Double Dutch Espresso

The best real coffee shop in south Harlem! Cute, great patio, and AMAZING staff. I’ve gotten to know them over the last couple of years, and they rock! They take their coffee seriously (but not themselves) and they know how to do it right. Sounds simple, but a surprising number of places miss the mark on one of those three points: intention-​pretension-​execution. What a gem!

Cute little café. Great environment, great coffee. It’s a great hangout for Harlem residents. Most people are regulars.

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Nothing special. My coffee tasted like coffee and the almond croissant I got tasted like one ($ 6.75). I make better coffee at home. More Internet café than coffee house.
Seating is limited because so many people are parked with their computers in the back half of the establishment; grab a seat (if there is one) when you walk in. Sat uncomfortably close to two people at the slab table by the front door. One of them removed her retainer within 2ft. of me and I stopped eating my croissant. Music is too loud (The Beatles, The Beatles, The Beatles).
Guess this place is great if you need a hipster atmosphere around you and the constant singing/​whistling of the barista in ear while tapping away at keys or idling about on your device, a great place if you need to be seen or need to feel like you’ve been reincarnated as a hipster west of the Rockies circa 2002 or Brooklyn now.
Random bathroom stufffff: Wall mounted soap on a stick + toilet paper stash within 1ft. of the toilet = gross.
Not a good spot to sit and read a book in peace.
Not my cup of tea, coffee, or anything really.

Fine coffee but the wait is ridiculous. Call me when they get a bigger machine and can deliver more than one espresso drink every minute.

As I write this review, I am trapped in New York’s Harlem in the middle of the first great snowstorm of 2016. This morning, after my son had to leave for work (on a Saturday, in a blizzard, because he is a very junior guy at a large news organization), I decided to venture out and get some coffee. Unilocal guided me here. After an adventurous 6 block walk through really, really bad weather, I made it to this gem. I really like the coffee, even if it is not the super dark roast I normally prefer. The house coffee is between what I would call medium and dark roast. I’ve found that the right coast coffee is a shade lighter that way then the left coast coffee I’m used to. In any case, DD coffee is still substantial. It has body, fullness and a relatively clean aftertaste. Nice!
For me, the real star here, is the food. The pastries here are superior! I had an apple turnover that was excellent. The crust was flaky and crisp, but didn’t just disintegrate into an inconvenient mess. Just right. The filling was clearly made from scratch by the baker and had just the perfect balance between tart and sweet that I like in a fruit filled pastry of any kind, but especially apple. I wish I could show you all a picture of it, but my iPhone shut down in the cold while I was walking to the shop. Really, Apple? It’s only 28°F outside.
Since we’re in the middle of a record setting storm, I thought I’d lay in lunch as well as have breakfast, so I purchased a provolone and salami on ciabatta to go. $ 8, but wonderful. It is grilled on the panini and has all the good stuff in it (Provolone, salami, spinach, special sauce, etc.) Yum! I ate it for lunch when I got back to the apartment. I have uploaded a photo of it in both open and closed face positions, since my iPhone had recovered from the cold by the time I was ready to eat.
Other things to know — the service is great and the people are friendly. Others seemed to be enjoying the free wifi (they have a password posted on the wall). I can’t tell you how well it worked directly because my iPhone quit on me as I wrote above. The décor is comfortably eclectic and the overall feeling is much nice than spending time at my business traveler’s office, Starbucks. The location is very near the corner of Frederick O. Douglass and 118^th.
When in Harlem to see my son, if it is breakfast or lunch that I need to figure out, I am coming here. You should too.

Good little spot on Fred doug. And staff is super cool. The line gets busy so get there early!

Love the coffee shop vibes. I’m a student and finding a comfortable place for me to get work done is very important. Free wifi, can’t be too noisy, no obnoxious pop or top 40 music (jazz, deep house, indie, and alternative welcomed), has to have the right amount of lighting, enough outlets, right temperature, and a bathroom. Yup double dutch has it all. Plus they serve drip coffee and use ceramic cups! Located right across the Best Market and Levain Bakery, I might have just found my to go to spot. Oh yeah, there’s an outdoor patio downstairs as well!

We love getting our early morning coffee here when we are in town, but the service is so incredibly slow. From the baristas mouth, «I never hurry». That is unfortunately very true. I can not imagine how two people could work any slower.
Again, great coffee, but…

I’m addicted to this place. I get my almond lattes religiously here. The staff is sweet and I enjoy the overall experience. I have also brought friends here and now they too are addicted.

I’m in love with the peanut butter cookie. Like, the type of love where your mind tells you no but your body tells you yes. Every time I come here, I try to deny it… but, in the end, love conquers all.
The staff is great, there’s WiFi, and it’s an appropriate atmosphere for both laptop slaves & friends who are catching up.
4 stars because the seating can get a little cramped. But otherwise, I’m so happy to see a great coffee shop planted in Harlem!

