Paradise Café

It is closed for business as of Aug 1^st, 2013. This was a great local, original Chelsea café that was put out by crazy rent increases. Great little café. Will be missed.

Great little place on 8^th Ave for some coffee or food. I’ve had a fresh baked banana walnut muffin which was great and egg sandwiches here and have always been happy with their food and service. The place is small so it can be hard to get a seat, but it’s definitely worth a stop in you are in the area.

Love this place, for breakfast or lunch. Have been here 3 times now and had a great experience everytime. The staff is quirky, friendly, and helpful. It is a little overwhelming at first because there is just randomness everywhere, but once you embrace it, it adds to that small business charm. The peach scones are delicious, as are the large sandwiches. I intend on becoming a regular!

I frequent Paradise Café in mornings and/​or afternoons because I work at a school around the corner on 18^th.
My experience:
— Their cold-​brewed coffee is amazing.
— Their coffee is Equal Exchange, unlike other coffee in Chelsea, so you won’t feel bad about your coffee’s origins.
— The veggie breakfast burrito is incredible, especially if you’re into adding cheese. Probably the most amazing breakfast burrito I have had. The artichokes… oh god… mmm.
— Their 7-​grain oat bagel is yummy
— EGG AND CHEESE here is BETTER than anyone else’s in the neighborhood, including Murray’s, Brooklyn Bagels, etc…
— Veggie portobello sandwich is also great. A LITTLE too much bread for the amount of sandwich contents, but still a great sandwich.
— Smoothies are delicious
— Staff is, for the most part, extremely friendly and quick.
— Love the punch card.
The only cons:
— Sometimes in the morning the radio station they play is loud and obnoxious with its morning hosts
— Cash only, unless you spend $ 10 (although since I’m a regular they have made an exception to this rule when I didn’t have cash once)
I love this place and will be sad when I won’t be in Chelsea every weekday to enjoy their treats because I live in Queens.

Here’s what’s up: this place is excellent. After working in the neighborhood for a year and trying out a ton of breakfast places and delis in and around 17^th street, I’ve been satisfied most with Paradise Café. I too stumbled on it accidentally and am glad I did.
Muffins — Baked fresh (and warm, omfg) in the morning. Beats the heck out of plastic wrapped, room temperature muffins from every other place.
Smoothies — Full of fruit, customizable with yogurt, or peanut butter and always delicious. Cheaper than every place around and a full meal.
Coffee — delicious and strong.
Breakfast Burritos — nothing to write home about, but decent in a pinch.
Staff — always friendly, bubbly and helpful.
And they have a rewards card! For regulars like myself, it works out wonderfully. If you happen to be in the area, I highly recommend checking it out.

Wow, what a great little spot! Thank god we found this so we didn’t have to go to Starbucks. Great coffee (they use only fair trade organic) and really yummy breakfast sandwiches and pastries. My friend had the breakfast burrito which looked great and she loved it. I had one of their in house baked muffins… delish!
I will come back here for lunch later. They have a great selection of sandwiches and salads… though choice. All and all go check this little cute place out and support the local businesses in NYC. Love it!

I was really hungry the other day and stumbled upon this place. The sign said «best chili in nyc» so I decided to give it a try. Well. I hope for New York City’s sake that this isn’t the best chili! I didn’t like the content (mostly green peppers really!) or the flavor. Very disappointing. The highlight were the 2 cute boys working there!

Breakfast sandwiches and smoothies. That’s what we craved and that’s what we got! Paradise has a cute atmosphere– love the prints on the tables! My bagel with eggs, bacon, and cheese was delicious! My make-​your-​own-​smoothie was so hard to create because of the awesome options but I managed. We learned today that everything needs peanut butter.
Highly recommended!

This place is great– super chill, good food, etc.
Egg, avocado and Swiss is my go-​to sandwich from this place, but be aware: they only serve eggs until noon during the week, so get in there early!
They also have huge, awesome smoothies for $ 4.50. Highly recommend

Small, warm, inviting & the staff is really nice. My favorite sandwich from here is the Portabella Mushroom, panini style. Just make sure you get ask for a lot of napkins since it gets a bit messy. It’s pretty hefty for $ 8.50, and worth spending an extra couple of dollars on compared to getting a regular sandwich anywhere close by. You also get a side of fruit or a bag of chips!

Ingredients to an early morning good mood:
— A café with yellow walls
— A café with good coffee
— A café with incredibly friendly staff
— A café with open tables to rest your already weary feet
— A café with healthy, decent food
At Paradise, you’ll find all of the above. It’s a score of a find, right next to the Google building on 8^th Avenue in Chelsea. I only wish I knew about it sooner…

A very relaxed, laid back café. Good for sandwiches and smoothies. Prices are pretty inexpensive/​decent and I didn’t really have any complaints. Lots of sandwiches to choose from. It’s very small inside so not good for groups.

