Caffebene

Thought this place was extremely lackluster. First of all, the interior is completely blank. Barely any seating but very open spaces. Weird vibes to begin with.
Got the shaved ice (mango) which was HUGE and $ 14. Only the gelato (mango) on top was tasty. Nothing else was even remotely good. Mango chunks were frozen and slimey, and the yogurt tasted just plain weird. We ate a couple bites and left the rest.
Other items sold look okay… can’t speak about anything besides the weird décor and very subpar bingsu. There is a bathroom available for people who purchase something (code on receipt) and the server was nice enough to let my friend charge her phone with one of their iPhone 5 chargers.

Their cakes taste like cardboard. You have been warned.

I like Caffebene, always get the Mojito and tho it’s full of sugar, it’s also full of flavor and I love it. What I do is buy an additional seltzer water and dilute the sweetness of the Mojito. Why the one star then? Cause I hate random differences among chain places!
I showed up the other day needing to work on a script so bought a bunch of drinks and was ready to settle down for some good ol writing, but hey, no wifi! Ok I hate it when people assume too, and in this case I did. I made an ass out of u and me, but come on! This is like the only café or at lease the only caffebene I been to that didn’t have wifi.
The person behind the counter told me it was because people stayed too long… oh no… people want to sit and work at a café, the nerves of those people.

Nice décor, but overpriced for less than stellar food and service. I ordered a bacon bit banana waffle and lavender ice tea which came up to a little over $ 17. That would’ve been fine except the waffle was undercooked and had pockets of sugar crystals and black burned bits.
My friend ordered a raspberry chocolate waffle and they somehow heard it as a chocolate sundae waffle. Overall, not worth the price. The location is spacious, but I’ll take less space for better food any day, i.e. at one of the other Korean bakeries nearby (Paris Baguette/​Tous Les Jours).

This is a trendy, moderately priced chain café in the city. However depending on what you order, you could easily spend $ 10 on a drink and pastry, so be wary when you are thinking of what to order. The iced drinks tend to be on the sweet side, so I will typically go with a hot tea (which is also a lot less expensive). They have a good selection of pastries, ranging from your standard croissant to chocolate drizzled waffles.
The space is modern and tastefully designed, and has a great seating area on the second floor where you can sit and chat with friends or work/​read a book. Definitely not a destination café if you are from out of town, but worthwhile to stop in if you have some time to kill.

If you must beat the Starbucks line, pay in cash. Their card system is questionable.

Eh not great.
Came in around 7:30p looking for what we though would be an healthy smoothie.
10 minutes later they finally figured out how to work the blender and gave us our incredibly sweet drinks. When I ordered I asked and was told it would just be banana and strawberry but there was obviously orange juice in there too.

As a friendly update, this place was recently closed for a few days after a subpar inspection from the health department. Unfortunately they were back open within days with a C grade on the door. Blech.

Caffebene is a fun little chain, and if you’re looking to get back in the chain gang (har, har), you could do worse. I prefer the K-​Town location in LA overall, but this one in Chelsea is definitely better than the Midtown branches (more space and fewer annoying students).
The Strawberry Honey Bread is a Great Wall of Gluten – over an inch thick and more than 7 inches wide, it’s a paleo dieter’s worst nightmare and one of the most delicious dessert-​bread creations you’ll ever have. For those looking for more classic desserts, the Mississippi Mud Pie is fantastic.
Just don’t expect friendly service or a quiet ambience here.

Caffebene does better at desserts than they do for fancy coffee drinks. Their coffee is comparable if not slightly more expensive than starbucks.
Went here for a quick meeting and order a Medium Vanilla Latte — $ 5.17. The coffee isn’t burnt or over roasted, but a generally good cup. As far as the latte, it was pretty good and well balanced and you do get a 16 ounce servicing of it, however $ 5.17 for coffee and steamed milk, does that seem reasonable to anyone even in NYC?
Their desserts here are very good but equally as pricey. They also have a nice upstairs seating area. It’s a good spot for a business meeting or a place to hang out between meetings if you need to load up your laptop, but most people can’t afford it as their regular cup of joe.
Random Note: My co-​workers ran into Alec Baldwin here, so thats pretty cool.

The place looked cute and I didn’t have time to Unilocal it. Why go to a chain when there is a local shop on the same block?
The cost for a small hot coffee with a pump of syrup was fair, and the coffee itself was fine. The barista overfilled my cup and it spilled a little when I went to add Splenda.
There is a bathroom with a code for customers only. It wasn’t squeaky clean but there was TP and soap.
Nothing outstanding but it did the trick all around.

I got medium white vanilla bean (white hot chocolate) and it wasn’t hot at all. Also it tasted just like milk. And later I found this plastic while I was drinking. So disturbing. Never going back.

I came here today for a work meeting and was pleasantly surprised. The upstairs area with its wooden tables was a great place to meet. I didn’t even know there was an upstairs! I took advantage of the check in special, which was a 50 percent off Misugaru latte. It was amazing. It was rich and nutty and the rice just made the touch. I’m definitely going to go back for that again. The lady seemed annoyed that I had the coupon, but hey — I’m a Unilocaler and proud. This drink was amazing!

