X Cafe Ltd

Very friendly staff and surprisingly good food, considering I thought it was just a coffee place.

Store front got me excited even before I walked in. Not only do they have their normal coffee, but they also have specialty drinks like the Cremè Brûlée Latte that I had. They have a window of pastries that you can choose from; I really enjoyed their blueberry scone. It tasted fresh and crumbled as a scone should. It’s a walking distance from NYP Columbia and from other local business. There are a few parking spaces available in front of the store.
Overall, I’m definitely going back to try some more!

In a world of corporate coffee chains every once in a while a fresh of breathe air like X Caffé comes along.
In my line of work I get to visit multiple job sites among the 5 boros and most recently I’ve spent a 6 week stint in the Heights where I stumbled on this place.
Coffee here is always fresh and robust, as well as slightly better priced than Starbucks or D&D.
Other notable offerings are multiple varieties of scones, muffins, pastries, bagels, and very delicious fresh gourmet sandwiches.
With it’s proximity to neighbor NY Presbyterian/​Columbia U medical a café like this would be unwise to not capitalize on all those potential customers. When I sit and do paperwork I’ve noticed the multiple trips one worker makes delivering trays upon trays of catered breakfast/​lunch platters. Seems like that’s exactly what they’ve done despite the couple dozen competitors on this busy Broadway block by offering quality food options people seem to keep coming back time after time for.

It’s quite a mixed bag at X Caffe. I’ve been here many times. The coffee and food here are very average. But, the prices are good (lunch under $ 10) and the staff are very friendly and helpful. It has a very homey feel inside this place.
I think that if they were able to improve the quality of their coffee, which frequently tastes burnt, I think it would help them a lot. Also, the Paninis never seem to be made properly. I’ve had them a few times and generally they are under-​cooked. Last time, one end was cooked and the other was somewhat soggy, which was not ideal. It’s very quiet in here and I get the impression that one could come in here to study or read and you would not be bothered or feel rushed. I’m pulling for them because I really like the staff here and want them to stick around. A few improvements to the coffee and food would go a long ways.

I’m not the hugest coffee fan but that doesn’t mean I cannot tell when coffee is good. Coffee here is mediocre, they have flavored coffees that sound amazing ie: rolo, snickers, almond joy– but the end product is just okay and actually tastes too syrupy for enjoyment. That’s not my biggest issue, my issue is with pricing. The sign announced one price, another sign a different price, and then I was charged an entirely different price. When asked why, the cashier said it was because my drink was iced and not hot– which does not make up for the price difference listed. This is NYC, coffee is available everywhere, so it’s sad when I would rather patronize DD or Sbux than a small mom and pop.
Yummilicious factor– C–

This review is just for the coffee, it really is terrible. I got a latte, the milk is burned and just dumped on top of some mediocre espresso. Please train your staff how to make decent coffee. It is far, far too hot and tastes like everything is burned.

Cozy comfortable atmosphere, great location, right next door to Barnes and noble, It feels like home. Coffee is awesome, and you must have the curry chicken sandwich.

Great local café. No wifi which is nice since you can come here and not get distracted by connecting online, unless you use your smartphone. My favorite drink is their chai lattes. They carry a skim milk option which a lot of places up here don’t. Plus it’s usually quiet! Support your local cafes. A great alternative to the sb and dd chains.

Wanted to grab quick sandwich before takin subway downtown personable guy behind counter prepared delicious panini and cup hot tea. All good

I was pretty excited about finding this coffeeshop! When I need a quiet place to sit and study and want to get an inexpensive cup of coffee or tea, this is where I go. They have a bathroom for customers and were friendly to me when I stayed a while to read. I don’t know much about their selection of coffees and teas as I go pretty basic, but it’s a nice place to be when you are near the hospital or med school.

I recently stumbled into this place a little white ago in search of a place to sit and drink coffee. Maybe a light snack. This is the perfect place for that. They have small snack items like string cheese, yogurt or paninis if you fancy them.
It is pretty cheap and usually quiet. I’ve never had an issue getting a table here and the other patrons have been relatively quiet. If I recall correctly, I believe there was a coffee shop in this location about a year or two ago. Since its closing I have been going to Starbucks or juju but there are never enough tables to sit and relax. I’m glad this opened up.

