La Sala 78 Cafe / Gallery

pros: the staff is very friendly, & the food is delicious (had the tomato/​basil/​mozzarella panini with an avocado). it could be wonderful, except for a few things.
cons:
1) no bathroom for customers! they directed me to a neighboring business w/​a prominent sign saying ‘bathroom for customers only.‘
2) Internet is an issue. The ‘LA SALA 78′ wifi signal is locked. when I asked for the password, the barista told me just to use the open ‘NETGEAR’ signal. Easy enough, but the internet signal kept disappearing.
I really want to like this place.
I definitely will give it another chance, but I hope these very fixable problems are addressed. In fact, everything else would be excusable if the internet business is worked out.
Then, four stars.
Til then, three.

I LOVE this place. It’s one of my go-​to places for healthy food in the Inwood area. It’s a cute and cozy little salad/​sandwiches spot with cool local artwork on the walls. I love all of their sandwiches and it comes with a delicious side salad with balsamic vinaigrette. Salads are made to order, you can personalize it and its made right in front of you. They also have fresh smoothies. Staff are friendly and inviting. Prices are typical manhattan. Seating is limited but they deliver. Definitely a place to check out if you’re in the area and need a healthy bite!

This place is a true Diamond in the rough. It is probably the only place on Dyckman where you can get healthy food.
I’ve had the avocado wrap, chicken Panini sandwich, salads, etc. and I’ve never been disappointed.
The workers are professional and friendly, which gives the place a family style vibe to it.
It has a cute cozy feel and free Wi-​Fi which is always a plus.
While you wait for your order your eyes are dazzled by the art work on the wall.
They also deliver!

This itty bitty café could easily be missed if you were not looking for it.
Very limited seating with only 5 small two tops. Even though they offer free WiFi this really isn’t the kind of café you would want to post up for a few hours.
It was lunch time, and I was hungry so I went with the Spring Caesar Wrap. It was loaded, I mean loaded with chicken. The Caesar dressing was light and the chopped romaine was still crunchy even though they give this a quick panini press. I liked the addition of grapes although I think red grapes would work better over the green. I barely saw the toasted almonds, though I really couldn’t taste them and didn’t get any texture from them with my bites.
Full coffee service as well as smoothies are available. I opted for the Sangria Lemonade and what a fantastic delight it was. I finished it all halfway through my meal. I wish there was more. I surely would have paid more for a larger size.
For $ 13.75 I left full and not needing dinner. I just wish the delicious sangria lemonade would have lasted all day.

Came here today after a workout at the gym. I have lived in Inwood all my life, and I’d never seen this place before. Had I not seen it on Unilocal,I wouldn’t have found it. The really polite girl behind the counter must’ve noticed me looking around, because she asked me if this was my first time there, to which I replied Yes. Then I asked how long they’ve been around, and the response kinda caught me off guard… the establishment is going on 5 years.
Considering it’s placement along Dyckman, this cozy little sandwich shop almost looks out of place. But the art gallery atmosphere and food I had were pretty great and I can’t wait to come back for more. I had the Avocado Chicken Salad panini sandwich and something called a Lemonade Sangria. The sandwich was fresh and delicious: moist, tender grilled chicken (think it had mayo, not sure) with avocado and some greens (spinach mostly) on 7 grain bread, pressed to perfection. It was pretty big, so I’d say the $ 7 for it is justified.
The Lemonade Sangria was also really good. I saw the girl making one and asked what it was… it’s lemonade w/​some fruits and some sort of syrup, non-​alcoholic (although I think it would go great mixed with some white wine). So I asked for one to add to my order.
Overall, nice little spot to catch a somewhat healthy meal. Something I also really liked was the several pieces of artwork on the walls, and it even has some books to read, as well as a checkerboard. Will definitely be back.

Best salads Uptown! Anyone who lives above 125^th street knows how difficult it is to get a nice tossed salad with fresh greens (not iceberg) and a fresh smoothie (no Tropicana nonsens!) This place as a nice selection of toppings at their salad bar, the smoothies are amazing and they even offere soy milk, lemonaide and natural sweeteners like honey and agave syrup to sweeten your smoothie. The paninis are fantastic as well! I’m totally addicted to this place. The service is great, the pricing is fair. The only small. yes SMALL downside… is that since everything is made fresh, there will be a bit of a wait but nothing longer than 10 minutes. Othere than that, this place is a gem!

