If you didn’t take a picture, did it really happen?
Travelers are often looking for beautiful moments to share on social media, particularly on Instagram. If you’re out in New York City hitting all the iconic landmarks, or if you live in the city and are looking for somewhere to hang out, there are so many instagrammable cafes in NYC.
We’re sharing a few here and will add more as we continue to explore.
Read More: What to Wear in New York City: NYC Packing List and Travel Advice From a Local
1. Bluestone Lane: Upper East Side
Located on Fifth Avenue and 90th street, this Bluestone Lane cafe is one of several locations around the city. But this one’s unique. It’s adjacent to the Church of the Heavenly Rest, a historic building where the entrance of the cafe is one of the arches of the church and has plenty of outdoor seating just outside.
What to order: chai tea and avocado smash
Address: 1085 5th Ave (on 90th St)
2. Le Pain Quotidien: Upper East Side
Another cafe with several locations around the city, Le Pain Quotidien is known for their simple and quality food with a communal table in the center of every cafe. The menu is similar in each location but the Upper East Side location has a cozy feel with a fireplace.
What to order: classic lemonade and a tartine open faced sandwich
Address: 252 E 77th St (on 2nd Ave)
3. Cafe Sabarsky: Upper East Side
Inside the Neue Galerie art museum for German and Austrian art is Cafe Sabarsky, inspired by cafes in Vienna with the interior decorated just like a cafe in Vienna and offering Viennese food, including my favorite chocolate cake. While there, don’t miss seeing The Woman in Gold painting by Gustav Klimt.
What to order: Sabarsky Heiße Schokolade (housemade Viennese hot chocolate) and Klimttorte (chocolate and hazelnut cake)
Address: 1048 5th Ave (on 86th St)
4. Bluestone Lane: West Village
This Bluestone Lane location in the West Village is the Collective Cafe, more of a restaurant than a cafe with more table space inside and al fresco too. Grab a seat by the window for natural light to photograph.
What to order: avocado smash
Address: 55 Greenwich Ave
5. Remi Flower & Coffee: Midtown East
This whole cafe is instagrammable. It’s a cafe and flower shop in one where the menu is inspired by the floral arrangements like lavender and rose lattes made with real lavender and rose petals and sipped amongst those floral arrangements.
What to order: lavender latte and maybe a flower arrangement on the way out
Address: 906 2nd Ave (on 48th St)
6. Blank Slate Midtown
One of two Blank Slate locations in the city, Blank Slate Midtown has a row of counter seating by the floor to ceiling glass windows so you can people watch over Second Avenue while photographing your food and drinks.
What to order: rose matcha latte and avocado toast with chili honey
Address: 941 2nd Ave (on 50th St)
7. Blank Slate Nomad
For all day breakfast and also lunch items, Blank Slate Nomad has it all. While there, don’t miss their tea cafe next door at Blank Slate Tea for Instagrammable tea lattes in a cute pink pastel and floral decorated space.
What to order: Devoción coffee and a dessert – smores dip or cookie skillet
Address: 121 Madison Avenue (on 30th St)
8. Maman Nomad
Maman serves coffee, tea, pastries, brunch and lunch at seven locations in NYC and two in Canada. This location in Nomad has more of a grab and go vibe, but still has seats for taking that Instagram shot.
What to order: waffle-iron hash browns salad
Address: 55 E Houston St
9. Studio Cafe at the Whitney Museum of American Art: Meatpacking District
While at the Whitney Museum of American Art, check out their Studio Cafe on the top floor for coffee, pastries or a light lunch. The cafe has floor to ceiling windows allowing for ample light and also outdoor seating so you can take your items out to photograph.
What to order: any coffee and pastry
Address: 99 Gansevoort St
10. Oddfellows: Nolita
OddFellows is an ice cream shop from Brooklyn with a variety of classic and daily flavors. Their location in Nolita also serves hot drinks like coffee and matcha lattes that you can enjoy while sitting on a plush retro diner seat that might work for a background.
What to order: any ice cream or just a matcha latte
Address: 55 E Houston St
11. Maman Soho
Maman’s Soho location has plenty of seating with tabletops and a rustic feel, perfect for Instagram. They also have pretty to go cups for more photographing possibilities.
What to order: nutty chocolate chip cookie
Address: 239 Centre St
12. Chalait Hudson Square
Known for their matcha sourced directly from Japan, Chalait serves this matcha in several forms (latte, matcha hot chocolate, matcha iced tea, matcha americano to name a few) and their flagship location has marble tabletops great for photographing.
What to order: matcha latte and a farmhouse crunch sandwich
Address: 299 W Houston St
13. Alice’s Tea Cup Chapter II: Lenox Hill
Alice’s Tea Cup is a tea room known for their scones and wide variety of tea – there’s a separate menu just for all the teas! They offer a full afternoon tea (tea, scones, sandwiches and pastries) or just ask about their scones of the day.
What to order: scones (pumpkin!) and a pot of tea
Address: 156 E 64th St (on Lexington Ave)
14. Cafe Alula: Greenpoint Brooklyn
A Lebanese inspired cafe in Greenpoint, this cafe has sandwiches and bowls with lots of hummus, falafel, labneh and other traditional Lebanese ingredients all served on colorful tableware. There’s also outdoor seating in the backyard for natural light during warmer months.
What to order: hummus and egg bowl
Address: 252 Franklin St, Brooklyn
15. Bakeri: Greenpoint Brooklyn
Bakeri is a bakery in Greenpoint making bread in house and serving pastries, coffee and sandwiches. It’s also popular with Instagrammers because of its colorful vegetable wallpaper.
What to order: iced chai latte and a pastry
Address: 105 Freeman St, Brooklyn
BONUS: Instagrammable Afternoon Teas in NYC
Afternoon tea is a very Instagrammable activity to partake in with the food displayed beautifully in three tiers of sweets and finger sandwiches with a pot of tea. There are many locations for afternoon tea around the city from hotels to tea rooms and these are just a few for plenty of Instagram opportunities:
Crosby Street Hotel: Soho
Crosby Street Hotel is part of Firmdale Hotels based in London. They brought the British afternoon tea tradition to Soho in New York City at this hotel where you can get a seat right by the window to capture a perfect New York moment.
Address: 79 Crosby St
Oscar Wilde: Nomad
Step back into the Victorian era at Oscar Wilde, named after the author. It is home to the longest bar in NYC, but also has seating for lunch, dinner and afternoon tea available everyday from 11:30am – 4pm.
Address: 45 W 27th St (between Broadway and 6th Ave)
Lillie’s Victorian Establishment: Times Square
A sister restaurant to Oscar Wilde, is another Victorian inspired venue. Their Times Square location offers an afternoon tea with tea, scones, sandwiches and sweets amongst an ornate and Instagrammable interior.
Address: 249 W 49th St (on 8th Ave)
What are some of your favorite instagrammable cafes in NYC? Please share!
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