Our First Trip to Rock Center’s Blue Bottle Coffee
Yesterday San Francisco’s Blue Bottle Coffee in Rock Center opened it’s doors. And I had a chance to hit up the cafe mid-morning to see how it was going.
Given all of the anticipation, I was surprised that there wasn’t any line. But then again, I didn’t get down there until closer to 10am, so the coffee crowd may have come and gone. And I suspect it will take awhile for people to catch on that it’s there. Because of the way the pillars in the concourse are position the shop is basically hidden until you’re right on top of it.
The space itself is bright and modern. There are two espresso bars for efficiency’s sake. I was tempted by their much lauded cold brew coffee, especially with the warm weather, but when I saw it came in a fairly small cup for $4, I opted for a latte instead for $4.25.
While I love coffee, I’m not a coffee snob, but I will say their latte is smooth and bold. It goes down easy.
As I was about to check out I was tempted by the really cute little yogurt parfait jars ($5). I hadn’t had any breakfast and my defenses were down. Filled with whole milk yogurt and an apple, beet, ginger compote, it was actually really good–and I say this as a person who doesn’t love yogurt (or beets for that matter). There were plenty of apple pieces that were sweet but not saccharine-sweet and beet-haters will be pleased to know that the beets seemed to mainly lend color.
There are counters for drinking your espresso or coffee while standing up (like in Italy), but for some the lack of seating inside will be a drawback especially at the price tag (yes, there are tables just outside, but unless you get a table near the Rink the inner concourse is rather dismal).
I’m planning on going back for the Iced Coffee soon. Any Blue Bottle vets have recommendations? Let us know in the comments.
Blue Bottle Coffee, Rockefeller Center Concourse
Posted by Brownie at 9:00 am, March 14th, 2012 under Blue Bottle.
8 Comments | RSS comments feed for this post
What has happened to Midtown Lunch?
Why are we reviewing another overpriced foo-foo coffee shop?
Why not another generic deli review?
This site has gone WAY downhill since Zach left.