This is a nice place, so calm amongst a sea of noisy greasy food options (which i love) but this place had healthy yummy options, great ambiance, free wifi, great coffee, and friendly staff. A great place to have lunch, or grab coffee, read a book or use your labtop

When I went there today there was one woman working the counter, she was very nice, very attentive and engaged in conversation. She let me stare at the menu as long as I needed (Listen, when it comes to such a great menu one can be indecisive!) I ended up ordering the Avocado Chicken Salad Sandwich. Mmmmm, yummy yummy! I’m usually not a fan of dill but it just works here. With a large mango Snapple and a bag of chips it came out to $ 10.61. Considering the quality of their fresh, delicious and healthy ingredients they are very reasonably priced.
My staple go-​to order is the Spring Chicken Cesar Wrap. Grilled chicken, Cesar dressing, toasted almonds, green grapes… *mouth orgasm* It’s delicious, refreshing and surprisingly filling. I LOVE it. No, you don’t understand: I freakin’ LOVE it! Like, eyes rolling into the back of my head finger lickin’ good love it. If you eat chicken, EAT THIS! Your taste buds will thank you and worship me for my suggestion.
For those that like to dine in: there isn’t a lot of space to sit and eat inside the establishment. That doesn’t bother me as I normally have one or both of my spawn/​kids with me so sitting in an establishment and eating isn’t something I’m crazy about (I’m one of the decent folks that doesn’t think everyone should be subjected to their weirdness), but if it’s a beautiful day like today just take your wrap and walk a couple blocks to the park. Sit out in the sun, listen to the birds and stuff your face with scrumptious, healthy food.

When I was working in Washington Heights, this was one of my favorite lunch places. The service is very friendly, the food is yummy and fresh and there is a great selection of healthy goods. My only reason for not giving them 5 stars is because it’s a little on the pricey side but that is only in comparison to the other greasy and unhealthy options on the same block. Great place and lovely ambiance.

— Healthy
— Good menu + service
— Reasonably priced and timely
— Get a panini, mmm

I’ve lived in the neighborhood for a while now but only tried this recently. Nice place to hang out for coffee and snacks. And their sandwiches are fresh and pretty tasty.

La sala is the best place for a panini in the city!!! They are made perfectly everything is always so fresh the bread is toasted and nice and crunchy not soggy like some places. The sandwiches come with a little salad on the side and their salad dressings that they make are sooooo tasty I love the balsamic vinaigrette… The sangria has fresh fruits in the cup lots of them so try it. My favorite panini is the Chipotle chicken. The owners are so friendly, the place is always clean, and they change up the artwork often so it is entertaining…

Great smoothies. Loved the panini. Cool atmosphere. Excellent café con leche.
I like going after work with my wife. Brings the blood pressure down after a long day.

Good spot for your healthy fix. Went here on a sunday afternoon, place was pretty empty. When I first walked in, I noticed the collection of artwork displayed all over the walls with a mixture of graffiti as well. The place has a very cozy vibe, especially with the neo-​soul playlist that was on. I ordered the chicken-​pesto wrap which was delicious, and had a mango smoothie which was ok, didn’t really taste like mango. Overall, a good place that provides you with something a little different from your usual inwood/​wash heights spots.

«woohoo as good as it gets» considering the area and what’s available.
sometimes i just want a great sandwich or salad that is not of typical dominican style (and i’m dominican), and this is where i go to. great paninis (although i wish there was a wheat/​whole grain option) and the salads are yummy. feels good to eat here overall.
the atmosphere is laid back and cool. seems like the majority of patrons when i’ve been there are friends of the owners or they grew up together. or maybe it’s just because we are where we are. the heights. and here dominicans all seem to know each other and support each other in some way (when news spreads ur son/​you boy opened up a business we all pitch in for the cause *smiles*)
go and try them out.

I’ve been ordering lunch from La Sala 78 since probably a week or so after they opened. The girl that answers the phone is always so nice. Not even the slightest error in my order and the delivery is quick. The scrambled egg wraps are delish and the cappucino has just enough foam. If I get a biscotti too, I’m in heaven once I’m at work. The TBM panini is the yummiest and I’m considering it for today as I write this.
Finally went in about a year ago, but only to order and go. Got to meet Ziada, the face behind the voice all that time.
The artwork is pretty cool and music is lively but not in-​your-​face-​loud like other businesses in the area.
Then the other day, I took my toddler in for lunch and sat and ate there for the first time. I agree with the other poster, the chairs should be more upright, but it’s not enough of a problem to not go again and enjoy the wonderful service.

if you are picky about iced coffee, try the one here — it’s smoky iced shaken espresso. Sooooo good. Hundred times better than Starbucks. There is some knowingness and skill here!
The smoothies are ultra-​custom made, i.e., there is no menu, you just tell them what base you like, what fruits you like, how sweet do you like it, and they listen to what you want and they read your mind and make a good one for you.