Consistently delicious lattes with great service in a super cute space.
Plus they have a tucked away patio out back that’s like a little oasis.
I’m a sucker for the almond croissants and can rationalize them anytime of the day.

I have to say the New Lunch menu sandwiches are off the chain… Must try. Seriously, they melt in your mouth and not in your hands.

First, congrats on opening this lovely spot in Harlem’s restaurant row!
It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood and I’ve been wanting to come here for some time. I walk in cheerful and excited! «Good morning, can I have a dirty chai latte with almond milk please?» I get side eye and the feeling like the cashier and barista aren’t the friendliest bunch… I’m not sure why because they seem so sweet to the French speaking students in front of me and the couple who came after me. I asked the cashier what his favorite treat is and he starts to warm up but the female barista is still throwing shade like she doesn’t want this good money I’m spending…
As for the food & drinks + atmosphere, it was great! Maybe I stepped in at a rough minute (literally ordering + paying = 1 minute) in the day. I might come back but there are other places to go where I feel more welcome… soooooo. I hope the owners reads this review and has a heart to heart with their staff about how customer service is arguably the only way they will stay in business in these streets of Harlem… good luck!

As far as NYC coffee shops go, this is among the finest.
There isn’t a bad seat in the place, except next to bathroom, but that’s true of any establishment, yeah?
There’s a lovely patio out back that’s shared with Mess Hall next door (same owners). The whirring of the A/​Cs creates the perfect white noise to drown out your neighbors’ conversation and let you focus. Or completely zone out and wait for the coffee to kick in.
Spotify is hit or miss here. The baristas are cool though. If you’re not digging it, say so and they’ll switch it up. Or they won’t. Whatever, they’re there all day so don’t be a jerk about it. You can always go next door and get a beer to drown away your playlist sorrows.

Love this place. They have a great assortment of pastries. The staff is really friendly and seem really knowledgeable about brewing coffee. They use Counter Culture coffee, which i have to admit isnt one of my favorites, but they still make a good drink everytime.

I came here mid-​afternoon, looking for something different than Silvana. I say hello. The Barista says hey. And gives me Bela Lugosi eyes. Don’t know why. Maybe he is high off his own supply. I sit down my bag and return to the counter. Order up my goodies. The cashier snatches up the card, works her magic on the Ipad, for the spin around and sign. Customers down the line are treated warmer. There were a few jovial tete-​a tete, and chuckle sessions. Maybe it was my timing.
The Cortado was good. The almond croissant was good. The music was Spotify-​friendly. I asked a question about the music playing. The look I was given resembled the culprit scraping fingernails on a chalkboard. Maybe I am old. I should’ve just Shazam’d it and been done with, but I am not that app savvy. A whimsical whispered response crept out of the Barista; «oh, Bad Weather…»
I thanked him because I really did enjoy the Bass guitar phrasing, and ordered another round of goodies.
There is an outdoor patio which appears to be more spacious than the tables. The spacing inside is about as cozy as Lenox Coffee, nuff said.
Upon leaving, I thanked them and bid adieu. I received a head nod.
The product is good. The people skills towards me are better at Silvana.
This is a great spot. Just not for me.

They’ve got a quaint setup, with wood tables and plenty of seating, both indoor and outdoor.
The coffee is good-​to-​great. But it’s fucking expensive. I got a small one (I guess it would be a tall by Starbucks standards, although half of it was ice) decaf latte, and it was $ 4.25. Truly ridiculous. I have little patience for coffee establishments with inflated prices. This is Harlem, not Times Square.
The people working at Double Dutch are pretty DGAF. One dude is pretty fratty, a character trait that’s out of place at a coffee shop and generally annoying.
It gets a less-​than-​awful rating because it’s not pretentious like those in Brooklyn.

I’m glad I made a mental note of this café’s existence a few months back. I was early to meet a friend for dinner in the neighborhood, but this place appealed to me more than the Starbucks across the street. The inside is pretty small and narrow, but the menu options are great, the iced tea is flavorful, and the outdoor space in the rear is intimate and comforting. It’s definitely another small caffeinated gem in this neighborhood’s burgeoning culinary scene.

What a great café!
My coffee was perfect and they have a few things to eat as well. The croissants and muffins looked fresh and my panini was great. Super friendly staff as well.
The inside is narrow, brick walls, dim lighting and perfect for conversation or bringing your computer to work.
There is a lovely back patio as well, which I happily enjoyed.

Nice place with exposed brick and wood textures everywhere. They serve baked goods, which are solid.
The coffee is expensive here, but it’s really good. I like that the back seemed to be more for people working at computers/​single tables while the upfront space was more inviting for conversation and just chilling. Also, there were a good amount of outlets in the back. Yay for uptown coffee shops!