Phoebe's Cafe
image c/o Flickr
CUISINE: Coffeshop, bagels, muffins, vegetarian fare
LOCATION: 323 Graham Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11211
(btw. Lorimer and Leonard St.)
PHONE: 718.599.3218
HOURS: Mon-Fri 8am-8pm, Sat-Sun 9pm-8pm
MENU: Click Here
DELIVERY: No
OUTDOOR DINING: Yes
CARDS: Visa/MasterCard
MAP: Click Here
SUBWAY: L Train to Graham Avenue
CITY SEARCH SAYS: This unadorned cafe has the feel of a college-town coffeehouse, liberally sprinkled with beards, bangs and butch haircuts. Fans line up for takeout pastries, bagels and self-serve coffee, and sit down to lunches of steamed eggs, hummus platters and BLTs with "fakin' bacon." While the Pixies blast over the speakers, resilient freelancers stay tuned into their laptops. The backyard provides a relaxing alternative, with wood-planked walls, climbing vines and umbrella-topped tables. Cappuccino, chai and caramel lattes are complemented by a small selection of beer and wine.
Comments
yeah its under new ownership - the whole place has been decorated by a couple of awesome artists and the food / service is excellent... plus theres music and events and such just about every night.
Posted by: challaha | May 5, 2009 11:40 PM
decent food decent service, great prices, great large back patio and cozy indoors. Those things are ALWAYS consistent-who can ask for more in this consumer culture that demands the best of everything. You pay for that in ways you don't even know.
Posted by: neighbor | November 7, 2008 08:54 PM
Y'all should know, they've got new owners. Check this for more info: http://www.freewilliamsburg.com/archives/2008/10/post_6.html
Posted by: $ries | October 14, 2008 11:38 PM
The palce is cute and I one saw a naked chick there in some sort of performance.She was a hot asian girl and it was 9:30 in the morning.
This was fun , but, the service is just soooo bad,so unprofessional and takes so long to get any food there , even the toasted bagel takes like 20min.Its impossible if you have something elese to do besides sit in a coffe shop. The menu is not so grat either.I dont think this part of the hood will get much more gentrified like some people wish.With the crises hiting NY, I dont know.I like regular,confy dinners anyway.
Posted by: Artur | September 21, 2008 09:19 PM
This place just reopened after renovations and I don't understand something; They open at 8 and close at 3:30. Who in the world is actually around at these hours to go there? How to they keep in business? When you go to work at 7 and are home by 5:30 you never have the chance to actually go to the damned place.
Posted by: Christopher | July 3, 2008 03:21 AM
This place just reopened after renovations and I don't understand something; They open at 8 and close at 3:30. Who in the world is actually around at these hours to go there? How to they keep in business? When you go to work at 7 and are home by 5:30 you never have the chance to actually go to the damned place.
Posted by: Christopher | July 3, 2008 03:20 AM
Sorry guys, I don't understand some comments!!! I like Phoebe's cafe, the backyard is fantastic, the food is always fresh, the atmosphere is interesting.
True, sometimes the service is a little bit too slow, but friendly anyway.
Like me, I can see some regular customers...
Posted by: Suzan | June 28, 2008 04:13 AM
how is this place still in business? awful service. awful food. i don't get it. i give up.
Posted by: amd | June 21, 2008 03:51 AM
Phoebe's is great!!! the food is excellent, the staff friendly and the backyard is amazing.
I love this place.
Posted by: peter | June 4, 2008 04:28 PM
I agree with the negative comments about the service. I so wanted to like this place and tried to give it a 2nd and 3rd chance...but sadly I've come to realize that it's not gonna get any better because the wait staff just doesn't "care", so I've moved on...no more Phoebe's for me. I don't need to pay money to get ignored and have people be rude to me, there's plenty of that in NYC for FREE!
Posted by: TLM | February 16, 2008 05:30 PM
waitstaff is super cold and rude and the food is boring. it is fun having to get your own warm water, set your own table, figure out which food is yours that was thrown on the table, and beg to have your coffee refilled. oh i mean its fun trying to figure out what to tip.
Posted by: emily | September 19, 2007 06:43 PM
Small but creative menu tends toward the healthy. Avoid the tuna - it's bland, but the egg dishes, steamed with cheese or with beans, are good. Waffles good. Tempeh ruben is good. Also, yogurt, fruit, and granola dishes (or with oatmeal) highly edible and healthy. Service is hit or miss; it's true they can ignore you. The clattering of plates can be deafening. But, hey, it's a slacker cafe - not the Ritz. What do you expect? Phoebe's is great.
Posted by: Forshorn | July 5, 2007 09:10 PM
There are 7 coffee shops with good hipster coffee all along graham. Visit and enjoy.
