Keko Cafe

small, warm place. good food, good coffee. not loud.

I ordered a chicken and avocado sandwich to go and when I got home, I realized they had given me a measly looking BLT sandwich instead! :(
Service also could’ve been a lot better. After placing my order, the guy behind the counter didn’t say to take a seat, or how much the bill was so I had to ask myself.

The place looks nice however the waiters personality was lacking and was not very engaging.
Also there was hair in my food, the young man didn’t seem that humbly sorry.

Absolutely love this place. Came upon it during a trip to NYC and thought it looked cool so we stopped in for breakfast. The menu is impressive– so many unique choices. The service was great and the décor is really cool. We made a point to stop in the next time we were in the city and have since recommended it to friends who are there. Definitely worth a stop!

Formerly named Blank Slate (and still listed on Unilocal).
Server was not attuned to diners’ needs or pace. Food (breakfast & coffee) was just mediocre. Omelettes were a bit flat and plain. Toast was overcooked and not warm. Overall menu & food prep was rather ordinary. Quaint setting (small w/​nice décor) but was very loud due to inconsiderate larger group of 20-​somethings.

Tired of the coffeehouse chains that look the same everywhere you go? Then places like this one is great. A small, cosy café. Nice place to go for lunch or just a cup of coffee if you can get a table, there aren’t many of them. Super-​friendly staff, good coffee. I had omelette here twice, it tasted good, but it was a bit dry. Anyway, I enjoyed my time here, and am I coming back? Why not?

Worst experience ever. One of the most unfriendly service and we were pushed out for only ordering drinks. Treated as if we were poor second class citizens or something.
First, Was asked to move 3 times (mind you, this is only a 10 table restaurant) to accommodate other guests who were coming in and who needed different configuration of tables. I totally understand and don’t mind and did all the moves happily.
However, they turned around and then gave us the check within 5 mins after our drink orders. Then came back to to pick up payment 2 mins later. The owner kept coming back and hovering saying you want to order? And just giving us the eye. There wasn’t even anyone waiting at that point! The owner was clearly trying to make us uncomfortable and force us to leave. Anyway, it worked. It got so uncomfortable that we just left I never even touched my $ 6 paper cut tea.
Never ever going back.

Stumbled upon this adorable french café on Madison avenue on the morning of my birthday and thought, this is going to be yummy! Boy was I wrong. I give this place 1 star solely for the atmosphere and menu choices. My friend and ai both ordered the vegetarian omelette. When it arrived it was not an omelette but rather a frittata. No biggie. However, the ingredients were not what was listed on the menu and mine was undercooked. The potatoes were cold and slimy and tasted of oil. The only thing I enjoyed on my plate was the toast with strawberry jam. but it wasn’t mind blowing. My iced tea tasted like water. If I were to ever go back (highly unlikely) I would order a croissant or crêpe. Sorry Keko café, I wanted to like you :/

Breakfast was outstanding. After my stay at the Roger Hotel (which is 50 ft. away) I came in and was immediately greeted with a smile and great vibes. Coffee was fresh and delicious. Seating is also great. Roomy and comfortable for groups of 4 or less.

Coffee was totally overpriced ($ 4 for Americano!) and croissant a little dry. I guess that’s what you get on 4 July.

Decent tea, mediocre service.
We sat down in the café and grabbed a menu from the neighboring table. Not looking to eat anything at the time, I glanced over the tea options. The menu had a small list of teas divided by type. There was no description, and when asked the batista just told me he didn’t drink tea. I decided to jump in blind and ordered the citrus green tea, which seemed like a safe option.
Shortly after ordering I noticed a more extensive list of teas on a chalk board off to the side of the restaurant. Oh well, I might have picked the same tea anyways.
The citrus green tea was tasty at first, but the infuser had no handle and by the second or third cup it was far too bitter. The menu had other tasty looking food options like crepes, so while I probably wouldn’t come back for the tea alone I might come back to try some of the other options.

