Four & Twenty Blackbirds Cafe

This place is AWESOME! Pie while you read in a gorgeous historic library in Brooklyn??? Doesn’t get any better. The pies and sandwiches are affordable and delicious. The guy who works there (I forget your name :() is so cool! Super friendly and personable. Excellent experience overall. People, head to the library read actual tactile books on paper … and EAT delicious homemade pie! Yum.

I came to the central library for the Carnegie Hall concert. While I was waiting for my 2 friends to arrive, I stared at the neon pie sign at the café. It was like mocking me… pie, pie, pie.
Finally, I caved and I brought a salted caramel slice. The cost was $ 5. I thought about getting whipped cream on top for an additional 75 cents; however, who needs the extra calories. I did ask for hot water and the cashier charged me 50 cents for it. I am still scratching my head on that one. Was she charging me for the paper cup or hot water?
The pie, itself, was ok. There was a hint of salt in it. I wasn’t crazy about the crust though; it was soggy on the bottom. It could be because I asked them to warm it up.
I prefer entenmann apple pie over this. It’s sweet and the crust is crunchy. Now, I am thinking about it, I am heading to the grocery store and buying a whole pie for $ 5. Bye!!!

Sloooowww service for a mediocre salted caramel apple slice $ 5 ($ 8 cc min) at this outpost in the BK Public Library.

There’s PIE inside the library?!? Dang, that’s fan-​say!
And not just any pie place, Four & Twenty Blackbirds. And its a Café?!? Be still my heart.
My son & I wanted a quick snack so we waited on a short line. I see there are lunch items offered like salads and prepackaged noodles.
Lets start with dessert first!
We ordered two caramel-​apple pie slices, topped with heavenly whipped cream.
Mmmm mm, they were spot on! Nice tasty apples with a crust that was just on point.
Coffee? You betcha. They’re brewing espressos and ice coffees like a pro! Great coffee spot as well.
We also ordered a quick salad that we split between us. Nice salad, nothing to jump up and down about.
If you’re looking for a quick lunch or kawfee and pie after the museum or studying at the library, Four & Twenty Blackbirds Café has you covered.

Some gooood pie crust.
Like, really good.
Enjoyed fig&plum pie, which tastes just lightly spiced and not too sweet nor tart,
but the meat hand pie filling was a huge disappointment. Shredded chicken and some corn?
Would’ve been slightly better if they heated it up, but the amazing crust saves it.

A café INSIDE the library?!! What?! How is this not the norm? I know I would spend a LOT more time at the local library if I could get a good cup of coffee and cake there. Everything we tried was delicious, but I highly recommend the chamomile muffin. Fragrant, floral, delicious. The perfect stop whether your checking out a book or need caffeination before hitting the green market.

Pretty good apple pie but the ridiculously snotty rude guy at the register doesn’t make it worth it to come back.

I have been coming to the Brooklyn library to study for the past couple weeks. When I study I get hungry and when you get hungry at this library you can fill that void with an assortment of sandwiches and treats from this café.
The Café is inconspicuously located next to the Language & Literature room past the main entrance. The front of the café has an assortment of ready to go sandwiches for $ 9, a bunch of side ranging from $ 3-​$ 4.50. To the left of the cash register/​IPad thingy there are some baked goods (baked in house) and on the right there is milk (whole, slim and almond), sugar and plastic utensils/​napkins etc. The rest of the menu if posted on the wall and on some plastic laminated menus on the front counter. The menu mainly offers sandwiches, salads, soups and pies.
I gave this place 5 stars because of the very friendly and attentive staff, consistent service and food quality.
throughout my many visits I have tried the Smashed Chickpea, BLT (added avocado), Tuna, Hot Dog, Roasted Market Carrots and Beet, Brussel Sprouts and Caramelized Onions, Potato Salad and Apple Pie. here is what you can expect from each item.
Smashed Chickpea (smashed chickpeas, cucumbers, harissa, house made roll $ 6.50): The role is really fresh, has the consistency and flavor of a biscuit, and goes perfectly with the chickpea, and slightly spicy harissa. The cucumber taste is subtle but gets the job done.
BLT (bacon, sun dried tomato aioli on multigrain bread $ 7). I added avocado which gave the mix of shaved lettuce aioli a creamier texture to counter the crispy bacon. This is my favorite sandwich for now, every ingredient works independently to deliver a balanced flavorful sandwich. The shaved lettuce is damped with a tangy aioli which has real sun dried (cherry or grapes) tomatoes in it, the bacon and multigrain work well with these ingredients for a really unique BLT.
Tuna (black olives, capers, red onion, dill, cream, crispy onions, sourdough bread $ 8). Similar to the BLT in the sense that «Four & Twenty Blackbirds» takes a traditional sandwich and turns it into something better. When you bite it your teeth sink into a first layer of crispy slightly sweet fried onions, then into a thick bed of tuna mixed with crema dill and red onions.
Hot Dog (all beef frank, mustard, ketchup, onion, potato roll $ 4). this is just a regular hot dog, with your choice of toppings.
Roasted Market Carrots and Beet (and sliced almonds $ 4). This dish is not particularly flavorful, just ordinary beets carrots and almonds. Very healthy!
Brussel Sprouts and Caramelized Onions ($ 4). The brussel sprouts earthiest and texture blend well with the sweet caramelized onions which together form a pasty light glaze.
Potato Salad ($ 4). The potato salad was good, there is a spicy and regular option, I picked the regular, haven’t tried the spicy one yet. I did not really pay attention to the ingredients sonce ot tasted like a completely normal potato salad.
Apple Pie ($ 4.75). This is the only pie I have tried thus far, if every pie taste like this I will need to get a whole one at some point in my life. The pie was amazing, you could tell the apples used were fresh and cooked perfectly, where your tooth meets only a slight resistance once you reach the middle of the baked apple slice. The crust was also very fresh (I assume they use homemade dough) and had a perfect firm but flaky texture.
The coffee is also great and the lemonade is amazing (a byproduct of using real lemons I guess).
I will definitely be returning soon!

