more flavor than Saint Alps. I have the beef soup with dumplings. That was disgusting. The soup tasted like water and the dumplings were definitely frozen and the middle was still cold. I also had the fried pork and rice. I would eat at the excellent pork chop house any day. This had no flavor either... I had some other food... but i cant remember. I was craving Taiwanese food and heard Saint Alps was the best... but im sad to say its far from it.
I had the mini chicken wings these were Ok... not great and not bad.
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This is the best bubble tea I've had so far in NYC. But that's not saying much, since most of the bubble tea I've encountered in this city is just meh. Surprising, since all other things asian here are typically a-ok. But I digress...
Good basics. I like the simple black tea with bubbles. Tapioca is nice and chewy. Almost perfect consistency. I just wish they used fresh fruit in their fruit varieties. I also wish it wasn't such a rip off for a little taste of tapioca heaven. The small size here is ridiculously small, and the large will set you back more than a frappacino at Starbucks.
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This place is an old favorite of mine. I've been going here for many years, perhaps since they opened.
If you've never tried bubble tea, you have to try it. There are sweet drinks, and tea-only drinks, milk tea or coffee with jelly. But no matter which one you choose, you'll get delicious tapioca bubbles in each sip. Is it food, is it a drink?
Food-wise there aren't a million veggie options. The tea eggs though are one of my favorites. Also the vegetarian spring rolls, fried tofu, veggie samosa, and herbal jelly are all on your list of choices. There's also fried sweet potato, and some toast options. For the meat lovers there are tons of taiwanese favorites from noodles, to rice dishes and more.
Don't look for diet food here though, very sweet, very fried, but also very yummy.
good for groups. easy for walk-ins, good for a snack when you're on your way somewhere, and open until 2am fri/sat nights.
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Tapioca balls tasted old (center was hard), and the tea was mediocre. Prices were ridiculous ... almost $5 for the "Jumbo" size, which is actually smaller than the standard 16 oz. size.
This is a sad place compared to Bay Area boba shops ... I can't believe people actually think this place is good.
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Whats good here?
The tapioca's drinks are decent.
The Taiwanese style pork over rice is delicious!
Good for when your low on cash and want a meal in the east village.
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My friend introduced me to this place, saying that it was similar to Teariffic. My friend got a Double Chocolate Sorbie and I got a Wild Berry Nata. The drinks were okay, but overly sweet in my opinion.
I got the marinated minced pork with rice, and I really liked it. The flavors were good, the pork went together well with the steamed rice, and it was a good way to get the fill of veggies that I usually stay away from. I also tried the dish that my friend ordered, which was the braised chicken chunks. I can't really remember it, but I'm pretty sure it was yummy as well. It's just that I found the marinated pork more memorable.
My verdict? The food's good. The drinks... decent, I suppose, but I'll stick to my good ol' Teariffic.
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Neighborhood: Williamsburg - North Side
Category: Coffee & Tea
Neighborhood: East Village
Category: Coffee & Tea
Neighborhood: Chinatown
Category: Coffee & Tea
Neighborhood: Chinatown
Category: Coffee & Tea
Neighborhood: Chinatown
Category: Coffee & Tea
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