Have you ever ever heard your personal abdomen grumble so loudly in a quiet exhibition gallery that guests turned to stare? … Me neither. When starvation pangs strike throughout a second of suave contemplation, many people flip to the closest accessible meals supply: museum espresso retailers. However whilst admission charges for a lot of of New York Metropolis’s hottest cultural establishments attain all-time highs, a post-show snack or beverage can simply add one other couple dozen bucks to the price of your go to. We appeared on the menus of 10 cafés in museums throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens to convey you the lowdown on probably the most (and least) reasonably priced choices for espresso, sandwiches, and different snacks.
The Morgan Cafe on the Morgan Library and Museum
Legend has it that Polish composer Frédéric Chopin’s favourite meals was zrazy, a sort of stuffed beef. The $25 Morgan Smashburger, then, is likely to be the merchandise on the menu that the majority strikes the musician’s fancy — and in contrast to him, you may take pleasure in a eating expertise with out worry of cholera. Saratoga mineral water (purified) prices $5, a pastry might be procured for $8, and tea will set you again $4.50. The cafe additionally serves a no-frills number of iced or scorching espresso ($4.50), espresso ($4.75), and cappuccino and latte ($5.50). It’s generously lit, spacious, and open Tuesdays by means of Sundays from 11am to 4pm and Fridays from 11am to 7:30pm.
The Brooklyn Museum Café
After a sorely wanted overhaul and transform, the Brooklyn Museum Café opened this fall with a brand new menu crafted by the native restauranteur André Hueston Mack, and fortunately, the value for the standard espresso sits at $4. In an area designed by the New York studio Workplace of Tangible Area, with tables and chairs formatted to imitate “islands and streams,” cranberry and orange and pumpkin spice muffins are moderately priced (a minimum of in comparison with different gadgets on this record) at $5. Sandwiches are all $18 or underneath. The cafe is open Wednesdays by means of Sundays, 11am–5:30pm.
Espresso Bar on the Museum of Fashionable Artwork
Positioned throughout from one in every of MoMA’s present retailers, the aptly named espresso bar on the second flooring of MoMA is bare-bones for a espresso store tasked with awakening guests earlier than they go stare at Salvador Dalí’s dreamy “The Persistence of Reminiscence” (1931). A San Pellegrino seltzer water will price you $4, so you might as nicely get a latte for $1 extra. For one thing candy, the most cost effective merchandise on the menu is a $4 cookie. Subsequent greatest is the $5 croissant. Savory pastries might be bought for $6. In case you’re actually hungry, Cafe 2 will not be distant, the place sandwiches are as a lot as $24. Select properly. Essentially the most regarding merchandise on this menu is a $12 canned cocktail. And even after getting your meals, you will have to struggle for a seat on one of many black half-couches. The cafe is open daily, 11am–5pm, besides Friday from 11am–7pm.
Café Rebay on the Guggenheim Museum
Café Rebay on the third flooring is a welcome interruption to Frank Lloyd Wright’s winding ramps. Whereas Hyperallergic’s Information Editor Valentina Di Liscia described the cafe as “one of many saddest locations” at which she’s ever dined two years in the past, I discovered it to be a half-decent expertise today. That mentioned, costs are stunning. A latte set me again $7.75. They do have a prix fixe menu ($28.60 for a sandwich, beer or wine, and a humble soup), however the surroundings is a lot better fitted to a solo espresso. In spite of everything, $4.65 will get you a black espresso, whereas a bottle of water will set you again $5.30. Different choices for caffeine embody a single espresso shot for a whopping $5.70, scorching tea for $5.15, and $5.45 for iced. From the bakery, pastries vary from $6.80–$7.95. Café Rebay is open Monday by means of Friday 11am–4pm, and Saturday by means of Sunday 11am – 5pm.
