Madman Espresso

I like the atmosphere. It allowed for an enjoyable time drinking my hot beverage, aka, hot chocolate with soy milk. It’s quiet and the music allowed for a chill ambience. I also had the almond croissant. It was delicious~ Take the taste if an average croissant and imagine a creamy filling and crunchy almonds. If ever I am in the neighborhood, I would choose to come here again to take a break from life. It’s as if time just pauses while you’re here.

Came here to grab a cup of hot chocolate. It was not tooo chocolatey and not too milky. It was perfect. The barista managed to do a design in my cup out of the milk. It was adorable! The space is small but cute. Next time I’m in the area I’ll definitely go back.

Great little coffee shop convienently located by the 1^st avenue L stop.
I have tried a cappuccino, flat white, and mocha from Madman. All three have been very impressive and tasty. The latte art is also on point!
I definitely would add this to any person’s list of coffee places to try on the East Side.

Limited seating, but both their coffee and tea are stellar.
My friend got the chai latte and it was *perfection*. Freshly brewed, no fake added sweeteners or weird ingredients. It was the most streamlined chai I’ve ever tasted.
I got their specialty Madmanccino and was pleasantly surprised with the complexity of flavors. It was delicious!

Fast. Easy. Friendly. Cool look and nice vibe.
Fresh ground coffee for every cup. Easy going music and in the village.

Super cute coffee shop in East Village, and surprisingly close to home! Definitely a better alternative to Starbucks!
It’s small, and seating is limited, but if you show up at an off-​peak hour, this shouldn’t be a huge problem. The café is recessed — like a half level basement — so the lighting isn’t great. They also keep the lights in the café relatively dim. That said, it might not be the best place to hole up for a study day if that is what you are looking for.
I like that in addition to the regular coffees and lattes, they also have specialty drinks — like the madmanccino! :P I just got a regular latte, and I thought it was fantastic! I also thought the prices were very reasonable considering the price of espresso drinks at other places.

I work right up the street so a few of my coworkers and I have been to this place a couple times. The coffee and espresso are great. The croissants are out of this world, I have no idea where they get them from, but I could eat them everyday if there wasn’t so much buttery richness in them.
I must admit, the chai latte isn’t fantastic, it was weak and I didn’t like the taste of the almond milk that they use. That being said, I would still come for espresso and a croissant. Especially since they actually make things the traditional way, if you ask for a macchiato it’s not a glorified latte.
The baristas are friendly, the shop is tiny. It’s a great spot if you like a cozy feel (especially when it’s cold outside, cause it warms up in there) but if you like space and a lot of air flow, maybe not the best place to sit in and enjoy your coffee.

An awesome little coffee shop here in the city. You will especially need to control yourself when looking at their pastries. Bringing in doughnuts from Dough was a smart move. This size of doughnut is rarely seen and the flavors available are as creative as they are decadent.
The coffee drinks are well-​crafted and the staff is warm and kind.
If you’re in the area, you should definitely stop in!

This coffee shop is small and cute yet has a rustic feel that perfectly imitates the feeling you want when you go to grab coffee.
I went there with two other people and in all we got an iced coffee, hot coffee and iced latte all with soy milk and some sort of nutty danish treat. The coffee tasted like good quality coffee, like you knew it would be by the way the girl prepared it. She didn’t rush it, she wanted to make a good cup of coffee. The nutty danish (or whatever you want to call it) was one of the best i’ve ever tried. It was soft and full of flavor. So delicious.
As far as customer service, the girl behind the counter was extremely friendly and seemed to know each person who came in, im assuming they were regulars!

Spent a lovely morning at the spot, overseeing the first avenue, sipping a great coffee and eating a tasty almond croissant. The place is small and has a huge window. I would give a five star if the place had some sort of shade structure for the bench outside. Highly recommended!

I don’t know what happened to this place because I used to love it. Maybe it’s the summer heat or something, but there is no AC in the place and you are just standing there sweating to death. It is hotter inside the shop than outside in the heat!
It just feels worrisome that the baked goods & milk might be boiling in there too.

You walk in and you can smell the quality of the beans. The coffee here is really good. The options are also extensive which is a nice plus. The pastries all look delicious anbd the almond croissant I had was very tasty but wasn’t as flakey and crispy as I would like. I got an almond milk cappuccino which was one of the best I have had, I just wish I recieved a bit more foam.
The place is cramped and the décor could use some work anf the music is a bit loud. I recommend just taking the coffee and pastries to go.