We have walked by Keko many times and never paid it much attention.
On the last pass you could hear Edith Piaf playing, so we stepped in.
I was an immediate flashback to the last time I was in Lyon. It was like they took a café from a small nondescript side street like Rue Lanterne and transplanted it to NYC without changing a thing. We relaxed here for a good hour and a half, and forgot where we were. Like a little mid morning vacation.
The food is good and priced fairly. The savory crepes were excellent, not overstuffed, and served with a handful of mixed greens with a light dressing. The cappuccino was excellent, and there is an interesting tea list.
Very civilized.
Quickly made the list of places to become regular stops.

I finally ate here today. I’ve been walking past multiple times. The guy who was working there, maybe the owner, was flipping his shit cause like five people came in at once. It’s the size of a shoe box, and it’s mid morning breakfast, we expect to wait. It just felt rushed and awkward.
He brought my water and it smelled disgusting. Like it was washed with a wet rag that hasn’t been cleaned or dried in forever.
Got the bacon egg and cheese crêpe. Salad was limp and old. Crêpe was okay. Lots of extra pastry, and not much filling.
It was ok. I probably won’t eat here again.

The service is very New York (as in a slightly aggressive «what do you want?») but you get over it pretty quickly thanks to the day service and decent food/​coffee.

Service is slow. Food was good (#14 lox crêpe), it didn’t contain the ingredients listed on the menu (capers, onion, tomato), just cheese and salmon with a siracha mayo but still a good crêpe

A colleague and I were in New York on business, coming from upstate and staying at the Hotel Chandler on E. 31^st. We were on our way to a meeting, and then to the airport, looking for a quick but nice breakfast bite before a long afternoon of travel (and airport food, bleh).
I found Keko Café on Unilocal,just steps from our hotel. When we arrived, the teenie tiny dining room was packed. We lingered in the doorway for a few minutes, and a man (I presume the owner? He was a busy bee!) shouted across the room, «five minutes!» Then a nice patron vacated a two person table for the counter, moving her own plate and coffee, and we sat down.
I ordered the oatmeal with fresh fruit. I requested it be made with water instead of milk, and though our waiter was confused for a moment, he made no issue of it. It was your standard oatmeal — not steel cut or too hearty, but fine, and sweetened just right. The best part was the fruit on top… AND on bottom! The strawberries, blueberries and bananas were fresh, and there were more of them than usually served on a bowl of oatmeal. My colleague enjoyed her mocha latte and her Mediterranean omelet. Nothing spectacular, but solidly good. Better than many other options in the area, I’m sure.
The coffee was good, soy milk was fresh. Prices were reasonable, and the service was quick and kind. They were clearly trying to turn tables fast, but in a place that probably holds fewer than 20 people at any given time, they cannot be blamed for that. And their courtesy was certainly appreciated. It was a little odd to have a gratuity automatically added to a two-​person bill, but as a normally generous tipper, I didn’t mind.
While we sat there, about a dozen people came in and out for quick pastries and coffees to go. It’s good to know there is a nice, quality breakfast place (sit down or to go) so near our regular city ‘hood. We will definitely be back!

Random find, just like many New York cafes. Cute décor. Friendly staff. Hot warm tea FTW!

This is a very tiny café that a friend and I visited back in November and it’s fairly good overall. There is very little seating, but the service is attentive. My friend and I both had omelets with croissants and the food was tasty; the eggs were cooked well and the croissant was fluffy and buttery. The price is a bit high however and I really didn’t feel that it was anything exceptional that I couldn’t find anywhere else. Overall, it’s a decent place with good food, but a bit pricey and very tiny inside.