Posted by: hipster update for all you WHIpsters | October 20, 2006 06:06 AM
I have been going to Phoebe's since they first opened and I hope they never close. You can usually find me in the back with a book, delicious homemade waffles with REAL syrup and an iced mocha. The wait staff are great and very friendly and the prices are great for the large servings. The service is always fast and the one time there was a problem (the waffle iron wouldn't work right) they came out right away to let me know. All in all I LOVE THIS PLACE!!!
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Posted by: ya pidoras | July 24, 2006 08:02 PM
I've be walking regularly past Phoebe's for a year and after reading these reviews, I was scared to make my first trip there the other day. I went in expecting rudeness and received nothing but pleasant smiles and great service. The BLT hit the spot for my sandwich craving and the garden is so serene. True the staff was a little overdressed for working at a cafe but I look foreward to going back next weekend for a mimosa brunch!
Posted by: Another Jessica | May 29, 2006 12:47 AM
I was visiting from Nashville and very unfamiliar to the neighborhood when I stumbled upon Phoebe's, which was right downstairs from my friends apt. Being the closest coffee shop, I wandered in sleepy-eyed and needing some coffee whilst being pleasantly surprised by the generous vegetarian menu. The food and coffee was great. I had my breakfast and returned for lunch the next day to have a go at one of their many faux-meat delight's. As most hipster coffee shops are, the staff can be "too cool for school" at times, but all in all, was not a negative experience by any means. Phoebe's drew me in, and then slapped me around a little, but it was for my own good. Thanks Phoebe's!
Posted by: Jessica | March 20, 2006 08:53 PM
this place sucks so badly. the food is just boring, bland and crappy and it needs to be put out of it's misery.
Posted by: ug | March 12, 2006 11:18 PM
I first started going to Phoebe's years ago when it first opened. Great coffee with terrific service. Cinnamon toast was perfect, steamed eggs got better over time. The waffles were the only meal you needed all day! Great music too.
Service has steadily declined to a fine trickle. I had to wait 45 minutes once for a sandwich when I and one other person were in there. They did charge me half price but not worth the frustration. Hope things improve because it used to be a staple for me but no longer.
Posted by: Catfish | February 14, 2006 08:56 PM
I've been to Phoebe's a number of times and always feel like I'm being waited on by some eigth graders just starting out on their first puff of tobacco. Their comunication skills rival that of the nearest mental retard hospital and the food sucks. If your 15, new to brooklyn and think the more accesories you wear the better, then this is the place for you
Posted by: joe | November 15, 2005 01:00 AM
Now I really am not one who is typically prone to complain about or really even notice bad service. I usually just sit at places with my book and think nothing of the comings and goings of my drinks, my food, the server... but I have been to Phoebe's twice and both times my experience was completely surreal in a horrible, second grade, last picked for kickball sort of way. I can't give you a full report of the first time I went because it was probably eight months ago, but I do remember making a mental note to never go back because I felt SO UNCOMFORTABLE. Anyway, as time passed my memories of exactly _why_ I had vowed never to return faded and, as Phoebe's is practically around the corner, I decided to give it another try.
Now, as a server, there have been several times
when customers have made me want to slink away
in embarassment and fury. But as a customer I
have never had a server who made me feel this
way. The level to which this suicide girl-esque
server ignored me was puzzling and strange. A
friend of hers came in after I had placed my order.
He placed his order, got his food, finished and left, and I was still waiting on my sandwich. I
find it hard to believe she forgot about me, as I was sitting in a completely conspicuous location at a table right in front of a glass case she was standing at, talking to the friend (who was sitting at a table right across from me). Finally I told the cook, who didn't seem to be working on any orders, that I was waiting for a sandwich. She asked what kind, then went to make it. The server hadn't even put the order in? Okay, so the sandwich was good, but seriously, what is going _on_ over there? I never got an apology or anything more than a distant and cold word from anyone the whole time. Are people who aren't already friends with the wait staff discouraged from going? I know this is probably a locally owned business and I hate to hate, but I think the staff there should maybe learn to be "awesome" on their own time. Part of my motivation for writing this is as a reminder to myself, which I hope I won't break this time: Never, EVER, go back to Phoebe's Cafe!!!
Posted by: Lentil Soup | May 14, 2005 06:22 AM
Summer's a coming kiddies and Phoebe's Cafe boasts some really swell outdoor dining!!!
This little Williamsburg gem rocks!!! With its eclectic array of flea market furnishings, decidedly urban patronage and mostly vegetarian menu Phoebe's is a find for brunchin' & lunchin'.
The menu is small and service can be both slow and a little brusque at times ...but Phoebe's troop of Actor/Dancer/Student/Artist/Waiters usually aim's to please.
May I recommend ordering the Steamed-Egg platter w/Monterey Jack Cheese, chased down with an oversized latte...?
Yum!!!
Posted by: Ultra Urbanite | April 24, 2005 04:05 PM