Be prepared to wait but the wait is worth it for a 6.75 soup and half panini lunch.
Fresh ingredients, crisp paninis and delicious soups. Made to order.

Inexpensive and not crowded. What more could you want from a Sunday afternoon.

I randomly walked into this coffee shop after the local Starbucks was well busy with no tables available. I had a purpose for my coffee shop run this morning besides just the usual need for a caffeine fulled way to start my day at 8am. I need to get some writing done on my blog, follow up on few e-​mails, basically do what most people without home offices do; set up shop at the local coffee shop.
The verdict on X Café: The coffee sucks, I would rather have my Nescafe instant coffee at home, it is sub-​arctic temperatures require you to wear a parka and with No WiFi then there is no point to come here to set up shop.
Then again maybe this could be a place for you if you work near Columbia Presbyterian and need a change in pace? Its just not for me.

As a Washington Heights native and current local, I like to support local business. X Café makes this difficult. They do not accept credit cards, they are not open on Sundays, and there is no wi-​fi…
There are a lot of students in this neighborhood. Students study on weekends in coffee shops, students are often short on cash and rely on credit cards (terrible habit, but true). It’s as if they want people to walk two more blocks up to the Starbucks.
That said… this is a nice little coffee shop. Good coffee, good fresh food selections, and friendly staff. I’d like to give this place four or five stars, but they should really consider wi-​fi.
UPDATE! They accept credit cards, but their selection of food is not so fresh any more.

Small. Limited selection. Friendly but not exceptionally knowledgeable staff. No wi-​fi. However, given the limited options in the neighborhood, worthwhile.

(2.5 STARS)
I shall do a nice lil’ pros ‘n’ cons list for this establishment:
PROS:
–Easily accessible for all NY-​Presbyterian employees.
-$ 5.95 paninis!
–Sade on in the background
–Warmly-​colored walls and a lovely ambiance.
–Good looking selection of coffees and other hot /​cold specialty beverages.
–A nice, cozy place in Washington Heights that’s more reminiscence of what the pre-​renovated Jou Jou’s on West 168^th USED to be.
CONS:
–No NY-​Presbyterian employee discount. (Sure, I’ll be selfish…)
–No WiFi. (Once again, selfishness playing into this…)
–A relatively limited food selection, compared to the rest of the area… only about eight paninis to choose from and some pre-​packaged (but fresh-​made) salads.
–No real potato chips! I don’t want Pop Chips with my greasy panini! I want sodium-​loaded Utz’s!
–Something…that I can’t quite put my finger on, actually! I don’t know… perhaps it was how empty is was. Perhaps it was the creepy guy in the corner staring at my co-​worker. Who’s to say…
I’m so loyal to my Shangri-​La and my inner-​CHONY Jou Jou whilst working uptown. I want to love Caffe X more, but I can’t.
But I won’t give up on it completely…

I don’t know how long this place has been here. I just discovered it a few weeks ago despite living in the neighborhood for a while. Now, I’m there pretty darn regularly.
Listen, the pickins in this area are slim. Jou Jou’s coffee was pretty foul and undrinkable the last time I checked. Starbucks is, well, Starbucks (of which I am not a fan) and is impossibly crowded pretty much all the time. So I was delighted to find this little comfortable, uncrowded, really not bad little outpost.
The espresso is better than any other I’ve had in the hood. The soup I had today was pretty tasty.
My first day there I made the mistake of ordering a Caffe Latte (too much time in Italy, I guess — it’s hard for me to just order a «Latte» — I want more than milk!) and got a Caffe au Lait instead. Now I just say «Latte» and everything works out just fine.
Also, I gotta give some props to the music selection. The pop music is sort of worldy (my favorite thus far is Hall & Oates’ «I can’t go for that» in what I think is an African language) and sometimes they play whole albums. I’ve heard a whole blues album and Sade’s new album there. When do we hear whole albums in cafes anymore? I dig it.
It’s warm, it’s spacious. It’s comfortable.
Now don’t go crowding the place up. I like that I can always get a seat!

The coffee isn’t that good, neither are the pastries and they don’t have WiFi. But the seats are comfortable and there isn’t usually a crowd.
The atmosphere in the seating area is kind of like Starbucks and the counter is reminiscent of a Subway franchise with a manager hovering over young, miserable staff and placards with grandiose health claims.
If you need a place to sit or get some work done, this place will do the job — but it’s not a culinary destination.