I’m obsessed with Four and Twenty Blackbirds but don’t make it to their Gowanus location nearly as much as I’d like to, so I was super thrilled when the café opened up INSIDE the library just a walking distance away!
The excitement was totally justified. I got a breakfast sandwich with egg, cheese and bacon and when I opened up the container, I was sort of like this is smaller than a McMuffin. But then I bit into it, and wow, the eggs were perfectly cooked and still piping hot, and the cheddar biscuit was revelatory. I never knew I liked biscuits that much until that morning. I also decided to get the lemon chess pie — another revelation in ultra buttery flaky crust, and lemony rich deliciousness topped with softly whipped cream. I was going to share the pie but ended up eating the whole thing…
I went back and ordered a meat pie I wasn’t too impressed with, but that was still decent (with a really excellent crust). I saw a bunch of tourists with guidebooks order pies at the café, so I think some travel writer let out the secret. Oh well, there is still plenty of pie for everyone.

I think with four and twenty blackbirds, it 100% depends on the pie you get. I’ve gotten 3 pies. One was great, one was ok, one was meh. We LOVED the lemon chess, were ok about the salted caramel apple, and I hated the apple rose.

5 stars because
A) This is a PIE CAFE
B) IN A LIBRARY — a PUBLIC library!
This is Brooklyn, so go figure. Savory and sweet pies, hand pies, biscuits, and sandwiches along with an extensive drink menu. Buttttt the guy at the counter is not the friendliest :/

On my roommate’s birthday, I rushed here after work (30 minutes away) to try and get her some of her favorite pie for her birthday. Arrived at 8:40pm. Their website says they’re open 9 – 9 M-​Th. The guy at the counter was wiping it down chatting another guy up when I approached and barked unnecessarily rudely at me, «We’re closed.» The café did indeed look as if it were closed and had been in the process of closing for awhile. I asked if I could just please get a whole pie and he repeated that they were closed. I asked when they close then, and he paused before sniping 8:30. Four and twenty, fix your operating times on your website or let your customers know if you’re closing early. Some people can’t make it here or to Gowanus that easily in a quest for your pie! I walked away empty pie-​handed feeling kind of disrespected based on how he was speaking to me.
Other times I’ve been here with the exception of just one time, the staff I’ve interacted with have also been clearly displeased to be there.
Service aside, sometimes you’re just camped out in the library and you want a snack. Breakfast sandwich option here is decent ($ 5/​$ 6). Sandwiches run the gamut from hot dogs ($ 5), grilled cheese ($ 5.50), chickpea ($ 6) to typical chicken-​based ones. Cookie-​wise, they have a pretty good orange sugar cookie ($ 1) and double chocolate ($ 2). They have 3 or 4 pie slice options ($ 4.75) usually as well (lemon chess, apple, etc.) but also sell whole pies ($ 38). Their pie crusts are really, really good.
Three stars because the options for food and drink here are plentiful, most things you get are probably going to be good, and there’s generally plenty of seating out front (people are conversing pretty loudly, this part doesn’t represent the rest of the library). But. the service leaves enough of a bad taste to keep me from coming from here other than out of immediate hunger/​thirst necessity.
Credit card minimum is $ 8

I haven’t been back since May, when I stopped in during lunch for pie. After I placed my order, the all male staff stood by the service window laughing while another customer and I waited patiently near the register. The cashier who took my order exclaimed something like, «I’m gonna leave before I die,» while laughing. Another employee handed me my pie in the small to go box, and I went on my way. I was a few bites into my slice of pie when I noticed a small strand of hair sticking out of the side of the whipped cream. Totally lost my appetite for the pie and Four & Twenty altogether.
A couple months before that, I brought the kids I was babysitting to this location shortly after they opened. The kids wanted pirate booty and the same cashier I had in May informed us they had homemade popcorn and would they want that instead. The kids wanted pirate booty and that cashier made a face, as if we had personally offended him by not wanting the popcorn. I didn’t realize we were supposed to cater to the staff at Four & Twenty.
I’ve tried the soba salad and, while it was good, it was such a rip off. At $ 4, I believe it was, it came in one of those small rectangular containers and the salad barely filled half of it. I had to exercise restraint to make it last three bites. The pies are fine, though I’ve found the crusts to be hard, and each slice I’ve tried started to taste too sweet as I worked through it. At $ 4.75 a slice, it’s overpriced for the portion you get. My friend goes to their location on Gowanus and said their serving sizes aren’t consistent.
Four & Twenty Blackbirds Café is leaps and bounds better than the café it replaced but my accumulated experiences here, with the incident in May being the last straw, won’t have me returning again.

