Roosevelt's on Long: Different

The buzz is from more than just the coffee.

S/O to that plant for inspiring an antiquing trip afterwards!

Overall Rating: 11.86/15

Food & Beverage: 2.1/3 (pro: good quality and weird specials, con: no meals)

Service: 2.8/3 (pro: super nice, con: can be pretty busy)

Ambiance: 2.6/3 (pro: bustling, con: loud)

Bathrooms: 2.1/3 (pro: big, con: wet)

Other: 2.2/3 (pro: merch, con: parking is tight or on-street)

EZ's Review:

Dear blog,

Pictures, places, plants and some food too!

Roosevelt's had a couple of pictures and paintings like “my center” [the twin pictures] but it had other art too! like some brick art and metal art too!

And then let me get over the places.

There were 2 rooms [that were open to the public] one room was smaller and was the first thing you saw and was only for eating in and the other was an eyeful. The other room was probably 70% of it [leaving the other 30% to be split between the blocked off upstairs and the smaller room] from the record player to the kitchen to the hall to the sitting area - all the good stuff!

And don't get me started on the plants. The window was lined with plants and there were plants in coffee cans, and in pots and other things too! The plants even had names… and for food, me and my mom split a delicious everything bagel with cream cheese and my mom got an iced spice latte and I got a drink called MASH sparkling fruit drink that was flavored with pomegranate, blueberry and delicious!!

Just note there was a hole in the wall. Just note.

Mom's Review:

From the forced perspective of the high top in the far east corner of Roosevelts on Long Street, you could reasonably convince yourself that you were sitting in a classic Tribeca coffee shop. Trendy high-end apartments line the street out the window while the skyscrapers of downtown pepper the background. Buses, bikes, and dog-walkers glide past. Unfinished brick walls convey an urbanist claustrophobia, eased only by budding trees waving from their concrete foundations.

Inside it feels like a version of “Friends” where Ross and Chandler worked remotely and were tied to their laptops. There’s obviously friendships here, with guests and baristas shouting excited greetings to each other. But almost everyone has a tablet propped in front of them (sometimes two), and the friendly banter is overwhelmed by an aggressively loud Abba album and feverish office buzzwords. This isn’t just a palace to work from afar, it’s a place to be seen working from afar. Roosevlets is where you go when you need to be seen working. So it’s not uncommon or unsurprising to see local powerbrokers meeting performatively at the center table (if people watching is your priority, then this is the only coffee shop you need).

Today, however, is a spring Sunday and Roosevelt is hopping for a different reason, it is their 10th anniversary and the coffee is free. Really, fully free. So it’s packed.

I took the opportunity to get a top-shelf latte (the Spiced Peach Iced Latte) that would normally run me $7 plus tip. Totally free. And light and delicious, though the cinnamon on top really overpowered the peach. EZ opted for the pomegranate and blueberry “Sparkling Fruit Mash”, which smelled better than a Yankee candle and definitely delivered on flavor.

We added a Sammy’s everything bagel with cream cheese that was toasted crisp but still chewy soft. WIth Blocks sadly gone, I feel it’s safe to admit that Sammy’s really is the best bagel in town. And Roosevelts does it justice.

Other menu items included coffee+lemonade and coffee+ginger beer… which are acquired tastes, to say the least. The rotating pour over selection is solid. Please there’s a variety of juices, sodas, and bakery treats.

Without the freebie day, the prices will also remind you of NYC, with some drinks cusping $8. But the cafe has a strong philanthropic routine, having gifted over $250k to charity since opening, which can help ease the pinch. And the service seems to justify it… despite big crowds, we got food and drinks quickly and a server even took a break to put a Beatles album on the record player for EZ when he asked.

Families came and went, but few stayed after getting their order, aside from a few babies in slings. It’s very loud, even when the music takes a beat. So it’s not great for little ones (though, you can comfortably fit a stroller in the bathroom). And it’s too frenetic to be exploration friendly for early walkers. But for bigger kids who can get obsessive with a project (think: artsy kids with a sketchbook addiction) it’s got a good buzz.

But be prepared to share a table with strangers when it gets busy. And keep an eye on the bathroom line early if your kiddo doesn’t tend to give you good notice of an emergency potty need coming on.

All in all, Roosevelt's is a great place to come and find motivation, inspiration, and a good drink. Highly recommend walking to Alley Islands after coffee to check out the beautiful murals!