VIBE

Everything you’d expect for a hip little coffee shop in the East Village: hot rod espresso machines, a vast expanse of exposed brick, beans by cult roasters Counter Culture, and sharp, skinny-jeaned whiz kids behind the curved wooden bar. There’s a small amount of seating at tiny round tables, but this isn’t the kind of place you cozy up with the Sunday paper or your laptop–it's where you come to make a pithy comment or two about the edgy indie rock on the stereo while you savor your morning espresso for a few minutes before rushing off for another crazy Manhattan day.

CROWD

Coffee snobs and the East Village set.

WHAT WE WOULD WEAR

Go East Village cool in skinny jeans, trendy kicks, and a painstakingly distressed hoodie.

GO HERE WITH

Coffee lovers; a friend or two (there’s not really space for more than that)

WHY WE LIKE IT

The coffee is pretty darn good, and they offer a host of snacks too.

WHAT WE WOULD CHANGE

It would be nice if there were more space to hang out–this isn’t exactly an ideal spot for us to set up with our laptops and travel blog the afternoon away.

GOOD TO KNOW

Bluebird is cash only. For those into their coffee shop genealogy: this spot was previously home to The Tasting Room and Simon Sips, and Bluebird itself came under new management (it’s now run by the folks behind Café Madeline in Flatbush) in the spring of 2011.

CLOSEST COMPS

Stumptown Coffee Roasters (New York); Kava Café (New York); Bonsignour (New York); Intelligentsia Coffee (Los Angeles)

Click here for our full-form mobile travel guide, The Purple Passport to New York City.