I would rather pay a $ 5 entrance fee to utilize the enjoyable café atmosphere, than $ 5 for a horrible drink that actually ended up detracting from the experience. It seems they’ve spent too long trying to make everything sound and look appealing, but failed to actually perform a taste test.
My ‘Dark Aztec’ hot chocolate tasted like water with mixed in dirt, and had the exact aftertaste you would imagine.
I contemplated bringing my drink back to the counter, but realized it wasn’t something they could remedy by making again… it was the drink itself. Any drink made with powder is the epitome of cheap. If I wanted something like that, I would have gone to Dunkin’ Donuts or McDonalds, where the $ 1 price tag would justify the use of powder… and would taste better to boot! I can’t tell if I feel more nauseous from the drink itself or the fact I paid $ 5 for a size SMALL.
Two stars only for the quaint library located upstairs.

Passed Caffebene soo many times with my boyfriend and everytime he couldn’t help himself from making fun of its name. Then one morning as we were about to head to the Highline we wanted milk tea and it was no where to be found! Luckily we saw that Caffebene serves milk tea (he wasn’t laughing now). We shared a thai milk tea with boba. Honestly we were both a little skeptical about how it would turn out since it is not your typical milk tea place and it also seems a little Americanized. However it was pleasantly delicious. I liked that the Thai milk tea was not super strong. The boba also had the perfect consistency.

Loved our drinks but man that girl working the cashier both days we frequented this place gots to go… she was super unfriendly and incompetent when it came to taking our orders. Maybe she was new but show some enthusiasm or energy… It was depressing seeing her and waiting for her to incorrectly put in the orders that both days the kind maybe manager guy? had to fix while speedily preparing drinks and food orders for all the other customers.
Loved the unique latte drinsk we got with the nice Unilocal discount. The pistachio waffle though should be avoided unless you’re craving a sugar bomb.

The word «A-​OK» fits this place.
It’s on my way to work, it’s decent, quick, the price seems average compared to other coffee shops like this (e.g: Starbucks, Gregory’s, etc) Small iced coffee runs $ 2.50ish I think.
I have learn to put customer service aside when it comes to franchised coffee places like this. You’re in and you’re out — customer service is sort of set aside to fast and easy. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. I mean, if I don’t expect it, I’m not disappointed right?
Currently they have the Misugaru drink and a Unilocal special; if you check in you get 50% off your drink. Luckily, I absolutely love this beverage (Thank you Korean peeps) It’s grainy, both in taste and if not mixed well in texture. The consistence of this drink really depends on who makes it. I’ve had it good (at the Steinway location), a bit thick and frothy (decent), and really watery/​grainy (yuck). Misugaru, includes stuff like sesame seeds, brown rice and barley. High in protein so they say.
If it wasn’t for this check-​in special (a large comes out to $ 2.87) AND the fact I enjoy this beverage, I don’t think I’d frequent them as much.

Caffe Bene, you Iost me as a regular client tonight.
The night barista (also cashier) gave me a warm instead of iced boba tea. Not even one ice cube. For 5+ dollars for a M drink, that’s just not acceptable. Also when I gave the same guy my loyalty card, he scribbled over my previous earned stamp as if he voided it instead of giving me another earned stamp. Wtf? Unfortunately I only saw this when I got home (always look so you don’t get jibbed)
I usually look past the daytime snarky attitude of the staff and the ridiculous prices but this has just convinced me to take my business elsewhere,
Go to Coco Fresh tea or Kung fu tea instead. Service is good AND you pay 3.50 for a Large boba tea. Much much better deal

I got a drink here while waiting for a show. The lower floor is wide open with standing bars near the windows, nice if you just want to chill for a bit but awkward if you want to hang out for any longer than a few moments to catch your breath. They do have a bit of seating upstairs, and people do find it comfortable enough to hang out and study there, but it’s a bit active and glossy to be more than an incidental hangout, a place to meet up with someone and then go somewhere else.
Coffee’s okay. It’s chain store coffee and tea, consistent in quality but nothing blow away amazing.

Time to rise and grind
Daily deal
The daily grind
It’s the daily spiel
Mornings are difficult to awake, but a fresh new day begins with a fresh outlook, a renewed spirit, pastries, fruit fruit, and a sip of preferred tea of choice – Green Tea. It was by surprise that I took the long way to my workplace in finding new blood. Caffebene is a quaint Korean café modeled after a European coffeehouse that carries Croquette, Brioche, Croque-​monsieur, and Foccacia breads. Ahh, the aroma of European breads that reminisce my sweet travel to Paris, France that I sadly miss the joy of a European café. Their pastries consist of many dipped Belgian Waffles and their organic coffee selection is very abundant finished with a elegant leaf. This café is a very relaxed atmosphere where patrons can chill to sip their cappuccino to chocolate dipped strawberry waffles as the world moves at a slow pace. In the interest of time and budget, I grab the quickest and next healthiest thing– strawberries $ 3.75. The strawberries are fresh and large. The cashiers appear very apathetic and stolid as they do not welcome without a simple «hello» and not even a smile.
Note: Request for a receipt as it contains a WiFi password and a bathroom access code (both changes from day to day), which one must have to use Caffebene’s amenities. This location is adjacent to FIT in Chelsea.