Maybelle’s Cafe

Great coffee, tea (huge selection of loose leaf teas), and super friendly/​quick service! I’d definitely take advantage of the seats up front if weather permits! I’ll be back for the food soon!

OH MY GOD! Walked into Maybelle’s, greeted by two strange ponytailed men. The color scheme, horrendous. It’s supposed to have that «southern, New Mexico» feel, but instead it had the aesthetic of a Guatemalan laundromat. The chairs were hard and unpadded. Unsuitable for the elderly, don’t even think about bringing your grandmother here for a nice cup of joe. Weird paintings on the wall too. Tiles that don’t transition into one another along the floor. Weird bar staring out of the window. Walked into the restaurant where a group of young women stared us down, and one of the weird men came out from the kitchen. Looking puzzled and confused, he just stood there. We bought two mocha lattes, and I began to walk to a seat. As my friend paid for her latte the man told us we had to leave. AFTER WE PAID FOR OUR COFFEE. He said, that they had a private event and they had to close. We than sat outside for an hour like savages. Then loud club music started playing, and more people tried to enter the restaurant, but were turned away. Overall, the coffee was delicious and I’d give it five stars. But the people and setting — very weird.
Many better coffee places to go to besides this one.

Can’t go wrong with the hangover wrap and a small coffee. Cash only takes off a star for me, but otherwise a great local place.

The food was good. Had the Spanish Tortilla and French Toast. The coffee wasn’t all that great. Service was slow but there was only one server.

Stopped in here needing a place to set up shop and get some work done for a few hours. Like other reviewers have said, the place is definitely «no frills» but that’s part of the charm. Big tables with outlets and free wifi = perfect. The staff was nice, and didn’t seem to mind that I sat there most of the afternoon. The other patrons ranged from tattoos couples chowin’ & chatting, to fellow workhorses, to cute little families having a meal.
I ordered the Vegan BLT, with avocado added for $ 0.75. It was pretty yummy — not a triple decker monstrosity overloaded with vegannaise but a manageable portion with just the right amount of flavor. It came with a side salad — not a bad deal for less than $ 10.
Though I managed to execute restraint, the cookies and pastries they were serving smelled amazing. I would def. come back to have a taste!

Great coffee, but the people who work there always seem bored or annoyed. I always feel like I’m bothering them when I’m ordering, which I don’t like.

No good. The waitress was really rude-​she overcharged us for nearly every menu item, and was very rude when we pointed it out. If you eat here, look over your check as it’s difficult to notice-​every item we ordered was listed as «soup» instead of what it actually was.
She then gave us a new check with some of it still not corrected. We went ahead and just paid it as it was as it just wasn’t worth the hassle anymore.
I ordered a side of fruit for $ 3 which turned out to be half of a browning pear. With all the different restaurants in Carroll gardens, there are many better options.

What a great spot! My friend and I are always on the lookout for comfy coffee shops with (working!!) free wifi, tasty food, sweet treats and decent drinks. This is the spot! And it was open later than is listed. We left at 7 pm and it was still going strong. We are adding this to our list of regular work spots. Only reason it’s not 5 stars is I wish they had a burger and it’s cash only.

Sweet neighborhood café/​restaurant. They have good breakfast options (if only I lived near enough/​worked late enough to eat breakfast here) and an extensive sandwich menu, hot and cold, for lunch. I like the pesto sandwich with chicken when I’m feelin’ fancy.
The people who work here range from sweet to super-​sweet in my experience, even if I’m just dropping in on a rainy day for a cup of tea. There are definitely regulars here, always a good sign. I also love the yellow walls and diner décor and the fact that it’s definitely a hang-​out-​all-​day place. Overall Maybelle’s feels like a smaller-​town place which… can be good.

I have family in the area and when visiting I always like to try new places. That being said, I enjoyed this place enough to put it on my list of places to regularly visit when in town. To be fair I am really only rating this place on it’s breakfast, which I am very picky about.
The pancakes I would put in my top 5 restaurant pancakes I have ever had. They were nice and airy, not too caky, held the butter and syrup well, and left me satisfied, not feeling like I had a brick in my stomach. I also tried the omelets and found them pleasant as well, but the wheat toast was what hooked me. Flavorful, crispy but not overdone, and with a generous helping of butter (not just a quick brush of clarified butter) I found myself ordering a second helping of toast.
As for coffee, they serve Stumptown coffee, which is popular on the west coast (specifically the Northwest), and known for roasting locally, so you get a very fresh flavor of coffee. I actually ended up buying some whole beans to take back with me.
Give it a shot. As many of the reviews have stated, it is quirky and on first visit can make you feel unsure if it is a sit down breakfast place or a coffee shop where you order at the counter. They do both, and on the few days I visited, the staff was very helpful-​although you do need to be proactive and not afraid to speak up/​ask for what you want. Think of it as eating at a friends house; you may even find yourself sharing a table with somebody new-​yes, it’s that kind of place.
Enjoy

It’s ok if you forget to ring in my order or bring the wrong dish or give me attitude for my existence in you section. It is not ok to do all three, especially when you have a bad personality and were never fit to work in the service industry from the get-​go.
To be fair, Maybelle’s is a nice place outside of this one incident. The staff and owner are generally laid back and friendly. The odds are that you won’t have this kind of experience if you go. So cross your fingers and try the breakfast burrito with sausage.

