Cafeography
New York · East Village & Lower East Side

Cafés in East Village & Lower East Side

Veniero's on East 11th Street since 1894, the first Ninth Street Espresso in Alphabet City, and milk tea along Bayard and Pell in Chinatown.

Photo: Matthis Volquardsen, Pexels License

The East Village lies east of the Bowery and Third Avenue between Houston and 14th streets, and was long counted as part of the Lower East Side.1 In the mid-1800s it was Little Germany; the name East Village came later, used by rental agents by 1960 and, according to the New York Times in 1967, common usage by then.1 South of Houston, the Lower East Side's tenement streets run down to Chinatown.

Chinatown grew from Mott, Pell and Doyers streets, which Chinese immigrants settled from the 1870s; the older western core is Cantonese, while Fuzhou immigrants later settled east of the Bowery along East Broadway and Eldridge Street.2 Coffee across these blocks runs from an 1890s pastry café and Cantonese lunch counters to milk-tea shops and one of the bars that started the city's specialty coffee movement.3

Local tip: Russ & Daughters Cafe on Orchard Street opens at 08:30 and stops serving by 14:30 on weekdays from Monday to Thursday, so plan it as breakfast or an early lunch.

At a glance

195Cafés listed
69With opening hours
06:30Earliest opening
03:30Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: The Doughnut Plant, from 06:30 (Mon–Thu 06:30–20:00 · Fri–Sat 06:30–21:00 · Sun 06:30–20:00).
  • Closes latest: The Roost, until 03:30 (Mon–Thu 07:00–02:00 · Fri–Sat 08:00–03:30 · Sun 07:00–01:30).
  • Most listed streets: Avenue B (10), Avenue A (7), Allen Street (5).
  • Most common features: specialty (15%), bakery café (14%), open late (9%).

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Coffee chains in East Village & Lower East Side

Veniero's and Second Avenue

Antonio Veniero, from Sorrento, opened Veniero's at 342 East 11th Street in 1894 as a pool emporium and caffè where he sold his own pastries, and his family has run it ever since.4 In 1984 the family added a second room with a stained-glass ceiling, keeping the original pressed tin.4 It serves from 08:00 until 22:00, and until 23:00 on Fridays and Saturdays.

Little Ukraine is centered on Second Avenue around 6th and 7th streets, anchored by St. George's Church.1 Nearby, Abraço at 81 East 7th Street opens at 08:00 from Tuesday, and La Cabra has a bakery-café at 150 Second Avenue. Café Maud at 132 Second Avenue stays open until 02:00 from Thursday to Saturday.

Alphabet City and Tompkins Square Park

Avenues A to D give Alphabet City its name, and the poet Bimbo Rivas coined its Spanish-inflected name, Loisaida, in a 1974 poem.1 Tompkins Square Park, designated in 1833, fills the blocks from 7th to 10th Street between Avenues A and B.1 Avenue A has Tompkins Square Bagels at No. 165, Boris and Horton, a dog-friendly café, at No. 195 and Cafe Joah at No. 212.

Ken Nye, who ran the bar 9C at East 9th Street and Avenue C through the 1990s, opened the first Ninth Street Espresso on that corner in 2001 and a second shop on East 10th Street in 2007.3 The original, at 700 East 9th Street, opens daily 07:00–20:00. For late coffee, The Roost at 222 Avenue B stays open until 02:00 from Monday to Thursday and until 03:30 on Fridays and Saturdays.

Lower East Side: Orchard, Ludlow and Essex

Essex Market traces its roots to one of the city's original public markets, mapped by 1818; its 1940 building followed Mayor Fiorello La Guardia's push to move pushcart vendors indoors, and in May 2019 it moved into the new Essex Crossing development at 88 Essex Street.5 Russ & Daughters Cafe at 127 Orchard Street serves from 08:30, until 14:30 from Monday to Thursday and 15:30 from Friday to Sunday.

Ludlow Coffee Supply at 176 Ludlow Street opens daily 07:00–23:00 with Wi-Fi, Caffè Vita at No. 124 runs until 21:00 and Black Cat LES at 172 Rivington Street until 22:00. Yonah Shimmel Knish Bakery at 137 East Houston Street bakes knishes daily 09:30–19:00.

Chinatown: Mee Sum, Doyers Street and Bayard Street tea

Mee Sum Cafe has served Cantonese comfort food at 26 Pell Street since 1967; its manager, Hing Jea, has run the room for 25 years and her day starts at 06:00 with the coffee and the food prep.6 Around the corner, Art Bean Coffee Roasters roasts at 19 Doyers Street and opens at 08:00 on weekdays, and Miss Du's Tea Shop at 33 Pell Street serves milk tea daily 11:00–21:00.

Bayard Street lines up tea counters and bakeries: Wu Qi My Tea at No. 55, Joys' Cafe at No. 60 and Sun's Organic Tea Shop at No. 79. East of the Bowery, Kopitiam pours Malaysian coffee at 151 East Broadway daily 09:00–22:00. Columbus Park, built in 1897 over the center of the old Five Points, is Chinatown's only park.2

Sources

  1. East Village, Manhattan, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  2. Chinatown, Manhattan, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  3. East Village coffee shop hopes to add beer to its menu (May 30, 2012), DNAinfo New York, accessed October 2026
  4. Veniero's, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  5. Essex Market, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  6. Business Spotlight: Mee Sum Cafe, Welcome to Chinatown, accessed October 2026
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In East Village & Lower East Side, also browse: Specialty coffee Outdoor seating Wi-Fi Bakery cafés Brunch Open late

FAQ

East Village & Lower East Side cafés: questions

When did Veniero's open on East 11th Street in the East Village?

Antonio Veniero, from Sorrento, opened Veniero's at 342 East 11th Street in 1894 as a pool emporium and caffè selling his own pastries, and the Veniero family still runs it. A second room with a stained-glass ceiling was added in 1984. It serves until 22:00, and until 23:00 on Fridays and Saturdays.

Where did Ninth Street Espresso start in the East Village?

Ken Nye opened the first Ninth Street Espresso in 2001 at East 9th Street and Avenue C in Alphabet City, the corner where he had run the bar 9C during the 1990s. A second shop followed on East 10th Street in 2007. The original, at 700 East 9th Street, opens daily 07:00–20:00.

Where can you drink coffee and milk tea in Manhattan's Chinatown?

Mee Sum Cafe at 26 Pell Street has served Cantonese food and coffee since 1967. Miss Du's Tea Shop at 33 Pell Street serves milk tea daily 11:00–21:00, and Bayard Street has Wu Qi My Tea, Joys' Cafe and Sun's Organic Tea Shop. Art Bean Coffee Roasters is on Doyers Street.

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