Small little coffee shop with prominent signage out front but very understated interior décor. Me and a friend came to the coffee shop to do some work one Saturday afternoon– summertime and yet there was no AC in the place. Felt a bit muggy and humid.
Not too extensive of a menu, but all the basics are included. Got an iced coffee which was good. The seating by the window is very high — fun to look at passerby as they walked by but was kind of uncomfortable to do hours of work. We later moved to the one other small table that felt more comfortable to work on. (There is a total of 1 small table and 1 high table by the windows so don’t plan on coming here with a big group).
Outlets and wifi are +1.
Overall– good for a solo working session or a work session with 1 other person; not for big groups.

Gorgeous day, loved the outdoor seating, friendly staff and free wifi however a disappointing almond milk latte = won’t be back here.
Third rail, boxkite, and Everyman espresso are better shots in the neighborhood.

Best espresso place in New York! Regular coffee, cappuccino and a must try the Almond Croissants! Friendly fast service! Very reasonable prices and a nice spot to chill.

Seems to be a high level of espresso. Not many places to sit. 6 or 8 spots.
As a vegan I found the pastry options very disappointing. The non-​vegan options looked great – but in today’s world, I think they can do better than just some processed stuff (peanut butter cookie) which was overpriced.

Pues es de otro de los sitios de los que me hice fan para ir a desayunar. Café para llevar y cruasán de almendras.
Normalmente nos atendía una chica super agradable, y el café estaba listo en unos minutos.
El concepto de la tienda es similar al de muchas otras, un par de sitios para sentarse y desayunar y una barra, es decir casi todo es para llevar. Mucha variedad de cafés de calidad (expresso, capuchino, frapuchino, iced coffe, etc.), cupcakes, cookies, cruasan.
El flat white lo preparan genial, y como en casi todos tienen leche de almendra!

Down with Starbucks, Madman rules all! This is my go-​to for my morning buzz! Never too crowded, and the baristas always remember your drink. One of my favs is the Sarahbella named after one of the Baristas, which is a latte blended with honey and cinnamon. Sooo yummy!
If I’m in the mood for espresso, then the macchiato is my fav! And they make a pretty great cortado there, too. Can’t go wrong with high quality coffee, friendly service, and sometimes they make a bear design in ya foam.
I also dig their frequent buyer program where you get a free cup of coffee any size/​any beverage after like buying 6 or something. haha. Good times! Thank you Madman! Sarah is super dope too!

Try their original coffee drinks. Madmanccino is pretty awesome.
Their original drinks are kind of hidden on their chalkboard menu, under the list of food.

There’s such an embarrassment of edible and drinkable riches in the East Village that I can see why locals could possibly bypass a tiny operation like Madman Espresso on 14^th Street when they may be in need of a caffeine pick-​me-​up. They mindlessly end up at some Starbucks contributing to their coffers unnecessarily. That would be an utter shame since there is a fine cup of joe to be had here. The beans come from Seattle’s Caffe Vita Roasting Company who operate their own roastery in the Lower East Side on Ludlow. They are big in the Farm Direct movement which makes their coffee especially worthwhile since purchases support the growers.
This particular spot is small and probably crowds quickly, but it’s cozy and friendly (photo:
). I was just waiting for my friend Carlos since we were having lunch at the Halal Guys a few doors down. The manager/​barista is the gregarious type, and he made me feel quite at home as he prepared my $ 3.50 Americano (16 oz. — photo:
). It was a rich brew piping hot but just the right elixir for a mid-​morning idyll. If I lived in the neighborhood, I could see myself as a regular here sitting at the window watching the world go by early on a Saturday morning. It’s open until 6PM during the week but only until 3PM on Saturdays. Sadly they’re closed on Sundays.
COFFEE — 4 stars… a fine Americano, rich and hot
AMBIANCE — 3.5 stars… a tiny spot so be prepared to take it with you when it’s crowded
SERVICE — 4 stars… nice guy who knows how to operate his machine
TOTAL — 4 stars… take notice of this compact spot when you need caffeine

One tip said it all:
Get the almond croissant.
Get the almond croissant.
Get the almond croissant.
And you know what? I got it and it got me.
Skip the pain au lait (it will taunt you with its glistening exterior, but stay strong as its beauty does not match its bite) and skip the chocolate croissant and whatever amazing donut concoction that will also tease your tastebuds. That pastry case is a saucy little minx, so stay strong, because in the end, you’ll leave with the most prized pastry of them all!
The coffee is delicious, the ladies behind the counter are chips off the old East Village block, and the handful of seats around the bar top make for a nice place to plop down and catch up on whatever it is that needs catching up on!