The American Wing Cafe on the Metropolitan Museum of Artwork
To be introduced again to your faculty cafeteria days, seize a tray and hop in line on the Metropolitan Museum of Artwork’s American Wing Cafe. In case you’re looking out, for some purpose, for the most costly merchandise on the menu, pluck up a ready-to-go $21.50 sushi combo. If you would like one thing less complicated, attempt the $10 peanut butter jelly sandwich. Salads price a mean of about $16. When it comes to hydration, you may purchase a boxed carton of water for $5, or a reusable Met water bottle for $7. Don’t anticipate a lot by the use of barista expertise, as a result of espresso is poured out of premade vats. (Black espresso is $4.50 and tea $4.25.) Although placing meals on a tray and strolling to a plastic chair is among the many saddest of museum cafe experiences, probably the most beautiful views of the record might be discovered right here. The American Wing Cafe is open 11am–4pm on Sundays by means of Tuesdays and 11am–8pm Wednesdays by means of Saturdays.
Cafe & Bookstore at Amant Basis
In Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood, Amant’s 21,000-square-foot campus homes an its personal bookshop café. Amongst its assortment of lately translated works and literature printed by unbiased presses impressed by the content material of the museum’s exhibitions, you will discover a small providing of snacks and an intensive beverage menu. A shot of espresso is $3.60, and a latte rings in at $5.50. Batch brew is as low-cost as $3. When it comes to eats — served solely on afternoons Thursday by means of Sunday — there are three sandwich choices, beginning at $12, and two $16 salads. Open Mondays–Wednesdays 9am–2pm and Thursdays–Sundays 9am–6pm, it’s a peaceable spot to get some work finished.
Unisphere Cafe on the Queens Museum
The establishment’s Unisphere Cafe by the August Tree takes the cake for the bottom general costs. Bottles of Hal’s seltzer waters go for $1.85 and several other flavors of Boylan Cane Cola for $3. All scorching drinks are $5, together with cappuccinos, Vietnamese espresso, and Oaxacan scorching chocolate. Through the museum’s A Billion Greenback Dream exhibition celebrating the anniversary of the 1964 World Honest, the store is promoting $11.50 “World’s Honest Waffles.” A slice of quiche will set you again $6, and Japanese fried rice $12. These sundry snacks and dishes might be bought through the store’s opening hours 12pm-5pm Wednesdays by means of Fridays and 11am-5pm Saturdays and Sundays.
Mon Amour Cafe on the Museum of the Shifting Picture
The Museum of the Shifting Picture’s Mon Amour Cafe in Astoria has a $2.75 cup of joe, a $3.25 cup of tea, and public wifi. A medium latte goes for $5 within the previous Paramount Studios constructing. Cookies are $2.25 and flatbreads, pizzettes, paninis, and salads all clock in at under $15. Smoothies are all $6.50 and underneath, and bottled water is available in at $2.00. The cafe is barely open Fridays by means of Sundays through the museum’s open hours.
Worldwide Middle of Pictures Café
Guests of the Worldwide Middle of Pictures on Ludlow Avenue can safe a $3 espresso or americano or $2.50 cup of normal espresso on the way in which to the galleries or lessons. San Pellegrino rings in at $3 and beer and wine are provided on the cafe’s no-frills menu at $6 alongside $2.50-and-under pastries. The spot is open from 9:30am–5pm daily apart from Thursday, when it’s open till 7:30.
Frenchette Bakery at the Whitney Museum of American Artwork
Frenchette Bakery opened final fall on the museum’s floor flooring as a grab-and-go eating spot open to the general public. An entire baguette might be yours for $6.50, or a comté kimchi savory pastry for a whopping $9. A easy jamon-beurre sandwich rings in at $15. Black espresso begins at $4.25, and $6.00 will get you a latte or cappuccino. Tea is the most costly beverage you may choose at $7.00 — and don’t overlook, it’s important to drink it earlier than getting into the galleries. The bakery hours are Mondays 9am–6pm, Tuesdays 9am–3pm, Wednesdays and Thursdays 9am–6pm, Fridays 9am–6pm, and Saturdays and Sundays 9am–6pm.
