3rd Rail

Over the past several weeks, Katy and I have been swamped. Results of this included multiple nervous breakdowns and the eventual inception of my radio show, which will be on air every Monday from 10AM-12pm on wnyu.org, so everybody should tune in. Other results of this are that we have been failing at updating this blog... but, due to our reasonable human needs, we have not been failing at continuing to drink (and evaluate) coffee.

One of the places we've started to frequent is 3rd Rail, located at Sullivan and 3rd st (extra handy because it is about two feet from Bobst Library, an important location for midterm-related freakouts). Tiny, clean, classy place with sweet wooden benches and cute little round tables. Drip coffee: good. (They make it in vases, which is super awesome to see.) Espresso drinks (esp. lattes): alright; Katy swears by them. Pastries: good. The prices are really reasonable (8oz. latte is $3.50; medium drip is around $2), and the baristas are way nice and real adorable. Everybody in this place is well-dressed. But also none of them would judge on you if you looked ratty, so don't worry! Everybody knows how it is when you are in that zombielike state of pre-caffeination. The populace of this coffee shop is particularly friendly, maybe because of the setup where all of you are sort of sitting together, as if on the L train. People here usually aren't on laptops. Instead they are reading used books or talking with friends. It's an old-school class act.

Also notable is the awesome heating system at 3rd rail. Their heater pipes are wrapped in this rope stuff which is the best thing to snuggle on a rainy day. It's a good break from the recent development of Real Autumn, which while often wonderful can be uncomfortable too.

And Katy is in love with one of the baristas (he's from Michigan!).

So overall, we dig 3rd Rail Coffee. Scope it sometime.

Rating: 4.5/5 cups of black gold