I liked this place! Off-​beat? Yes. But I spend a lot of time in the area, and it’s a cool place to sit down, use your laptop, get some Stumptown coffee and enjoy the music, or just look out the window. The people who work there are characters: tattoos, cigarette breaks every 5 minutes, conversation when appropriate, but they’re nice. I have had some of their wraps and their coffee, and I’ve even sat outside and had a cook come out and chatted with him, and I just felt like they were always moving my speed.
The décor is odd, but it’s sort of place where you just don’t care because it’s not for everyone. I, personally, really appreciate the Star Wars touches at the counter.
The cooks sometimes deliver the food, sometimes you wait at the counter, sometimes the cashier will bring it out, but it’s always good and it’s usually got a bunch of regulars from all walks of life; old Italian ladies passing the time, young guys trying to work on their screenplay or design project, new moms, the guys from the social clubs on the block, kids coming in with their dads in judo outfits. It’s just nice, and the food is good, and you wind up mingling with a different kind of person every time.
My wife said Cher filmed a movie there, but it probably had to be set-​decorated because Cher isn’t cool enough for this kind of ambiance.

I am sad about this.
I have been visiting Maybelle’s for breakfast at least once a week since I moved to the neighborhood two years ago. The food is good — like what a regular mom makes for breakfast — nothing special but good.
The service is mixed. And today was terrible. If you get the guy with the big hair, you will have a lovely experience. If you get the blonde-​ish guy with the piercings, you will have a quiet, reserved experience but your espresso drink will be perfectly made. However if you get the owner, the guy with the long beard, and he is not having a good day… well, be prepared to have your day ruined.
I was in line behind a guy who needed to pay for a $ 12 tab with a $ 100 bill. At 8am this is tough for any restaurant — they just opened, the cash register is low. After asking if the guy had anything smaller, the owner begrudgingly changed the $ 100 out with the previous day’s take. Annoying, but no biggie. He took care of things. Thumbs up.
Next up, me. I order pancakes and ask, as directed by the menu, what fruit they have today for the pancakes. I choose blueberries from the list — he goes to write down apples but catches himself & double checks with me. Blueberries it is. Also a side of soy bacon and an iced latte please. He says «16 or 20» which I fail to understand and say, «I’m sorry?» He repeats and I realize he is asking me about the size of my drink — I say «16. Small. Single shot — thanks.» I pay him, and I put money in the tip jar.
Drinking my drink, chilling, waiting for my food. My order is called, which is odd — they usually bring your food out to you, but the guy is handling the counter and the drink-​making alone, so no biggie. I go to get my food and see it is packed to go and he is about to put it in a bag. I tell home i don’t need the bag — I am going to eat here. He looks at me with, no joke, daggers in his eyes. I say it’s not a problem and he says «it’s a waste of packaging and money.» I say I never asked for my food to go — you never gave me the option. He takes my ticket and points to the words «to go» and says you told me it was to go. I say I never did — BECAUSE I NEVER DID. And he tells me he only writes down what is said.
At this point I am hot under the collar — this person is accusing me of lying about whether I wanted my food to go or not & he’s not stopping to realize that maybe a better move would be to just say «no big deal — let me get you a fork.» He gives my food back to the kitchen for them to plate, while huffing out to me with silverware. Ever the positive person, I tell him I am sorry about the confusion. He mumbles something about being the owner to which I say, yea I know — I eat here all the time.
Food plated, I walk back to my seat and start to cry, just like a 7 month pregnant woman is wont to due in this type of a situation.
Reading this back, it doesn’t sound like a big deal, but holy crap did it make me feel terrible. I am overly concerned about being respectful in food service establishments — my husband works in a restaurant, I have worked in multiple food service spots, and many of my friends have done the same. I know that this dude was having a bad morning — it was written all over his stone cold face. But to be a jerk to your clientele just means you won’t have those folks to serve any longer.
I am sad to not go back, but if the owner can’t recognize that he might, every once in a while, especially when already aggravated about something else, make a mistake… well, maybe he doesn’t deserve my dedicated, repeat-​customer business.

What a weird experience. I live very close by but have never felt the need to wander in and I doubt I will again.
I think they have a southern theme going here, the colors are purple and yellow (kinda like new Orleans) they serve po-​boys and collard greens and such.
Upon walking in I wasn’t sure if it was just a coffee shop, so I asked the counter person if they served sandwiches. Without muttering a word he pointed to the menus on the counter, really unfriendly and odd that he barely exchanged eye contact, let alone words.
After ordering it took at least 20 minutes if not much more (I was so frustrated I am trying not to exaggerate, to be honest it felt like 40) and it was a very simple sandwich order. I am not sure what happens in that kitchen but don’t come here if you have anywhere to be… ever.
There are some quirky and cute wall decorations like random Star Wars paraphernalia, and a book collection. Something about it feels creepy and portlandia-​ish, as if time has stopped and the staff members are robots who have been misconfigured, unable to process the one basic task they are meant to accomplish.
There was a point where a member of the waitstaff started dancing. I began to wonder if I had been transported to a different dimension.
I just wanted a sandwich that didn’t take an hour.
My sandwich was OK, but that was really secondary to the über-​hipster, I am too cool to answer your question, take your order, or get you your food in a decent amount of time.