Great little café inside the library. Cuban coffee, house made sodas, sandwiches, pie. My grilled cheese with bacon and house made sparkling lemonade were great, and the people working there were absolutely lovely!

All libraries should take note: it makes a lot of sense to have a great café inside your building. Great food, good prices, super friendly server. What’s not to love?
Tried so far:
Stumptown café au lait (12 oz): $ 2.50
Regular small coffee: $ 1.50 (so cheap!)
HUGE fresh out of the oven sugar & cinnamon (and chocolate almond, lemon poppyseed, chocolate/​sunflower seed/​raisin) muffin: $ 3
They do have a minimum for credit cards: $ 8
They also have lots of lunch options making it a convenient spot to work all day long. Two big thumbs up.

In a library!!! Am I in heaven? Apple cider spritzer? Pie. with cream??? I may come heRe just to eat. Did I mention this is in a library.

All the tables in the café were full when we walked up, and when I went to the counter to ask questions, I didn’t get a welcome feeling from the cashiers. Upon further interaction with my indomitable enthusiasm, they perked up. Perhaps they were still recovering from a dehumanizing lunch rush…
Soup, salad, sandwiches, hand pies, and probably the 4 cult-​favorite pies from Four & Twenty Blackbirds. Lemon Chess, Black Bottom Oat, Salty Honey, and Caramel Apple. We skipped the apple and the other three were very good indeed. We also had the kale hand pie, simple, spicy, delicious. Our friends seemed to enjoy their sandwiches.
Very cool that this café is in the Brooklyn Public Library. I wish my library had such a café. I really wish it said library somewhere on the address. I mean, when you are in the airport, all those restaurants say Terminal 7, JFK, so why not here? We were very confused being on the street and trying to find it. Honestly, my only clue that I was in the right place was the Four & Twenty Blackbirds pie book on the counter.
All in all a good value. While this was convenient for us travelers visiting Prospect Park and the Botanical Gardens, I would love to visit the main location for more variety. Next time…

I wish I had known what this place was called earlier, I was really impressed by their offerings in the Brooklyn Public Library lobby! As if I needed another reason to spend more time in this library.
Me and my little sister went to the library on a rainy day and after some book browsing got hungry. A few teas and two slices of pie did the trick. Staff was friendly and helpful and the pie selection wasn’t too overwhelming, but had it’s unique aspects and spins on classics. I can now go to the library boldly and not have to worry about where to find my snack. I intend to try their hotter meal options and soups on my next visit, but their pastries and pies are something you shouldn’t miss.
Wish they accepted credit cards though. I had to borrow $ 5 from my little sister. That’s tough for a grown man to do.

I’m a HUGE fan of the original and one and only Four and Twenty Blackbirds in Gowanus, so you can imagine how excited I was to hear about this location opening up near my apartment. As far as food goes, this café is undoubtedly one of the best public library cafes out there. The BKPL has really stepped it up, sourcing pastries and pies from Four and Twenty Blackbirds (salted caramel apple, lemon chess, black bottom oat, and salted honey are the 4 staples usually available) and bread from Sullivan Street, linking up with chefs of local notable restos like the Pines and Vinegar Hill House, and offering up Stumptown. Pretty impressive. Even better yet, everything is so reasonably priced– $ 1.50 for coffee, most pastries under $ 3, $ 4.75 for a slice of pie, most sandwiches in the $ 6 – 8 range.
While in a league of its own, the BKPL café still has room for improvement. For starters, the usually amazing pies are simply not as a fresh as they are at the Four and Twenty home base. I’m not sure if the café is using pies that’ve been sitting overnight or pies that have just been sitting around for a while… it’s probably logistically not possible to make the pies on premise at the library, but it would definitely be awesome if they could somehow do more deliveries from the home base throughout the day so as to offer the freshest pies possible to customers. The seating at the café could definitely use a bit of an upgrade. The tables, chairs and the space, while in an «atrium» (conjuring up images of an airy, bright space), is frankly dated and depressing. Finally, the café currently doesn’t accept credit cards. Hopefully that’ll be up and running soon (credit card = more pies at a time!)!

So happy to report that Four and Twenty Blackbirds has opened in the lobby of the Brooklyn Public Library’s Central Branch.
I had a medium cup of Stumptown coffee and a cheese scone. The scone was fresh and flakey with just the right amount of salt and cheese.
I will try more as the weeks go by.