I saw this cute, kitschy café from outside and decided to walk in and try something new. I saw the sandwiches were high-​priced, so looked over to the left and saw a giant crêpe menu. Great! I love crepes. The price wasn’t listed, but I couldn’t imagine a crêpe would be more expensive than a sandwich, so I ordered a Ratatouille crêpe that had zucchini, peppers, onions, and feta.
The cashier was extremely tired, really bored, or just generally disinterested in his job, so he wasn’t very helpful or friendly. He asked me to sit down, so I did. I waited about 10 minutes for my food which felt like a while. In the meantime, I saw another gentleman ask about the crepes: «how is the chicken crêpe?» The cashier responded with a shrug and a «meh.» The customer said, «What’s good?» and the cashier said the egg, bacon and cheese was good. Uh oh. the simplest crêpe on the menu is the only one he recommends? I started regretting my decision to get a crêpe.
When my order was ready, the cashier just mumbled «hey» over by the cash register and expected me to know he was talking to me and get up to grab my order. He handed me the bill instead of telling me how much it was, and I handed him my credit card. $ 13 for a crêpe. Outrageous!
The crêpe was actually incredibly bland, doused in butter, and tasted nothing like Ratatouille. I probably would have been happier with a side of sautéed vegetables without seasoning — because it tastes just like that but inside a wrap and for a much higher price. What’s worse is it comes with this gross-​tasting mayonnaise sauce on the side, so even if you try to add some flavor with it, you won’t like it. I feel like I wasted my money.
Why 2 stars and not 1? I imagine this place is a cute place to sit and have a cup of coffee with someone — if just for the kitschy environment.

Frühstück im Hotel? Machen wir fast nie. Da gehen wir lieber «um die Ecke» und erleben das authentische Leben der Region. Im Hotel ist es meist überall gleich gestrickt — und teuer!
So auch in NY. Nur wenige Gehminuten von unserem Hotel (Martha Washington) fanden wir das Keko — Café and Tea, so die Ankündigung. Schon der kleine, enge Eingang strahlt das Besondere aus. Keine Starbucks oder eine vergleichbare Kette der vielen Coffee-​Shops. Hier herrscht Individualität: Ein kleiner, lang gestreckter Raum mit einem Tresen und einigen wenigen Tischen. Alles ein bisschen eng, aber urgemütlich. Auf dem Tresen warten schon die Backwaren auf Kunden, Croissants, Bagels, Kuchen und vieles mehr.
Die Wände sind von unten bis oben auf Regalen vollgestellt mit Nostalgie. Teekannen über Teekannen, alte Koffer, irgendwelche undefinierbaren Behälter, an der Decke hängt ein Vogelkäfig ohne Vogel — man weiß gar nicht, wohin das Auge zuerst blicken soll. An zwei Wandtafeln werden die Tagesangebote angepriesen und obligatorisch für Amerika läuft über den TV-​Bildschirm irgendeine Sendung, die sich niemand ansieht.
In Kaffeebehältern aus historischen Zeiten lagern die verschiedensten Kaffeesorten. Die Teeauswahl ist ungewöhnlich groß. Und der Hunger wird auch gestillt. Neben den Backwaren werden kleine Gerichte angeboten, Suppen, Crepes, Eierspeisen etc. So kann man hier nicht nur gut frühstücken, sondern auch den Tag über zu angenehmen Preisen eine Kleinigkeit zu sich nehmen.
Alles auch take-​away. Als wir dort mehrmals weilten sahen wir viele Kunden, die nur reinkamen, bestellten, einpackten und wieder gingen.
Problem ist nur, dass oft alle Plätze besetzt sind. Da es so angenehm hier ist, gehen die Gäste dann auch nicht so schnell wieder und lassen einen warten. Die Wartezeit — sofern man das in Kauf nimmt — kann man dann mit kostenfreien WiFi überbrücken.

3.5 stars!!! Price point’s a bit high.
This is a café straight outta Europe. Teeny, crowded, a vintage vibe and a menu filled with both savory and sweet crepes, breakfast like omelettes served all day and a selection of salads and sandwiches. This spot isn’t the cheapest option, but has a really unique vibe, especially for the neighborhood; definitely a great escape from midtown.
They have a great variety of tea and I love that they give you the whole pot to enjoy at your own pace. I met up with a friend and enjoyed a pot of green loose leaf tea and quite a delicious Nutella and banana crêpe for a mid afternoon break. On a Thursday at 2pm, it was packed.
Service is less then good, but again the place is so small, so the bad service is bearable. Not the best café you’ll ever go to, but definitely a solid little spot in midtown to enjoy a break from city life.