Slideshow

Coffee Craze: Joe Opens Uptown, Kudo Beans Opens Downtown

http://images.nymag.com/images/2/daily/2009/04/kudobeans/20090408_kudobeans_lead_190x190.jpg

Two things happening in caffeine land, kids. First and foremost, beloved Joe has announced it’s putting down stakes on the Upper West Side. Starting next Tuesday, its NoZa (North of Zabar’s) outpost will serve the same hot and cold espresso-based drinks, drip coffee, and loose-leaf tea you’ve come to know and love, with baked goods from Ceci-Cela, Sullivan St. Bakery, and Corner Cafe & Bakery. Plus, there’ll be a drip bar with baristas grinding a rotating selection of single-origin coffees to order. Hours of operation: Monday to Saturday from 7 a.m. till 8 p.m.; Sunday 8 a.m. till 8 p.m.

Currently soft-opened is Kudo Beans, which had a location in the East Village until the owner sold out and it became the Bean. Inside the narrow Greenwich Village space (formerly a newsstand) you’ll find organic (and non-organic) espresso drinks, drip (there’s a coffee of the day), and 25 varieties of tea divided into categories of green, white, black, oolong, and herbal. The food program will expand once a full kitchen is operational, but for now there are a variety of yogurt muffins, oatmeal and eight-grain cookies, quiches, empanadas, a pot pie, and a frittata. The owner is hoping that, when the weather is warmer, he’ll have a liquor license to go with his back garden. For now, the opening hours are Sunday through Thursday from 8 p.m. till midnight; Friday and Saturday 8 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Joe on Columbus, 514 Columbus Avenue, nr. 85th St.; 212-875-0100
Kudo Beans, 321 Sixth Ave., nr. W. 4th St.; 212-929-7500

Coffee Craze: Joe Opens Uptown, Kudo Beans Opens Downtown