Delicious espresso in a pretty shop. That's what's up. Came here a few months ago after a recommendation and now I indulge whenever I'm in the hood. The cappuccinos could be a bit more foamy (mine was more of a latte) but I pretty much orgasm at the first sip. Pain au chocolat? To die for. The decor? It shares many aspects of my dream crib (sweet chandeliers! wood wood wood). 5 stars for Variety! read more

Since this place is close to where I live, I have been here a few times and have always had bad experiences. As others have noted, the staff has that current hipster trend of diffidence towards their customers mixed with anger at having to do their job when they could be chatting to their group of loud friends (who always seem to be gathered around a counter in the back, stomping on the ground and turning the already loud music up to deafening levels). However, this is something I have come to accept among 20-something cafe workers in the neighborhood. What really irks me about this place is their bitter, stale coffee. I have ordered regular black coffee from them several times and it is always stale and bitter beyond enjoyment. It is barely drinkable. I usually go in the afternoon, so maybe they have just not made a fresh batch since morning, but considering how crowded this place is during that time you would think they would be making better coffee. The tables could use an occasional wipe down every now and then as well, and the back of the cafe is often littered with trash. Good points: the interior design is very nice, their pastries are good (although they have a limited amount), the tea is decent and they have an abundance of tables, plugs and wifi for the laptop set. However, I would rather go to any of the many cafe's in the neighborhood over this place. Still, I am willing to give them a chance. Oh yeah: no credit cards. read more

One of my go to spots to grab tea/ get work done. Quick service, nice vibe. Yay Variety!

thank gggooooooooooddddd there is finally a decent cafe on my way to the subway. adios, dunkin donuts! totallly cute place with AWESOME espresso. and not at a bad price either. love it. but get an A/C, a credit card machine, and some foods-to-go (can i grab a granola bar or what?). read more

honestly theres a couple of different variety cafes listed in brooklyn so im not 100% sure if this is the one I tried but I'm going to review it anyway. Went to that crazy-go-nuts festival in brooklyn a few weeks ago, googa-mooga. the lines were 2 hours long for the drinks, so I figured hell why not get some coffee. I was honestly shocked that the line was not long at this place. The ice coffee was delicious, so much better than dunkin or starbucks - needed no sugar and very little milk. I am not a snob about much, you can find me eating at wendys or taco bell some nights, but I am a snob about iced coffee and I must say this one was awesome. read more

I used to frequent Tar Pit but couldn't stand the unfriendly service. Variety is now my go-to. Baristas are always friendly, and they make a good latte. read more

This place has been consistently great for the several years that I've been coming. There's a couple of cafes much closer to my apartment that I skip over in favor of Variety. I've had great cold brew, french press, and lattes there. Their baked goods are also delicious and always fresh. I'm partial to the muffins but they also carry pastries from Roberta's that are pretty tasty. Baristas are always polite and friendly. Prices are consistent with the high quality and the neighborhood (they only recently raised some of their prices by 25-50 cents, they were actually on the sort of surprisingly cheap side before). FYI they now take credit cards. If you come during the morning rush and see a line, don't worry, they move very quickly. The laptop situation can be annoying when I want to sit, but you get that pretty much everywhere. If you're looking for a quiet place to hunker down and do work - you might want to go to a library or invest in a co-working space. They play music here and there are people there chatting with friends. Personally I find the background noise helpful when I'm reading or working on research papers. Highly recommend! read more

The best part about this place is the friendly staff that really knows how to make Stumptown coffee taste its best (which is awesome because I've encountered a few places that have managed to make Stumptown taste like garbage). I sent my roommate over here so he could get some work done in a cute, comfortable atmosphere with speedy wi-fi and he was more than pleased. Added bonus for baristas: the staff was actually excited that i came in to try their coffee when i work at another coffee shop in the area and they were happy to talk coffee with me when it wasn't too busy. read more

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY! Open a cafe on Graham Ave with decent coffee. Don't hire anyone from Variety. Profit. Location is good. Coffee is good maybe 70% of the time. (that's bad) Service is consistently bad. The one star is because there are sometimes cool dogs tied up out the front and Yelp won't let me give a zero. Tarpit is a little out of my way but they have great coffee and nice staff. I find myself going there more and more. The staff at Beaner Bar are *fantastic*; if their shots were shorter I'd hit them up a lot more. read more

I always prefer the coffee places with a limited menu, variety was one of them. After arriving, it turned to be bigger than what I expected. The drinks were great and the lady was very nice. They also have a bathroom read more

Really inconsistent + Ever-Evolving staff If you want anything other than coffee, be prepared to wait. read more

