This guide is an ode to New York’s best iterations of the “all-day café.” These are the very special places that can take you from your morning espresso to your evening glass of wine, and through all the liminal hours between meals. You can go alone, for work meetings or for first dates (and especially for when you can’t tell the difference). Grab and go, or sit and stay a while. These are the spots you’ll keep coming back to because they manage to do it all so well and yet so effortlessly.
For: Café Paulette’s cool younger sister space. It’s giving chic Parisian bistro: coffee + pastries brought to you by La Bicyclette in the morning, natural wine + small apéro style plates at night.
For: a neighborhood gem beloved for its bread and pastries. This bright and airy space has a full brunch, happy hour, and dinner menu, but you can also grab early AM coffee, pastries, and a window seat at the bakery offshoot on the same block.
For: a low-key local spot if you want to switch up your wfh set up. They also host jazz & karaoke nights most Wednesdays and Thursdays at this Crown Heights location.
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For: a buzzy spot with new takes on Taiwanese classics. The staples: the scallion pancakes (alone or in egg sando format) and the mochi donuts.
For: going from day to night to the morning after. This space does it all: café, bar, restaurant, garden, sound room, upstairs. Vibes on vibes. Take note it’s an entirely (delicious) vegan menu.
For: Cobble Hill’s cult favorite café + market with a small selection of beers and wine BTG. Expect a beautiful, seasonally-inspired menu and outdoor-only seating. Truly everything here is delicious, but don’t sleep on the egg salad. I always grab some to-go.
For: the highly photogenic Korean-inspired café, wine bar, homeware, and design shop that notoriously said no to influencers. They also say no laptops and no reservations. It’s certainly not cheap, but it’s a welcome escape into an expertly curated, phone- and laptop-free world.
For: a vibrant, family-owned café & wine bar with soul. Imagine warm staff and regulars that actually chat with each other. You might think you were in the south if everyone wasn’t dressed so Brooklyn. The space is tiny inside but has ample sidewalk seating.
For: the feel good factor. Un Posto Italiano is the most charming café, bar, grocery, and artisanal pasta shop. Everyone just looks a little bit happier once they step in here. It’s like a better, Brooklyn-version of Sogno Toscano.
For: feeling très chic. See and be seen at this new-ish spot opened by Aisa Shelley of CASINO.
For: baristas that take their espresso very seriously (no oat or almond milk allowed). Bon Appetit has called it the best in Manhattan, and others swear by the olive oil cake. Leave your laptop at home.
St. George for the new sun-drenched outpost of a beloved London café. I am regularly looking for excuses to come here and claim one of the leather armchairs.Prima (for a cozy brownstone & backyard patio hangout) • K’far (for a hotel lobby you want to hang out in) • Artshack (for your not-so-secret ceramics obsession) • Anaïs (for a moody vibe from the team that knows how to wine bar) • Daughter (for a low-key local to switch up your wfh set up) • St. Jardim (for perching and people watching) Fairfax (for a full restaurant menu but an “at home” feel) • Book Club (for the bibliophile) • Marlow & Sons For: a modern classic. This café turns raw bar + restaurant has been reliably good for nearly 20 years.