EXCELLENT place and so happy to see it in Dyckman! Very urban chic atmosphere thats sophisticated and kind. They have coffee drinks (amazing lattes), smoothies and all sorts of bottled organic drinks too. The menu is excellent with a wide array of choices, both meat and vegetarian options too such as wraps, salads and paninis. They also sell nuts, coffee from DR, organic chips, etc. ADORE this place and would suggest to anyone even remotely close to the area.

Came after a failed attempt to find a place to work near Hamilton Heights (T & J Bakery, which seems to be closed). Read KTB’s review and decided to check it out.
Pretty dead on a Sunday afternoon when I came (aka only me there), but seemed cool. The girl working there was playing all the jams, no joke: Maxwell, Toni Tony Tone/​Raphael Saadiq, SWV, Matchbox 20, etc. She looked so young, I almost wanted to be like, «You don’t know nothing about some SWV!» Anyway, dug the art on the walls (aka the Gallery part). Was a little confused about the menu since there’s few things listed on the chalkboard. Didn’t see one anywhere, so just went online to find out. After my hour plus of being there, finally realized there are menus on the counter.
My chai was mostly mediocre (but as you can see from my review from Subtle Tea, my standards are ruined in that area from having real chai in India), but I dealt. Tables are relatively small for working with a laptop and a notebook, for example (esp harder to work and eat at same time), but there is the free wifi and I made do. People kept coming in ordering salads and the lemonade sangria, so that piqued my interest enough to really scope the menu. Also I’d been there for a bit and spent all of $ 1.50. They had a few other menu items that seem pretty hot: grilled chicken sandwich with mango chutney & curry mayo (um, YUM), different paninis, orange juice sangria, etc. Decided to go with the custom salad which would have been PERFECT, except for the bark-​like processed chicken in it (boo, fail).
Nevertheless, despite my minor frustrations, it was a pretty cute place, with decent food items, that will give you the solitude you need to work. And I’m all for supporting uptown establishments like these, so I’ll go just because we need to do all we can to help these places stay around. So, La Sala, you got a little work to do, but you’re definitely on the right track and I’m more than willing to work with you. :)

Somehow in the past year or so, a million people cottoned on to the idea that Inwood and Washington Heights lacked good cafes with free Internet and a downtown vibe tempered by local flavor. At least four have opened above Dyckman, one already closed. La Sala 78 is the latest.
I’ve only been here once, but I am a verteran of cafes, as my profile will attest (look at my list of best places to write and free wi-​fi), so I’m confident in my ability to assess a place pretty quickly. My initial impression is that La Sala 78 is awesome and if it ever goes away I will cry a river.
The first thing one always assesses is the atmosphere. La Sala has a nice look which is very café-​y without being pretentious or bland. They play good and interesting music and don’t crowd the narrow space with a ton of tables. This is fine since it’s empty right now. The seating itself could use some work. The chairs have recliney backs, making them uncomfortable (I like my chair backs to keep me mostly upright — lumbar support would be nice).
Their menu is simple but not sparse. I opted for two standards of downtown café fare my first time: a wrap and a smoothie.
The smoothie was heaven. Instead of putting together different smoothie favors and giving them dubious names, they just say: here’s what we have, what do you want in your smoothie?” The right ingredients are here, too. Milk, soy milk, orange juice, many fruits besides bannana, and — OMG! — soy protein powder. I think these people are the only ones in this neighborhood to understand that smoothies are supposed to come with this option.
The wrap was made by someone who obviously understands what a wrap is and not a person who just thinks it’s some kind of strange gringo sandwich in a tortilla. And it was good.
The prices are reasonable, too. Always a plus.
And, of course, necessary for every good café: free wi-​fi. No needing to ask for a code, no signing in, no restrictions. Excellent.
The chair thing loses them one star, but this is provisional. I’m going to come to La Sala all the time now, and if I continue to love it and find the food still good, I will raise my rating. But hey, 4 stars is nothing to be sad about. This place is great.