The York Social

Such a cute little place that has more than just a typical coffee shop atmosphere. Also home of my new very favorite sandwich, and incredible cookies.
I’ve passed this place several times and had it bookmarked on Unilocal.I needed a quick late lunch so peeked inside to check out what they had. A number of sandwich options and pastries, in addition to their coffees.
The atmosphere is clean and simple… new, cute contemporary.
Thee sandwich. Turkey, Swiss, arugula, tomato and mayo on a raisin walnut bread. Oh my. I do not typically eat sandwiches, but this combination of flavors is unbelievably good.
On the go walking to my appointment I took a bite of their chocolate pecan cookie. Melt in your mouth good!
Highly recommend as a lunch or coffee spot to go solo or meet friends or a colleague.

I like the York Social for a number of reasons. First of all, it’s just nice to have a coffee place in the ‘hood that isn’t a Starbucks, to be honest! I lived downtown for years, where there were plenty of mom-​and-​pop coffee places to balance out the Starbucks and other chains. But on the UES, it’s almost all chains. So I was happy when YS opened.
Beyond that, the food and coffee at YS are good and reasonably priced, and the staff is friendly. They haven’t been open all that long and are still making some changes and working out some kinks — so if anything, I see this place getting even better with time.
Some personal favorites include the almond coffee cake and blueberry scones.
if you’re on the UES and are tired of Starbucks, I would definitely recommend giving YS a shot.

Im looking for a perfect coffee spot and i think this is it! Delicious coffee, i find it better than starbucks. Yummy pastries and great ambiance. Will recommend this place!

Delicious gourmet sandwiches in a comfy, neighborhood environment. It is never overly crowded and the staff are so kind. Roasted chicken and turkey are delicious as is the veggie sandwich. Very reasonably priced. Highly recommend this place. Feels good to support local businesses over bigger corporations as well.

The coffee is decent but the pastries are really what make this place worth going back to. Yorkville doesn’t have enough local coffee shops so The York Social is a welcome addition. The latte is pretty standard, but the coffee is decent quality.
Small sitting area in a cute, but small shop. Baristas are friendly!

The staff here are awesome, the coffee and scones delicious, and the seating plentiful. This isn’t a pretentious place, but a great, clean spot for a sandwich, muffin, and place to read a bit or meet up with a friend.

Great addition to the neighborhood! The coffee is so much better than the Starbucks next door, and they have nice fresh sandwiches and pastries. The staff are also very friendly.

Love this place! The sandwiches and pastries are all made in house and are delicious! The staff is super friendly and it is a great place to work quietly. So happy to have this in the neighborhood.

I dropped by with two friends for some caffeine before our night out drinking. We ordered a cappuccino, a decaf cappuccino (both with whole milk), an Earl Gray black tea and two small treats. The treats were both delicious and worth getting again. The cappuccinos were both only okay, not bad but nothing special.
The big problem was actually the Earl Gray tea. They served my friend green tea without saying so, and were totally confused when she asked why she did not receive a black tea. It’s true that there are some niche Earl Gray green teas out there, but the Earl Gray everyone expects is a black tea. The baristas had no idea that Earl Gray was supposed to be black … this is incomprehensible. I won’t be going back just because it’s not worth going to a café where the employees don’t understand the very basics of the trade.

When you charge more but taste is worse compared to Starbucks’s muffin, you got to step up your game. Nothing against Starbucks muffin, just making a point Starbucks muffin is $ 2.50.
I got an almond coffee cupcake and a blueberry muffin. Almond coffee cupcake was really good, soft/​tender, and crunch on top with cinnamon powder.
My BIG issue here is blueberry muffin. I thought I was eating a sponge. Top and inside of muffin was so dry and chewy, yes chewy, after two bites I threw it away. It was so dry I could not even get the cupcake liner off easily. When I finally was able to get the liner off, bottom half of cupcake came off with it. I even wonder if my muffin was leftover from day before. how can it be THAT dry.
I will definitely try this place again since almond coffee cake was good, but please do improve quality of your blueberry muffin @TheYorkSocial. It was just really bad, I hope baker was simply having an off day with the batch I had…

Yorkville is severely lacking in coffee options. Compare it quickly to the villages, LES, and even all of the big name corporate options you have in midtown… it’s a really sad representation of everyone’s favorite brown beverage especially considering the Upper East Side is so residential, thus creating a big market for coffee shoppes with acceptably-​sized seating areas. Upon opening this fall, Yorkville Social has attempted to aide in filling that void and has done so (almost) successfully. The vibe of the place is relaxed even though the fancier cushioned bench seating may suggest otherwise. The staff is absolutely lovely and hardworking, hand delivering your food and coffee directly to your table. The pastry and sandwich offerings are stellar (I very much enjoyed my Italian pre-​pared sandwich unlike another Unilocaler mentioned here). Their largest downfall, ironically, is their coffee. In my personal opinion Irving Farm is weak, and while smoother than the Starbuck’s next door, lacks a punch necessary for repeat visits. After having a cappucino from York Social at 1PM I found myself craving caffeine only 4 hours later. I feel similarly about Irving Farm coffee from their standalone locations, as well.
All-​in-​all, I will definitely come back for the inviting atmosphere, pastry selection, and on the grounds of supporting small business BUT if the owners of York Social find themselves struggling in the upcoming months I would highly suggest a transition to Parlor or Stumptown Roasters. You’d be surprised about their following, and it would be lovely to see York Social get the business that the now saturated and poorly staffed Café Jax receives on weekends.

Happy to have you in the neighborhood. Really good coffee without the annoying Starbucks music in the background.

Really friendly staff, great comfy couches (much better place to hang out than Starbucks) and the almond cookies are to die for.

I’ve been waiting for a place like this to open up around here. It has great coffee and a cozy atmosphere to sit and read/​work in peace. Definitely will be returning!

Great coffee and pastries! They are still developing their menu, it will exciting to see what they will have.

They have the same pre-​made sandwich selection every day, and all of them are pretty mediocre. By the time lunch time comes around, they are always soggy. Sandwiches are $ 8-​$ 10, so extremely overpriced for the quality and for being ready made. You can get a better quality ready made sandwich at Starbucks next door for half the price.
Note: Two months later I decided to give them another chance since they are so convenient to my job. The quality of the sandwiches has gone from mediocre to painfully disgusting. The cookies are pretty good though.

I went in first week they opened but they didn’t accept credit cards that week so I had to skip this place. First impressions: cosy and nice. I went in today, Nov-​10 and the coffee is pretty nice but pricey. A small cappuccino is $ 4.35 but it is a great coffee. Two things I didn’t like about my experience: they imposed min spend of $ 7 on credit cards. No good. Also, the lady who served me, initially was busy doing stuff and whilst she saw me waiting, didn’t take much notice. She didn’t seem very welcoming but then this is a subjective view so not a negative here. Overall, I may or may not go back but I am definitely not a fan. I know other places nearby for decent coffee and may skip this place in the future.

Quaint and cozy shop perfectly placed on York avenue. A nice change of scenery for the neighborhood! Jazz music was lovely

They’re definitely still getting a hang of things in there since they opened two weeks ago but the coffee is pretty good.
I know $ 3.25 is a lot for a pastry but they are a MUST! They’re baked daily and are out this world delicious. My favorites are the cranberry orange scone and the sunshine muffin that has carrots and squash just to name a few vegetables!
I’m kind of happy this place opened literally two steps away from that nasty Starbucks down the street!

Really excited about this place!!! They just opened up about a week ago so they seem to still be getting things up and running but the staff is quick and friendly. I love coming in for a coffee and one of their pastries – cupcakes, scones, muffins, etc.