Fika

What was I thinking?
I know the 7^th Ave/​19^th street location had awful service so stopped going (see separate review for the straw that broke the camels back), but I also know that they have good tasting food and I was walking by this 6^th Ave/​16^th Street location and went in for a soup and half sandwich. Ordered, paid, sat down and waited. 15 minutes. A few people in the store but nobody else ordering anything after me. I finally get up to investigate and see a bowl of soup behind the counter that I ask about and sure enough it was for me… and it was ice cold.
It is as if they waited until it was cold before serving it. Normally this would be considered terrible service, but for Fika it is them at their best. Nothing like a bowl of cold soup on a cold winter day to make those chills turn into complete hatred for a restaurant chain. Starbucks apparently has nothing to worry about from this chain of stores.

Barista guy was a bit of a smarmy jerk answering the question of what kind of coffee they were serving. They only had dark roast, don’t do pour overs if you prefer medium to light. The dark roast, which I got anyway, was absolutely un-​drinkable, weak, ass-​flavored. I threw it out after 5 – 6 sips. My wife threw her cold brew out with ²⁄₃ left. This coffee house SUCKS!

Better dern bad. Bad pastries, bad coffee. Off day I guess.

This is a cute little coffee shop and I strolled into during my walk in New York City.
The staff was very friendly, and the establishment was very clean. They offered Wi-​Fi as well.
They had a nice little Sortman of goodies as well as various choices for hot and cold drinks.

I would have to take a pass on this place. The good? Great clean modern design. Free wifi. The bad? Crowded with less than appealing seat hogging customers. Where’s the respect?! No outlets. Not the best place to work out of. Loud. Oh and the drinks were just alright. I was disappointed with the mediocre coffee from a place I’ve been dying to try out. I hope the other locations are better.

They’re expanding crazily… and the employees keep changing too. (I heard that they go to different locations or leave the FIKA at all, whichever it is, people leave.)
I don’t know based on what criteria the manager of this location hires people.
When they first opened, at least the employees were trying to learn how to make a good coffee, and they indeed got better as time went by.
Those people are all gone now.
I started seeing these new people from a few months ago, like during or at the end of summer.
They sucked. Well, but I waited. I live nearby (literally, one minute away.) so I come by often. It’s been a few freakin months, they still suck.
It is kind of amazing how they could suck this much with such a time and pretty good coffee beans and the espresso machine.
When it’s slow, they have their friends or girlfriends/​boyfriends over, and chat chat chat… when I come here during the slow time on purpose to have some relaxing time with a nice coffee.
Dear manager, seriously, I’m not asking you to hire people who are already experts at making coffee. But you gotta hire people who would like to make coffee and greet customers if you are running a coffee shop.

I drink about 3 coffees a day and this might have been one of the worst coffee shop experiences I’ve had in NY.
The barista was a bit snooty, once he paused his conversation with his co-​worker and decided to attend to a customer. I asked for an extra dry cappachino (meaning only espresso and foam, no milk). He paid no attention to steaming the milk and just poured the milk in the cup essentially serving me a latte. I brought it back and said specifically that I wanted only foam, to which I was rudely informed, «this is a Swedish coffee house and they don’t put foam on their drinks, our machines aren’t calibrated to make foam.» Excuse me? Why didn’t you tell me that before I paid $ 4.50 plus a tip for a extra dry cappachino?
Not to mention, of the 4 open seats, 4 were dirty and I had to clean up the spot myself if I wanted to sit. I’m sure at this rate they’ll be boarding up the windows soon.
I did like that they had wifi (no outlets) and I liked the design.

Don’t come here for brunch. We were looking for a quick place to sit outside and drink coffee and eat breakfast. We didn’t want to spend the usual amount of money or time that a normal brunch place would demand. Big Mistake. We ordered the omelet and the Swedish pancakes.
Omelet: decent fillings and comes with toast and salad. Toast was hard as a rock and we had to ask for butter. No dressing on salad and he didn’t even bring us salt or pepper. We asked for tobacco to give it something and luckily he brought it on request.
Swedish pancakes: Does Swedish mean undercooked? These pancakes were doughy and just yuck.
The only saving grace was the delicious lattes hence the 2 stars. You’re probably thinking, what do you expect from a coffee place? Well now we know what to expect and we won’t make the same mistake again!