Strawberry banana smoothie nicely toed the line between taste and apparent healthiness. Also ordered a veggie breakfast burrito; the tortilla was a bit greasy but enclosed a yummy combination of tofu, egg whites, kale, tomato, and artichoke. Based on the heft of my burrito and those of the sandwiches ordered by the people in front of me, you will leave stuffed.
Service is more tortoise than hare but the décor is quirky enough to keep you preoccupied while waiting. Check out the series of sketches of subway riders on the left-​hand wall.

I came here because of a Unilocal deal and because it was very close to my friend’s apartment. My purpose for the day was to eat, drink, read, and people watch. I managed to accomplish all that at Paradise Café (the people watching was especially amusing) and I even made a new friend at the next table over and had a pleasant conversation with him.
I ordered the Eggplant Cutlet sandwich (fresh mozzarella, marinated artichoke, lemon & sun dried tomato aioli); it was a cold sandwich though, which I was not expecting but it was still ok. The coffee was decent as well. Overall: acceptable food, and a great casual vibe with VERY friendly staff!

Cold press iced coffee ftwwww. There is nothing better in the whole world. Nothing.
I stumbled upon Paradise Café after going to the doctor at the Callen Lorde Center yesterday evening. I knew I had to psyche myself up to bake a cake while also taking sleep-​inducing prescription cough medicine (oh, my life!), but all I had seen on the way from the train was an evil Starbucks looming with its greenness on the corner. Fortunately, a big, bright rainbow flagged flapped in my face as I walked down 8^th Ave, and so I took a step back, only to gaze upon the wonderment that I came to know as Paradise.
The baristas are soooo friendly (and adorable) here, the product is awesome (they don’t charge extra for soy milk, either), and the café is adorable. If I lived in this hood I would live at this coffee shop (don’t worry Tiny Cup, I am not cheating on you!). I always thought Chelsea was snobby and obnoxious (that’s called prejudice, kids), but it turns out it’s cute and gay. Who knew? Prolly everyone but me, as usual. ;)
Remember, if they ask you if you want cold press iced coffee (as opposed to the regular kind), pick COLD PRESSED. You’ll be writhing in the throws of ecstacy.
PS: Juss sayin, minus one star for the Unilocal app saying «$ 8 for $ 10» while the Unilocal website says «$ 7 for $ 10.» *blink*

very chill atmosphere, good food. kinda long waits during peak times, as expected. I tend to get the same stuff every time I go. Vanilla Iced coffee. TLBTA and their parfaits and I love them all. I prefer to support a mom and pop over a chain like starbucks any day! they also have frequent visitor cards for coffee and sandwiches, which of course I always forget to bring with me when I go, d’oh.
ps. around 230−3pm this place also gets crowded with middle school/​high school kids

5 stars for delicious yummy chocolate chip cookies! And the nice man who serves them.
And my boyfriend said the cob salad was amazing, so make that ten stars.

This little hole-​in-​the-​wall café truly is Paradise.
The fact that I work right around the corner from PC is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because it’s just so darn cute, and a curse because I throw down at least an Andrew Jackson every week for my daily morning iced coffee. At least for every 8 that you buy, you get one free.
If cold brewed iced coffee is your jam, look no further. PC makes me angry that cold brewed is too sweet for me* because it tastes better here than most places in the city.
The sandwiches are great. The soups are great. The smoothies are great. Sense a theme here? Whatever you fancy, be sure to bring cash… there’s a $ 10.00 minimum for credit cards.
The baristas are sweet. Especially Fanning and Ashley. Pretty much everything you’d want from a neighborhood coffee shop.
_​_​_​
*[insert comment about me being sweet enough here]

Paradise Café is near the place where I get my ‘work on’ (aka my office) and I go through phases of going there almost every day and then not going for a month or two. It’s like we are in this long term relationship and we need time apart. Recently I have had to take some time apart due to basic service issues (cold food and/​or crankiness).
Generally, the sandwiches are pretty good. They also do decent fruit smoothies and a range of coffees. On warm days when they front doors are open, it’s a pleasant lunch spot.

I have walked by this place so many times and finally decided to give it a try. It may sound like I am reiterating some previous points, but I just think my input will kind of solidify the consensus about this place.
The appearance/ambience:Yes, it is cute to look at. A quaint little place that has survived the massive overhaul Chelsea has gone through over the past five years. It is pretty small inside, so don’t expect to set up with your laptop and stay for a long time, space is limited so be mindful.
The food: I kept it simple, a grill cheese sandwich (I could have done better myself, it was so basic) and a mango, banana strawberry fruit shake (this was ok, I actually like Jamba juice better).
To be honest, I like to support small privately owned businesses in order to counter the franchise establishments, but sometimes the consistency of the franchise companies make me a frequent customer instead of trying my luck at a new place.