Brooklyn Coffee Guide: 15 Specialty Shops, Roasters, and Cafes

Brooklyn coffee runs across more neighborhoods than any single list can hold, but the Newkirk and 6th Avenue corridors anchor two of the most distinct registers. Coffee Mob sits on a busy Newkirk Avenue corner by the Newkirk Plaza station in Flatbush, a small minimalist storefront that drew a crowd before the neighborhood had a specialty scene. Milk Bar Park Slope holds 6th Avenue between Union and President, a few blocks south of Grand Army Plaza, the Christina Tosi project that crossed from dessert into coffee.

Below are two Brooklyn cafes drawn from the editorial coverage. The list is narrow on purpose. Brooklyn coffee is in the Pulled directory in full, and the metro listicle covers the wider geography.

Coffee Mob and Milk Bar are at opposite ends of the same Brooklyn conversation. The Newkirk shop runs the under-the-radar specialty register that built Flatbush. The Park Slope shop runs the dessert-crossover register that made Christina Tosi a household name. Both rooms are real and both are worth a stop on the right morning.

The Pulled directory plots every cafe across Brooklyn with check-in support. The borough holds more rooms than any single morning can cover, but Coffee Mob and Milk Bar are two of the editorial standouts.

Coffee Mob

1514 Newkirk Avenue

Coffee Mob sits on a busy Newkirk Avenue corner by the Newkirk Plaza station in Flatbush, a small minimalist storefront with a rock and roll attitude and a twin turntable beside the counter playing vinyl LPs. Owner Buck roasts his own beans and sources direct from East African and Latin American farms, focused on paying farmers fairly. The bar runs drip, pour over, espresso, cold brew, hot chocolate, and Van Leeuwen ice cream in the summer. Bagels and pastries come in from Ceci Cela in Manhattan, plus vegan baked goods on rotation. The room fits maybe a dozen at a stretch. Regulars are Flatbush locals who have been ordering the same drink since 2010. Order a pour over of whichever single origin Buck just roasted if you want the version of the bean that landed this week. Order a Ceci Cela bagel and an espresso if you came before 11am and you want breakfast.

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Milk Bar

204 6th Avenue

Milk Bar Park Slope sits on 6th Avenue between Union and President, a few blocks south of Grand Army Plaza. Christina Tosi opened the original Milk Bar in the East Village in 2008 and has built it into one of the names that defines New York pastry. Tosi has won the James Beard Award twice and the Brooklyn shop carries the full menu: cereal milk soft serve, milk bar pie, the unfrosted layer cakes that the brand built its reputation on. Coffee runs alongside the pastry program, designed to pair, not to lead. The room is small and built for grab-and-go, with a bench outside for park-walkers stopping by on their way to Prospect Park. Open weekday mornings into the afternoon. Order the cereal milk latte if you came in for the part of the menu that pairs Tosi's signature flavor with espresso. Order a slice of milk bar pie with a drip if you came for the dessert that built the chain.

Visit Milk Bar on Pulled →

A Brooklyn morning that starts at Coffee Mob on Newkirk in Flatbush and ends at Milk Bar Park Slope on 6th Avenue is two corners of two distinct neighborhoods. The Pulled directory tracks every cafe across the borough with check-in radius for the iOS app.

Pulled Coffee maps every cafe in Brooklyn. Check in with the iOS app to start earning real cash. Visit /earn for the rules.