The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf - NY

NYC Coffee Journey Stop #3 The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf 1469 Third Ave New York, NY 10028 

So far the UES is winning on price and atmosphere in the search for the best coffee shop in #NYC. Although I do realize it has only been three days and there are hundreds of coffee shops still to explore. Today as I entered The Coffee Bean at around 9am it was nearly empty and I was thinking how great it would be to have the whole coffee shop to myself and sit anywhere I wanted. I got my coffee and looked for a place to sit at one of the smaller tables but did not find an outlet at any of them so I elected to sit at one of the booths. I felt a little bad for taking up a whole booth by myself but I was thinking in my mind that I would be more than willing to share my table if someone asked. I ended up having three different people ask. The first person to ask was Stephanie, I said of course and she was grateful and assured me that she wouldn’t bother me. I didn’t mind however and I asked how she was doing…Remember, I’m from the Midwest where you say please and thank you, and of course ask people how they are doing. It reminds me of this Bud Light commercial from a few years ago. Anyway, back to Stephanie. She proceeded to tell me things were not going great because she was waiting to hear if her kindergartner was going to get into 1 of the 4 schools she had applied for him to attend. She asked if I had children and I said no, and now I’m glad I don’t have children in NYC. Wow! I didn’t realize it was so competitive to get into private schools in NYC for Kindergartners. Interviews and tests, oh my! I can’t imagine the pressure on the parents let alone the kids trying to get into these schools but I shouldn’t be surprise when you live in the most competitive city in the world. Our 10 minute conversation turned into a pleasant hour and half conversation. Our talk ranged from work, to family, to mental health, to TEDx talks, to speakeasies. It was one of those times I was glad I had opened my mouth. After Stephanie left I looked around and the place was packed with people meeting, reading, and enjoying their coffee. I was also surprised while venturing back to the bathroom that there was a WHOLE other room to sit! BTW, the bathroom was clean which is always a plus in my book. 

The other two people who ended up sitting at my booth were also very nice but weren’t really into talking and that was fine by me because I needed to get some work done. The large coffee was good at $2.72 and when I went to get a refill of coffee it was supposed to be $ .80 cents which is a deal to me but the young lady gave it to me for free. I know she was not supposed to but things like that really help get people to come back. My overall experience was very excellent, the coffee and atmosphere were great, I have a new friend name Stacy, and I will definitely come back to work here. Oh I forgot, while I was there I was tweeted at by @coffeebeanNYC and they asked about my experience! Now that is customer service. Well done Coffee Bean, you are definitely at the top of my list…for now! ;-)