Hungry Ghost

Came in looking for a place to do a little work late on a Sunday afternoon. The first question I asked the barista was if they had wifi, which he said no, not on the weekends.
Ok, fine, I can do some work without the internet. I order an iced tea (which was a rip-​off, left more than half an inch unfilled from the top), and settled at the large table. Would like to note the place was not too crowded at this point, the table was empty except for one other girl reading a book.
Within two minutes, an employee comes over and very brusquely tells me there are no laptops allowed at the table. I ask him if there’s anywhere else for me to sit, and he says no and walks away.
Welp, I walked around the corner to Gorilla Coffee, and it was a world of difference! They even let me bring in my iced tea, hooked it up with wifi, offered me a range of seats, had better music playing, and way cooler/​friendlier/​hipper baristas working.
Hungry Ghost, never again.

Why does Hungry Ghost have a weak 4 star rating? This café is good I think the people moving into this neighborhood are disproportionately snobby. I don’t go to HG too often, five times in the last year, but it’s been everything I need whenever I have. Pat yourselves on the back once and a while.

terrible service. I ordered a sandwich (not worth the $ 10 btw) and the wrong sandwich was given to me. There was no apology, no offer to make me a new one, instead the barista guy huffed at me (very unprofessional) and blamed it on his coworker. I sucked it up and ate the sandwich but don’t plan on giving them my business again.

We don’t take it in, we just change locations.
After multiple weekends of struggling finding a quiet café in the city to do work, I’ve settled with Brooklyn. Which led me to Hungry Ghost.
And I still struggled to find a seat to do work.
Really cute spot to grab a coffee, though I think they’re trying to shun away technology obsessed millennials like me. Theres two sunshinning tables on each side, but a clear sign that says «no laptop usage»
Then there’s a long table, that also says «no laptop usage»
Here’s the thing about us millennials, we don’t give up. I ordered my tomato mozzarella pesto sandwich, and grabbed a sunshinning seat and landed my laptop onto my lap. Us millennials are also innovative.
Sandwich was delicious! I tried to cover my happily satisfying face with every bite. It was a struggle eating my sandwich with my laptop on my lap, but well worth it.
Here’s the breakdown: great place to grab coffee and a small bite. There are no outlets and limited laptop seats. But they do have wifi.

Expensive coffee that’s way too strong, but the best kombucha (on tap) i’ve ever had… they also carry doughnuts from Dough, thus 3 stars.

Spacious coffee shop for studying but there are no outlets and this location does not use CUPS app.

Good coffee and I enjoyed the space — not too tight and claustrophobic. The sandwich and food selection makes this place the real deal overall — glad they realize that bagels and croissants can go only so far.

Usually overcrowded and a bit snooty (clientele) but four stars from three because the nitro milk stout and the kombucha are at no other coffee establishment. The chicken salad sandwich is indeed refreshing.

Good good stumptown coffee, nice atmosphere, aaaand they can make a legit NZ style flat white. Thank you for fulfilling my coffee needs Hungry Ghost!!! Xx

Solid espresso café with Brooklyn’s hipster vibe. They have a nice selection of pastries and sandwiches along with soup from Hale and Hearty. Good for catching up with friends or getting some reading done.

Pastries, coffee and tea with a bit of cocoa mixed in — all the basics but s nice groove too. The high density traffic outside is discouraging of existential meditation with a cup in hand yet a crowd indeed does get pulled in.

I checked this place out for the first time this morning. The workers are rude, the coffee is ok, and the lattes are horrible. Also, they serve all beverages in paper cups — seems a bit off if your drink isn’t to go. I definitely won’t be back, especially with so many better options so close.

Rude and pretentious workers. If I come in with a smile and «hey! How’s it going!» And you literally don’t respond except for a short «what are you having.» No eye contact, nothing.
I’m a New Yorker. Not expecting Midwest friendliness. But Jesus. Make eye contact.
The space itself is cool. But if you want to go somewhere and feel like you’re doing nothing but annoying the workers with your existence this is the place!

Love the coffee and as I am a bit of a coffee fiend I’d say I speak from experience. The drip is always hot when I go and the vast array of pastries will not disappoint. I went in on a Sunday recently and decided to stay in for breakfast. Ended up having the Belgian waffle with strawberries and powdered sugar. Awesome sauce. d no complaints. Oh and the croissants will leave you feeling needy for more so be careful. Just saying. And of course the vibe is chill, hipster-​y, but also good for kids, so stop in and enjoy. As always… Happy Eating. –Marie-​Madeleine.

Pretty happy with the service and the ambiance. The oatmeal cookie costs more than the others, but I’d argue it’s also worth more.

