J & B Express

Easy, convenient, but definitely feels like there isn’t a lot of attention or time invested in the place.

Great little place to grab a cup of coffee on the way to the W4 subway station. Rarely a line, so I usually will drop in on my way off to school/​work. The punch card for a free coffee after ten cups also keeps me coming back. They also have a small assortment of pastries, etc.
They do make the coffee a lil too sweet when you ask for sugar though. Yummy, but excessive sugar on top of caffeine turns me into a twitchy mess.

Love this place! $ 1 for a small coffee (it’s really a small) is the perfect cheap, pick-​me-​up.

this is such a solid coffee shop. when i lived on sullivan street i’d go here every day before i realized that starbucks was cool before i realized that starbucks wasn’t cool, before i realized that not liking starbucks was really cool, before i realized that trying to be cool is the least cool thing ever
anyway the coffee is good the patrons are ordinarily very low key, the staff is nice and they remember your face and your order, the baked goods are perfectly mediocre, the prices are decent. love you guys!

For a small local coffee shop, J & B is basically as good as it gets.
I’ve only ever gotten iced coffee and bagels there. A small iced coffee is $ 2.50 — it’s tasty and they don’t put too much ice in it. The bagels are just typical deli bagels and, if you ask for butter on it, they pretty much drown it in butter. (Fortunately, I don’t have a problem with that!)
I like J & B because it’s pretty cheap and because the guys who work there are really nice. They also have a card for a free drink after you get 10 stamps, which sweetens the deal. Highly recommended!

Great service and great coffee. Best prices around. One dollar small coffee!

Okay, I’m going to have to dock them two stars. First, they need to really hold back a bit when putting sugar in coffee. Yes, it’s nice of you to offer but when I can’t drink the beverage I’ve purchase because it tastes like a sugar cube dipped in watery coffee. it really defeats the purpose.
Today I ordered a vanilla latte and actually spit it out after one sip. He must have poured 5 tablespoons of syrup in the thing and no amount of shaking was going to improve that thing. If this was the first time this happened then I’d be more forgiving but I’ve never had a well-​balanced vanilla latte here, hot or cold.
Please, please measure the syrup and sugar before pouring it into customer’s coffee. I like you, but I don’t love you right now J&B.

4 stars for some amaaazing chai.
sweet to savory spices ratio a bit high, as to be expected of americanized chai, but not overwhelmingly cinnamon-​y like most places i’ve tried (which end up tasting more like hot horacha than chai). but i believe this to be a personal preference thing. still on the hunt for a good sPICED chai.
extra points for steaming the milk! makes a big difference. the sweet, foamy goodness makes for a perfect morning drink on my morning communte.
will definately come back for some yogurt muffins. they look worth breaking the diet for.
also, the cute old man behind the counter and friendly and chatty. pleasant people make mornings just that more bearable.
pleasant people and, well, chai.

Got a quick latte here. A small is truly small, and it was $ 2.25. My guess is people come here because it’s quick and cheap. I wouldn’t say it’s anything amazing… though those delectable-​looking muffins were staring right back at me. J&B has a few small tables if you want to sit in the airy space.

The coffee didn’t seem to be anything impressive. The best thing was that my small coffee was only a buck… that said, it was smaller than most small coffees.

J&B is sort of a sleeper. You would never look at this place and think it would have a great cup of coffee. There is no ambiance to speak of and there isn’t really anything to eat, either. But this is hands down one of the best cups of coffee in the city. I’ve been there a million times and I’ve never had coffee that tasted burnt or bitter or old. If you take yours with milk you are extra lucky because they steam the milk. It’s an added flourish that most places dispense with but it actually enhances the coffee to a surprising degree. J&B is consistently cheaper than other places in the neighborhood too and the small coffee is so cute and little it will make you cry.

Quick & cheap caffeine and a chocolate chip cookie from Mom & Pop before you hop on the train. Where have you been all my life?

This is the place to get coffee at the point in the morning where my ability to speak has yet to kick in. After coming in two or three times, they will likely have memorized your order so you can just walk in wordlessly and give them $ 1.75, and go on your merry way. Very good place for those of us who are lacking in social graces prior to their second cup. They are fast and will start working on your drink the second they see you. I love this place. One note: their standard coffee comes as a café au lait, which is nice. They actually dump in whatever sugar or sweetner and milk/​cream you ask for into a cup and steam it in the cup, which is a nifty way of doing it.

I’m a huge good-​coffee nut, and when I say this place was better than adequate, it’s not a put-​down, and instead a snipe to all the other terrible cups of coffee made daily around the city. I had a small americano, on the strong side (as I like it) almost with a rich taste. I would happily go back here sometime, if just to avoid a major chain and still enjoy a coffee.
Extremely small and quiet space — when I was here you could hear a pin drop — so intimate conversation seemed impossible. (Well, if you don’t want to feel like everyone’s listening…) Prices seemed very reasonable, service was quiet and friendly. I look forward to trying another cup here.

A small man with a Roman nose peers over the counter, quickly takes your order and begins looking over your shoulder before your wallet is in your hand. An old Bianchi espresso machine, a timeworn relic whose brass has been subsumed by a patina of use, hisses and as you count your change your drink is ready. This coffee and teashop is short on frills, but the quality of your caffeine fix is excellent. There is no style here, just well roasted beans. The voices you here have the awkward Os of old New Yorkers or the lilts and trills and animation of foreigners. The lighting reminds you of those 1970’s films about a Manhattan that has all but disappeared, but it still exists at this little hole in the wall tucked into 3^rd Avenue.

huh… I was shocked when I saw the good reviews! I had a crap latte there – watery and flavorless and small. I live right above it, and have avoided since that first time. I will have to try again, as I think it must have been a bad day. Stay tuned…
UPDATE
mmkay, I had another latte – better, and the lo-​fat muffins are so good, they have to be lying. ADD TWO STARS.
UPDATE AGAIN
F@&K that. Had a cappucino there this am – it was like house coffee with milk when I took my first sip. No foam, nada. Even the muffin was eh. ERASE STARS.

I usually make coffee at home and carry it to work in a travel mug, but sometimes I find myself with a giant pile of mugs on my desk at work and none left at home. On those days, I stop by J & B.
It’s super small… they’re pretty quick, though, and I’ve never seen the line get so long that it goes out the door. (5 people would probably be too many.) Great place to grab a cup of coffee on the way to the train station, you’ll be in and out really fast. Plus, the regular coffee comes with steamed milk! No extra charge! Hot and foamy and yum!

I really love this place. The coffee is flavorful and they steam the milk before they put it in, which seems to sweeten it and keeps the coffee nice and hot. Plus, I love a place that has Splenda and will add it in for me. The guys that work behind the counter are just adorable and so friendly. I come here on Thursday mornings when I have to get on the train at 7am and I pretty much open them up.
I haven’t had any of their pastries, obviously not made on site.
Just a cute little coffee place, and extra bonus points for being open on Christmas Day so I could have coffee on the train on the way to pick up my Dad!!! This was the only decent place open for coffee, not into Bodega coffee, sorry.

tiny little place, big flavored coffee, friendly counter staff– a nice way to start your morning. They carry sugar free muffins, I had the banana almond one, and it was moist and yum!

the place is tiny but quite cozy. their coffee is inexpensive and even the regular joe comes complete with foamed milk. coffee doesn’t taste burnt like starbucks.
the only thing bad about it is that their baked goods don’t seem too fresh and look like they came from the corner deli.
the guy managing the place is nice and looks like he’s friends with all the customers that hang out at this place.