For Five Coffee Roasters

A lobby counter with a full coffee board

The board is longer than a lobby counter usually justifies, and that is the point of this one. For Five pulls espresso, macchiato, cortado, flat white, cappuccino, latte and americano, keeps cold brew and drip moving for the volume, and still finds room for pour-over. The house signatures sit on top of that: Gotham Mocha and Gotham Hot Chocolate, a Dona Chai Latte, and two pour-over choices called The Five and The Louie. Freddo Espresso and Freddo Cappuccino are the Greek-style cold drinks, whipped rather than simply iced, and they are the clearest tell that this is a Queens company rather than a Chicago one. Matcha, tea and iced tea cover everyone else.

The coffee is roasted in-house. For Five began in Queens in 2010 as a roaster and wholesaler before it opened cafés of its own, and this room, its second in the city, has been running in the Loop since March 2019.

Built for the downtown workday

The space reads as a modern, light-filled coffee bar set into a hotel lobby, working at the speed of the Loop: a morning queue, a midday reset, a short meeting that does not need a table for long. Nothing about it is precious. It is quick-turn counter service with a food menu that has to hold up from breakfast through lunch.

That food menu is unusually wide for a coffee bar. The pastry case runs to banana bread, zucchini bread, coffee cake, croissants, cinnamon rolls, scones, olive oil cake and muffins. Beyond it are salads, sandwiches and wraps, soup, sides, protein packs, yogurt parfait and seasonal fruit, with gluten-free, vegan and vegetarian items marked on the board.

Order the Gotham Mocha, then decide how hungry you are

Start with the Gotham Mocha for the house signature, or ask for The Five or The Louie as pour-over if you would rather taste the roast without milk and chocolate in the way. On a warm morning the Freddo Espresso or Freddo Cappuccino is the more interesting cold order, with cold brew as the plainer alternative.

At breakfast the 24-Hour Oatmeal is the item worth reading twice, while egg bites and the breakfast sandwich of cheddar, egg and sausage on an English muffin are the faster route; the vegetarian version swaps in creamed kale and feta. At lunch the kitchen gets more ambitious than the format suggests, with Avocado Crush, Falafel Mediterranean, Long Island Street Corn Salad, Spicy Vodka Rigatoni, an Apple & Kale Salad of cranberries, pecans, grapes, goat cheese and quinoa, or an Italian sandwich of salami, capicola and prosciutto with smoked provolone. Smoked salmon with cucumber and dill cream is the lighter end.