Porto Rico Importing Co.

Best coffee in the neighborhood. With their loyalty cards (free coffee for every five bought), I am close to being able to drink coffee at a profit.

Place is nice and friendly. The coffee bean aroma fills the shop and market. But their regular blend is really not good. One time i thought it was end of day brew so i gave it another shot. I went wee hours in morning as soon as it opened — it was hot, yes, but the flavor has yet to improve.

Whenever i’m on the LES and need a coffee. This is MY SPOT. Located inside Essex Street Market, Porto Rico serves out really good coffee. Along with whole beans that they can freshly grind for you. I’m not a hot coffee drinker, so I always get mine iced. It’s really cheap to get an iced coffee here. Less than $ 3 and the quality is great. I grab an iced coffee, roam around the market and make my away on Rivington and hit up shops there.

This is the newest – and smallest – location of Porto Rico. It’s conveniently located in the Essex Street Market, and they recently upgraded the size of their cubicle, moving a few stalls uptown, so they’re able to sell more varieties of beans – as well as more appliances, and even some cookies and cakes to go with your coffee. (They even usually have gluten-​free and vegan options from «This Chick Bakes™».)
This location is eminently convenient for me when I go downtown twice a day to walk my Broadway/​Canal dog; I usually duck in here to get my 65¢ decaf – a refill of regular or decaf of the day is only 65 cents! – before I board the J train to Canal.
I still prefer to get my beans at their St. Mark’s location, which is closer to me anyway; they’re more likely to have the variety I want.

I will preface this with «I am not a coffee connoisseur,» but I know a good deal when I see one. There’s something about the hodgepodge, borderline hoarders quirkiness of the various Porto Rico shops, this one at ESM being the smallest of them all I think.
Simply put, if you want a more than decent, cheap cup of coffee, Porto Rico is here to serve, going on decades now. Certainly, don’t end up a caffeine-​less hell-​on-​wheels like I did one morning when you fail to realize the Market doesn’t open until 8am and there’s no time for plan B. However, anyone who shows up appropriately between the hours of 8(:15)am-7pm M-​F should be pleased with a lovely cup of joe at an even lovelier price.
My love for Porto Rico resurged the other day when I sought again to avoid Starbucks, but needed big to-​go cartons of coffee for a staff meeting. After not finding any clues on the website, to my lovely surprise at the ESM stall the next morning, they do have 96oz. barista boxes! And the counter guy didn’t act at all like I was putting him out of sorts with my rather rushed request.: Shout out to you whose name I’m sorry I don’t know!!! :
So now none of you have excuses for defaulting to Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts in such scenarios! I would advise to leave about 15 min per box for brewing and such, but if you want to be part of spreading the local love for this «historic» (read: anything older than 10 yrs in this town) NYC-​born/​bred coffee chain, then keep Porto Rico actively on your radar!

Great coffee, great service, great location, and mircalulous prices compared to Starbucks.

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE!
their rooibus tea is hand bagged and a cup of it is only 1 $! they are so friendly and really know their stuff. it’s the best way to start your day, get a pick-​me-​up half way through your day, or end it on a mellow note.
go here… end of story.

I LIKE COFFEE.
I like it even more when it’s within spitting distance of my internship (NOTE: I would never spit on anything from my internship. I am a classy woman.). Also, thank you for being good coffee, PR, and not shit coffee. Hooray.
I love you and let’s get married. At least until my internship ends.

I’m a sucker for their excellent coffee and great prices. This new outpost is the smallest one I’ve seen, tucked into a tiny stall on the west side of the Essex Street Market. They stock what I need at the prices I expect.
What we have here is a coming together of two great things: Porto Rico coffee and the Essex Street Market. It’s about time.
Color me thrilled!