Nice atmosphere and great for studying! There is a great selection of chocolates too. Service has always been kind and the bathroom has a cool Dyson sink lol

When this location opened almost a year ago, it quickly became my favorite coffee place and I stopped here every morning before work. Good coffee — really friendly baristas who quickly learned my name and my coffee of choice and provided a friendly atmosphere when I am half asleep in the morning. For a long time, I was happy here.
Then they started making changes. My favorite baristas were transferred out. They started rotating staff on an alarming basis. Every morning, a new person, and now one instead of two, so if a line is long it would take forever to get a coffee. No one asks your name anymore or remembers your drink. If you want a muffin at 8:40 a.m., you might have to cross your fingers and hope they might have 3 left. The milk area is often dirty and lacking napkins or coffee sleeves for the cup. Twice in the last few weeks I arrived to find it closed, because the opening barista couldn’t make it in time and there is only one person most of the time. I downloaded the app but it only works half the time.
The coffee is still mostly good although I’m not a fan of the cold brew as I was the other iced coffee. Cold brew to me tastes like dishwater a lot of the time and it’s more expensive.
But customer service is just as important as good coffee and I really feel like this place is going downhill fast.

Matcha Green Tea latte here is lovely. Just lovely flavor, color, and temp. And of course their chocolates are delish.

Very clean an open NYC coffee shop. European modern design.
Wifi for those who purchase something.
Here’s how this conversation went and here are the questions every fancy barista should ask:
Barista:
Single or Double?
Me: Double… always a double with caffeine
Barista:
What kind of milk?
Me :Confused:
I have options more than Whole or Skim?
Barista :Confused:
Yeah — Whole, Skim, ½ & ½, Almond, Soy
Me:
What? no extra charge for almond?
Barista :Confused:
No that’s rude. You should get what milk you want without additional costs.
Well I agree Barista!
It wasn’t the greatest latte I ever had (but I’m a coffee snob) but it was certainly very good and worth coming back for. It was exactly what I ordered as I wanted it.

Stopped in here for a hot chocolate yesterday. Really nice alternative to The Seattle Monopoly! Cool décor and jazz playing in the background. The place is spacious and clean with high ceilings. A little pricey at $ 4.50 for a hot choc.
Not busy at all which was just what I was looking for at the time.

The barista’s at Fika are just downright unpleasant rude people to deal with. Heavens forbid they crack a smile or even say thank you. Not sure what their issue is, especially the girl with the short hair. She exudes this «I despise people» attitude when dealing with her.
Nice place, get your menu right, change the staff and you’ll be golden. Or, you could just wait for a Chase bank to replace you.

Walked in around 6:25 and it was an oven in there. Since it was 80+ degrees, I decided I want an iced coffee to cool me down. As I was waiting for the barista to take my order, he did not seem to acknowledge my existence. He continued to yap away with his friend. After a minute, I got fed up and left the store. Peace out. Deuces.
The place looks modern, but there is no need to give my money to establishments who do not care much for customer service.
I went to Birch Coffee who provided better service AND had AC. #supportlocal

2^nd time here. 5 stars. Exceptional coffee. The Choklad Biskvi is a chocolate lovers dream and its gluten free! And free coffee refills yes! Staff is happy and helpful.

Soothing, quiet, bright oasis in New York. My go-​to place if I want a calm, clean, coffee experience. Love the look and vibe. Modern without being forbidding, simple lines with enough visual and textural interest to keep it far from bland.
Usually not busy, which I love. But usually not busy because it’s more expensive than most other places.
Caffeine products are consistently good. I’ve only had two food items: the princess tart, which is phenomenal if you love whipped cream; and their broccoli soup, which is a salty, brothy, cup of savory goodness.
The people behind the counter are nice and usually strike a nice balance. Some hipsters, some regular New Yorkers, almost all of whom are friendly, helpful without being cloyingly eager, and not so involved with talking to each other that they ignore you.

Popped in for a conference call in the morning.
Had been asked to buy something to use WiFi (when I already were connected)
Been told Fika is trying to growing a business. With 13 locations in Manhattan?
Polite and nice employees, no question about that.
But the management who’ve instructed them to ask people to pay for the wifi…
Is that 2015?
Coffee is ok, except $ 2.50 for a small one.

Stopped by here after a long day of shopping. Got the latte and cardamom bun and it wasn’t anything spectacular. This is a good place if you prefer your latte to not have sugar in it already. Interior is pretty nice with high ceilings, modern décor and all. It’s a good quiet spot to take a break or probably wait for a late friend!

Good spot to stop in, have a coffee and pastry and let your thoughts flow! They have a good selection pastries, chocolates etc. and the staff is very friendly.