Inconsistency gets anybody a bit unbalanced… eh.
Their coffee is amazing one day, really off the next.
.
The folks are cool even though at time they’re slowwwwww.
I once got a bagel with cc for my man. It was super hard when he tried to eat it. We nuked it in the microwave for 30sec. still hard. eh. dunk dunk on the table. so we decided to make good use of it, if you can’t eat it, dunk dunk it. we shot the bagel over the «mini hang on your door basketball hoop thingy» easily. swish. plunk. thump. we then left it on the window sill for the pigeons to eat it. they came and made weird heckling noises, think they were pissed off. they didn’t even touch it. sigh, into the garbage it goes.
.Yet something draws me here, IF i’m walking past.
but what I can rely on is, is the blueberry pancakes. Yes. the blueberry pancakes

Maybelle’s is hit-​or-​miss. I’ve been there a couple of times, and it was fairly different each time. Naturally, the first time was better. Both times though (just to play fair) I had the same things. One black coffee. One piece of coffee cake. Kids’ stuff. It was a Sunday morning. Both were delicious, particularly the gigantic portion of cake. The perfect balance of crunch top half, and buttery bottom half. The coffee was a perfect companion.
The second time, a month later, I popped in for the same thing. Eeeek. The cake was hard as a rock. A crumbly, stale rock. (Yeah, I know that doesn’t make sense, but it was bad, okay?) The coffee was a perfect companion … in that it was horrible. If I had stuck around, and eaten it there vs getting it to go, I would’ve said something.
Roll the dice, take your chances.

Come all ye hipster.
or come for the Cat Fish Po’ Boy with tartar sauce, pickle and tomato on a nicely toasted bun and side of cabbage salad (coleslaw’ish).
The interior is quirky café with spaced out seating but not too much of it. Almost all were on laptop so I can assume WiFi is provided.
Recommended for solo diners who want to work on a project or read wile sipping some jo and eating a hot meal.

Wow, so I can further forgive Maybelle’s for that uneven sidewalk that caused me to take a spill last June (which may or may not be fixed– I can’t tell) because their food is incredibly delicious. So delicious, that I’ll risk a (glamorous, of course) spill any day for it.
They have plenty of options, including a bunch of tempting vegan breakfast and sandwich choices. I opted for the tofu scramble, figuring that you usually can’t go wrong with that and even if it turned out to be bland, I spied plenty of hot sauce on the condiment bar. I placed my order and grabbed the only seat left in the joint, pleased to see that there are plenty of outlets along the banquet lining the wall. My food came out and I was engrossed in work, so I forgot about it momentarily… until I couldn’t resist the incredible smell. Could it be that good? I wondered.
Oh, yeah it was, I assure you. The tofu was scrambled with zucchini and other vegetables (but not overloaded with onions, which I cannot stand) and a delectable sauce (I detected curry, but it wasn’t overpowering). It comes with tempeh bacon, a salad (the vinegar-​heavy dressing was kinda meh) and whole grain toast. Perfect light and protein-​heavy breakfast. In fact, the baby sitting next to me couldn’t stop turning around to stare at my food with great longing in his eyes. Thank god he wasn’t starving because I would have had a serious struggle in handing over my plate to the kid and that kind of moral dilemma is too much to handle at breakfast.
I’ll raise them a star from the last review because I think they are just about damn perfect. Between that breakfast that I inhaled and their fabulous coffee (a 4-​shot Americano with steamed soy milk is a lot cheaper than you’d spend at Starbucks and avoiding ‘bux is a lot harder these days in NYC), what’s stopping me?

There’s something sort of lazy and chill about this place that makes it a little too close to home. I feel like I could walk in here in my slippers and pjs and wouldn’t garner the least bit of reaction.
The staff, while not unfriendly, is slow and sort of listless. There’s an energy that’s lacking in this place. You don’t quite get the feeling that you’re at a restaurant/​café. More like an acquaintance’s weird retro-​looking kitchen.
The breakfast is not bad, but it’s absolutely something I can make at home, and probably better.
Still, I suppose if I needed to spend hours on a laptop and drinking coffee, this wouldn’t be a bad place to hang out.

The coffee here tastes funny and I don’t think I’ll try it again, unless I’m passing by and give in. There are too many choices in the area with something consistently acceptable.
I tried a peanut butter and jelly pastry thing, and it was just plain awful. In fact it made me feel sick.
It looks nice on the outside, but the interior is dirty with an awkward layout. Don’t really get it.

Love it. good croissant great coffee.