Brilliant coffee, beautifully crafted pastries and an environment with rich materials. Truly what a coffeehouse should be. Congratulations to you if you have a opportunity to stop by. read more

"Coffee Saves" Good stuff. I had the Americano, iced, 2 Splenda packets & a touch of soy. The ironic thing is, there's not much of a variety at Cho's Variety. But let's talk honestly here... when it comes to java, what more do you actually need than: coffee, espresso, americano, latte, & cappuccino - hot or iced? Nothing. read more

One of my favorite spots in the neighborhood, excellent place to get work done. Cute bench outside is great for enjoying sun and people watching read more

Waited here in a snowstorm for my tattoo appointment and the mocha and croissant I got were incredible. Highly recommend this spot. Ambience is cozy and genuine. Staff is friendly and helpful. read more

Great decor. Really very lovely and stylish and swank. Coffee can be good, but it's sooo slow, which rules this out as a commute pitstop. Service is really a let down, and it's expensive. read more

Just an update to say that I love Variety and everybody who works there (and owns ;) ). A great bunch, they are.

A lively neighborhood spot (with good coffee!) I have a really hard time dragging myself out of bed every morning but stopping off at Variety on my way to the subway really cheers me up (I doubt the caffeine hurts either once it kicks in). I've lived in the Graham Ave enclave for five years, which I love so much for its old-school Italian charm, but Variety is one of the rare new places that's simply a great addition to the neighborhood--the coffee's good, the staff is warm and fun (they play everything from Tom Waits to Frank Sinatra to the Smiths) and the whole place just has a welcoming vibe. Say what you will, but you've got to love that chandelier! read more

i used to work across the street at this place and i would get coffee because it was the summer/fall and it was nice to look outside the window and sip coffee on days that weren't saturday because saturday was actually pretty demanding, and i was stuck with a lot of work that the other receptionists didn't do sometimes i would get the iced coffee, which i assumed was cold brew, but often was really bitter and did not taste like cold brew. sometimes i would forget that this was the case and immediately regret ordering it i had a crush on one of the baristas here because once he was playing this band i like called life without buildings. we spoke about them when he was playing it but didn't really have any conversations after that. once i saw him on the l train with a bike. whenever i would go in there i would confuse one of the regulars on an ipad for the comedian chris elliott and i always felt like approaching him but then i would get shy and look up chris elliott on my phone and it wouldn't look like him so much some of the baristas were unpleasant, but he was p cool. i also liked this girl who was really skinny with long hair and had some sparse tattoos. once she came into where i worked and we pretended not to know each other. or maybe she didn't recognize me. it was kind of weird and i probably should have been more friendly. their real coffee is pretty good. i remember one of the baristas saying that their cups absorb a lot of liquid so it doesn't look like you're getting so much. i went through a phase of getting their chocolate banana bread because it was so good but i can't remember if there was peanut butter in it. it seems like there would be but also like maybe there are too many flavors there's this guy that was there like every day with a netbook and he ate like, peanuts, and watched movies all day. read more

This is my first review anywhere ever, but I am so infuriated for the upteenth time with Variety, I had to write one. I support small businesses and I would love a neighborhood coffee shop that is chill and relaxing. I forgive the really bad swamp coffee and lack of food variety, because I just want a mellow place to read or converse - to get out of the apt. The problem with Variety is the workers - they BLAST the music. I'm a young person, I like music, but not really loud at 8am, and it's always loud. One can't read or write while consuming their goods, cause it's so uncomfortable in there. It's just depressing cause I would come everyday and spend at least $10 there, but I will never go again. read more

The quest for "variety" is a quest to reclaim our deadened minds from the tedium of modern urban existence: the same streets, the same subway, the same dreary return home every night. We try so hard to distract ourselves from this endless parade of sameness, by seeking out "interesting" things, cultural artifacts and ideas that engage our nature-deprived minds to keep us pushing on, seeking out our next fix.... Cafe Variety is where I go when the days and nights at home get too dull. A cup of good coffee, a seat on a hard bench, and the displays of the young white monied naifs on the sidewalk out front: that is, unmistakably, variety. read more

since i have left the doldrums of south brooklyn to the greener pastures of greenpoint, (see what i did there?) i go to variety quite regularly. because, honestly? my part of greenpoint isn't very far from this part of williamsburg. it should be call greenburg or williamspoint or something like that. anyway, they have great coffee and it's never TOO hot. does that make sense? i don't like my coffee so hot that i can't enjoy it right away. so, when i have a few spare minutes, i like to stop at variety. you should like stopping here too. read more

Cuuuuute, friendly staff, good music. Outlets galore and I managed to 'borrow' to someone's wifi. A much needed addition to Graham. Yay!

