PARK SLOPE PERSPECTIVE

Café Matrix- The best, worst and middle-of-the-road cafés between 9th st. and Prospect Ave.

Let's start with the good:

Red Horse Café
I wrote this place off for a while; I came here semi-regularly a few years ago when I was in graduate school and when it was outfitted with a giant couch. It was friendly and warm then, but there was something about it that didn't make it stick, for me, as a regular hangout. Now, though, there has been an apparent change in ownership, and the crusty couch in the back has been replaced with a long bench with tables accommodating many more people. Plus, I'm not forced, anymore, to cozy-up to a stranger on an unevenly stuffed couch where we both inevitably slide toward the middle (so awkward).  This is my favorite place to work and is an excellent place for impromptu meetings and study sessions. The owner and baristas are incredibly friendly. Best parts: they never give you dirty looks when you work for three hours and only order a cup of tea (for this reason, I tip them heavily); and they serve booze, so it's great for evening work sessions when you've maxed-out on caffeine for the day and want a more debaucherous kind of buzz.

Red Horse Café
6th Ave and 12th St., Park Slope

Sweet Wolf's/Forty Weight Coffee Roasters
Is it a restaurant? Is it a coffee shop? Who knows but the owner and employees are super friendly; that's the first thing I noticed when I started going here. The owner of the coffee shop- which is open until 4pm, at which point the joint turns into the restaurant Sweet Wolf's- greeted me, made my drink, bussed my place at the communal table and even gave me a cute little timer for my tea (kind of a gimmick, but a sweet touch that shows they're trying to win over a clientele who has a ridiculous amount of café choices). Banking on the communal vibe that has been popularized by chain cafés like Le Pain Quotidien, the owners of Forty Weight installed a very large communal table of their own that forces you to make a choice: Do you wait for someone to move so that you can have an easily accessible spot on the end?  Or do you greet your neighbor with a friendly "Hello" and "Excuse me" and ask them if they could scooch down a little? At Forty Weight I have noticed a friendliness among patrons unlike any other café in the neighborhood. Perhaps the management is responsible for the convivial vibe, but, either way, warmth is in the air here. All in all, Forty Weight is great, not just for a coffee fix, but for connecting with other locals, especially if you're new to the area.

Forty Weight Coffee Roasters
6th Ave and 12th St., Park Slope (did I mention, it's across the street from Red Horse?!)


Hanco's Bubble Tea & Vietnamese Sandwich
When Hanco's opened a year after I moved to the neighborhood, it felt as if my prayers were answered. I had become accustomed to regularly experiencing the mind-blowing deliciousness of bubble tea and banh mi while living in California, but New York seemed to be sorely lacking in this delicacy. My only salvation- until Hanco's opened- was a bubble tea café in Flushing- way too far to get a regular fix! Then, Hanco's opened and all I could say was "Hallelujah!" Their banh mi  sandwiches have the perfect buns (crusty on the outside, light and fluffy on the inside), and kick of heat and tang with jalapenos, pickled carrot and daikon. And since this post is about the best cafés in the area, here is why Hanco's is more than the average sandwich shop: customers can drop in for tea- hot or cold, bubble or not, milk or plain- and work on their laptop, join a knitting circle, or even just stare at the passers-by on 7th ave, all while enjoying free wi-fi! Hanco's is my favorite café/restaurant hybrid in the neighborhood, and its constant stream of customers is a testament to the fact that I'm not the only one who thinks so.

Also: listen to the opening story about Hanco's on a This American Life episode. You will want to support Hanco's even more after listening to this!

Hanco's Bubble Tea & Vietnamese Sandwich
7th Ave and 10th St., Park Slope

Now the middle:

Colson Patisserie (or Patisserie Colson)
Come here for the best croissants in all of Park Slope, bar none, but don't come here for a particularly friendly vibe, or to spread out for a long study session. I say this for two reasons: First, the primary clientele is parents with babies, which also means large strollers- it can get very crowded in here and there isn't a ton of seating, unless it's warm and you can take advantage of sitting outside; secondly, the staff seems oddly stingy with the Wi-Fi (I inquired once about whether or not they had Wi-Fi and got an abrupt answer to the tune of We don't want people only buying one coffee and sitting here all day.) The concern is understandable but when most cafés in the area welcome the inevitability of marathon café sitters, it makes Colson seem a little unfriendly.


Colson Patisserie
374 9th Street (corner of 6th ave), Park Slope