Esparks Coffee

I believe this place has closed already, but I will eulogy-​review it nonetheless. I used to come here every day for lunch when I worked decent hours, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. In the very beginning, they were selling sandwiches (choice of tuna, turkey, or ham) on toasted rolls with coffee for a mere $ 3.75. The portion was generous too! They even had free wifi and nice music. I think they later realized it wasn’t affordable and increased the sandwich combo price to $ 4.25, which is still an incredible deal. Then, depending on the sandwich maker, the sandwich would have different portions of ingredients, sometimes with cheese, sometimes without. It all became very inconsistent, but I still went every day out of convenience and loyalty.
And suddenly, they renovated to this new ice cream, snack, and lotto selling, sandwich making coffee shop. The bathroom became unavailable for customer use. And one of the exits was no more. I had to stop going because my schedule wouldn’t allow it, but I do miss the sunny days of sitting across from the Elmhurst Hospital emergency department, watching all the crazies in the neighborhood… like the one guy who would sit on the pavement by the coffee shop asking for donations in his red cap. After a few hours, he’d just get up and walk away like a competely normal guy.
Maybe the food or coffee wasn’t amazing, but it was definitely a nice place to sit and relax and stare out into the world thinking no one could see you behind the slight tint of the windows. In reality, everyone could see me. I learned this when a coworker tapped on the window from the outside to say hi.

Good over roasted americanos.

Really a dump of a coffee house, would not even dignify calling it a café.
Coffee is very strong and burned/​bitter tasting.
The cheese Danish and cinnamon rolls (which are warmed/​nuked to order) are good.
Biggest plus: convenient place to buy scratch off lottery tickets to put in birthday cards.

Right across from the Elmhurst Hospital ER entrance, you’ll find this wannabe Starbucks. Unfortunately the coffee quality is far from it’s idol.
What Esparks’ provide is something different that adds another star to it’s review. The frozen yogurt provides an option to the neighborhood if you want something local. unfortunately, with the combination of the taste and price, we will only come here due to the laziness of driving to a better frozen yogurt place (like Yogo Monster or Pink Berry or Red Mango).

In oppressing purgatory heat while waiting for a friend to Meetup for dinner, I sought bail only where the air conditioning is extremely weak. One small cold ice tea at $ 1.85 took a near two minutes to prepare and a sales receipt took an eternity to produce. There is ample electric wall outlets at varies select seats for laptop, tablet, or other mobile devices which my CrackBerry was on its very last lifeline for the battery indication was red. The noise volume is a booming night club for a coffee house. There is very low lighting and I sat next to a sweaty dude who do not know what is deodorant is.
This Esparks Coffee sits opposite Elmhurst Hospital on Baxter Avenue and Broadway.
Why is everywhere I go in New York (be it bank, restaurant, coffee house, café, or an office building) the air conditioning is extremely weak?

Bad coffee. Burnt watery coffee… ugh!

This place is perplexing. The coffee itself is pretty good and the selection of snacks is unspectacular but, but nice. Prices are quite low. But cleanliness definitely is a problem, and one that seem to be getting worse. Some other reviewers referred to prior shutdowns as being minor and/​or permit-​related. I heard it at least one had to do with inspection failure (basement); I have no idea what’s true and wish management would come on Unilocal and clarify. But I definitely know that the seating area is looking seedier and seedier and the area where one gets milk, etc. for the coffee looks incredibly bad at times.
The location does attract a wacko periodically — being across from Elmhurst Hospital will do that — but it’s valuable to the doctors and nurses there and the neighborhood needs Starbucks alternatives. And again, the coffee is not only cheap but good.
I wish this place would clean up its act. With a bit more attention to cleanliness, this should be a 4– or 5-​star establishment.

Friendly family-​owned neighborhood café. Prices are really good (you can get coffee and a tuna salad bagel for $ 2.85) yet the ambiance is just like Starbucks. Great place to hang out with friends, meet a friend, or study for exams. They are open from 6:00 am to 2:00 — only closed 4 hours, and have free wi-​fi too! Perfect place if you ask me. :)

Closed for working without a permit. Sucks that was my spot to get work done. I guess now I’m going to Starbucks on 77^th and 37^th ave…
well now it reopened… weird i know, it’s still good, but a bit weird with all the different people that go in there…

Coffee and bagel for $ 1.69
Wifi for the people. Open many hours so that the busy hospital can have coffee whenever they feel the sleepy need for some caffeine. It is actually quite nice inside and outside too.

I think my suspicions were correct from my last update. For whatever reason Esparks was closed it was probably negligible and very minor. They’re back open and the place is spotless, the coffee is good and all of the food looks great. The place seems to get a constant flow of traffic, yet it isn’t too noisy. Prices are inexpensive and they have free wi-​fi. I’m definitely a fan.

This is a small Esparks location. Crista summed up the inside pretty well … however it seems some things have changed. Esparks Elmhurst did get Wi-​Fi at one point, but it is currently out of commission. They also now have the Esparks «Parksberry» frozen yogurt as well as baked goods that are as fresh as at the other locations.
My only complaints were: it was very cramped, part of the ceiling was unpainted making it look like it was still under construction, and the windows and condiments/​milk area was somewhat dirty.
Perhaps it was just an off day, as I’ve had great experiences at neighboring Esparks locations. Parking is difficult with Broadway being busy, but there are meters in front and residential street parking on the sides.

Nice cozy little coffee house with comfy booths towards the back, a homey ambiance and lighting that may look amazingly like a knock-​off of Starbucks.
As i bravely ventured inside to have a peek i see an array of hand written signs around the counter that says…(could it be??) OPEN 24 hours!!! My eyes got as big and wide as physically possible… HOW CAN THIS BE??? How did I NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS???
Then i had my answer shortly after that.
It was almost close to being the perfect spot until I asked the staff if there was any wifi… the clerk looked a little confused (whether she didn’t hear me or only recently learned what wifi was and the registration process in her brain was delayed in recognizing the word due to its newness in her vocabulary)…and said «not yet.»
Even still they offer a variety of tasty looking pastries and bagels. I’m not yet sure as to their coffee of selection of teas but will report back when I have that information. Hopefully the wifi IS coming… if not i now know a place open ²⁴⁄₇ in Elmhurst… i didn’t know it was possible.