I came here for one reason: lately I’ve been working on a major writing project at a coffee shop on Rogers Avenue in Crown Heights, but I go there so often that it’s starting to get embarrassing. I schlepped out here to Prospect Heights in the genuine hope that Hungry Ghost could be a great alternative. Alas, it’s not.
Turns out that Hungry Ghost poses as a laptop-​friendly café (its website really calls out to the laptop crowd), but in practice the space has been very carefully designed to discourage lingering. There are no outlets anywhere, and the best spaces are all laptop-​forbidden zones (which are, consequently, entirely empty while the laptop-​allowed spaces are completely packed).
To be fair, the space is really lovely (though Flatbush Avenue is not), and I found the staff to be quite friendly, in contrast to many of the reviews I’ve read. For plenty of people, this may very well be a four– or five-​star coffee shop, but for my purposes it’s just not. I need a café where I can sit and work (and buy coffee and food in the process), but too many coffeeshop owners think that’s not a viable business model. Still, I spend an embarrassing amount of money at the coffeeshops I do frequent, and the longer I stay the more likely I am to buy a second or third cup, or a meal. I have no problem paying full price for a refill, for instance, as I recognize that because I hang out for a long time the product I’m purchasing is more than just coffee.
The verdict? I’ll just keep going to my standard coffeeshop in Crown Heights. I probably spend a good $ 150 a month there (ouch) simply because I spend so much time there. And why wouldn’t I? I feel welcome there, since they actively try to accommodate laptop users. And, sure enough, that place is always packed and lively for exactly that reason. I’d be happy to come back to Hungry Ghost if it started to do the same.

I like this place — came in for a snack, got an egg salad sandwich, which was great. The Romaine lettuce was a bit old but I wouldn’t hold that against them. Good egg salad — fresh dill and nice spices. Bread was toasted perfectly. Reasonable prices, fast service, and nice folk working here. I would come back!

Stopped in for a plain jane drip coffee date. I found my interactions with staff unremarkable, though my companion seemed a bit taken aback when the cashier turned her back for the electronic payment and later said not to click through the «finished» screen next time. Plenty of seating was available, though some people crowded and chatted around the condiment area needlessly, leading to a little backup. A few people were on laptops for a good half hour or more without comment from anyone. Whether this is a policy change or a fluke, I can’t say.
The coffee itself was smooth but strong. I wouldn’t go out of my way to return to this particular location, but I wouldn’t avoid it if it was convenient.

I’ve been exploring Flatbush ave lately and noticed a lot of cool café and restaurants. It changed dramatically over the past 5 years.
I walked into hungry ghost thinking it would be similar in size to blue bottle coffee but it was surprisingly large. Inside though is full of hipsters or old people who think they are too cool. The barista was fine — the usual coffee house barista.
Latte Was really good though! Bold & creamy just the way I like it. They got good coffee but the feel inside with the «too cool» crowd was awkward and unwelcoming.

This place. No thanks. I’m new to Brooklyn and went with two of my other classmates to find a nice place to study on a Sunday. We walked in and there wasn’t any place to use our laptops because most of the places were taken up by other people without laptops or the places that were available wouldn’t let you sit at a table with a laptop. I can understand where they’re coming from but I feel like they lose a lot of business by not allowing people to use laptops there.
Another thing was we arrive right at 6:00 p.m. and I asked if they still served lunch and the guy behind the counter said they didn’t serve lunch past 6:00 p.m. and I asked what time it was… and he responded 6:03 p.m. lol.
I did order a cortado and a croissant… which I could’ve gotten anywhere else. I will definitely not return here.

Hungry Ghost est un café populaire à Brooklyn. On y vient principalement pour le café et le Chai Tea.
L’endroit est sympa sans être extraordinaire. Si vous avez la chance comme nous d’attraper les 2 fauteuils proche de la vitrine, vous aurez le meilleur spot. Mais attention: interdiction formelle de sortir son ordinateur: espace ordinateur sur les tables de bar (WTF?)
On commande au comptoir, un café, une patisserie (entre les croissants classiques et quelques spécialités très originales américaines). Je demande à ce qu’on me réchauffe ma patisserie, on viendra m’annoncer 10 mn plus tard qu’on m’avait réchauffé la patisserie mais qu’elle est maintenant de nouveau froide (WTF? n°2)
Le café est très bon mais suivant la taille ou la spécialité: c’est tasse en porcelaine ou pour moi (café noir classique): grand gobelet (WTF? n°3)
En résumé, c’est vraiment de la bonne qualité mais le service est nul (surprenant aux US) et le refus de laisser les gens s’installer où ils veulent avec leur ordinateur est incompréhensible. Donc pas mal mais vous trouverez bien mieux à Brooklyn.