Probably the most wicked iced coffee I've ever had. No lie. I just finished one and just might have to walk the 10 minutes to go get another. It's also a super cute space, and seems like a great place to work or read (but I took my coffee to go). I guess Variety is supposed to be an ironic name since they have about 3 things on their menu and a kind of meager selection of pastries. But if they add more stuff to their menu I'll bump them up to 5 stars. Looking forward to more Variety. Yum. read more

So happy I finally stopped in here! Good coffee, super cheap at $2 for a large served in a cozy atmosphere. Good place to huddle around a table with friends on a cold day. read more

For heaven's sake, Variety, get some air conditioning in here. How does one decide to open a coffee shop in the middle of summer and not make sure their AC works? I'm sitting here, sweating buckets, with just a lone fan providing some air circulation. I want to give this place a chance. Their coffee seems decent and the space is large with lots of tables, but I don't want to feel like I'm inside a sauna. The whole operation feels a little ghetto right now -- the girl at the front didn't even know their own phone number -- but I'm going to chalk it up to growing pains. Hope they pull it together soon. read more

It was a great little shop when I lived off Graham. I'd run there anytime I'd go off to the trains. It was interesting to watch the place's set-up transform over the course of the year into a little coffeeshop. Pretty decent. read more

Just found a power strip in the back! It's behind the white wooden bench.

I don't have any real opinion on this Stumptown coffee. I do think the prices are a bit high and the menu is lacking. But it's a good place to get some work done and you're paying for the ambiance honestly. I think it's good though. Quiet enough too. read more

This is a cute little hipster coffee shop. It's sort of what you expect, good coffee, cute ambiance, servers that look bored/annoyed to have to speak to you. If the servers could maybe....smile...that would help. read more

Some of the best coffee I have ever had, and definitely the best I have had in Brooklyn. The coffee is rich and oily, and the setup to add sugar/milks is very organized. I also love that the place has plenty of seating and provides free Wifi if you want to have relaxing place to enjoy coffee and get some work done. read more

Such a great place, however when I was there they were blasting Phil Collins at an absurd volume the whole time I was trying to work on my laptop. Good lord. Other than that, awesome place. read more

The best place for espresso. I suppose maybe they do go to the opposite extreme of under roasting but it's a nice change and a chance to taste more of the natural bean flavor. The shots are always short and thick, 2 sips and you're done, no need to sit down, just stand at the bar like they do in italy. That's all I need from a coffee shop! read more

Variety is all around a pretty solid cafe that stands out in a place where cafe's are dime a dozen. I love their iced drinks and tea selection. I don't drink coffee but I hear theirs is pretty great. Free wifi and lots of seating are also a plus. The barista's are friendly and cool. Also great for babe-watching. Just saying. It's easy to spend a morning at this spot. read more

I used to walk by this place and be so scared of the Hipster Alert Level 10 vibe it gives off. I finally gave it a try and the people at the counter are always so friendly and not snotty/hipstery that now I'm hooked! The baked goods are delicious, but I will admit: the coffee is a bit too strong for me and gives me the jitters. Overall, though, this place has my business for a long time to come for my morning muffin or various baked good. Into it! read more

Great coffee, pastries and service. They make you feel like you're at home. This is why I go here everyday and will continue to do so until I run out of money...Which might be soon. but I always find a way to scrounge up enough change for my Variety! Much love to all who work there. And the other location on driggs is just as good! read more

Cute coffee shop off the Graham L. Does the trick and can cure your caffeine fix. If in the area, I suggest a stop by. Also, the place has a very neighborhoody feel which is fun if you are visiting from out of town. read more

Great coffee all brewed from french press... ultra friendly service. Go, buy coffee here and use your computer. but. after 9 am. Dear Park Slope, you are about 10 stops south of here. are you telling me you actually wake your kids up at 6:30 to get them here for 8:00? Or, even scarier, they've migrated with their shaggy haired budding geniuses to Williamsburg.. (pssst, good job, don't discipline the child, it will only cramp its entitlement) If you are planning to get anything done on the wifi before indicated time, bring headphones or poison darts. read more

Pit stopped here to "refuel" and steal some wifi. Coffee was good and service was friendly. It's not the biggest spot, but there are plenty of tables and it's a chill environment for those looking to get some work done. read more

I love coming in here to do a little work or reading on my way to my Italian class. The drinks are reasonably priced, especially if you're not getting anything too fussy, and the staff are welcoming. The natural light that pours in through the big front window really makes the space great for reading or working (though please, don't be that jerk with the laptop who takes up a table of four for hours), and the seating goes farther back than you'd think from the outside, so plenty of space. read more