DUMBO Coffee Guide: Best Coffee Shops Under the Manhattan Bridge

DUMBO is a small neighborhood by Brooklyn standards, but it punches above its size for coffee. Ten specialty coffee shops are packed into a district bounded by the two bridges and the waterfront, and the density of strong options is higher here than in most neighborhoods twice its size. The foot traffic from office workers, tourists, and residents keeps the bar high.

The highest-rated shop in DUMBO is Red Coffee Stand on Front Street, a 4.8-star specialty room with a focused pastry program. It is a strong first stop if you are coming in from the Manhattan Bridge side. A short walk east, Usagi NY on Plymouth Street combines a Japanese art gallery and design shop with specialty coffee and pastries at 4.6 stars. The combination is unusual and works well. It is one of the more quietly serious cups in the neighborhood.

Water Street covers a lot of ground. Almondine Bakery at 85 Water Street is the neighborhood's dedicated pastry anchor, a 4.5-star spot where the baking is the main event and the coffee is good enough to match it. Down the block, Butler at 40 Water Street brings the same serious pastry program as the Williamsburg original, with outdoor seating and specialty coffee at 4.5 stars. If you are eating as well as drinking, these two cover both ends of the street.

Prospect Street has Bluestone Lane, an Australian-style specialty cafe at 4.5 stars with outdoor seating and a laptop-friendly room. It is a reliable choice for a full morning of work, and the flat white is the drink to order. Laptop-friendly options in DUMBO also include Fontainhas on Jay Street, a 4.5-star Goan-inspired all-day cafe that is open late and has a pastry and food program with Indian influences.

Old Fulton Street has % Arabica, the Japanese specialty chain's DUMBO outpost, at 4.4 stars with outdoor seating and pastries. On York Street, Devoción brings its direct-trade Colombian coffee program to a second Brooklyn location at 4.3 stars. The indoor garden setup, outdoor seating, and laptop-friendly room make it one of the most distinctive spaces in the neighborhood.

Front Street rounds out the lineup. Zaruma Gold Coffee at 66 Front Street specializes in Ecuadorian coffee at 4.2 stars, a narrower specialty program than most of the neighborhood's shops but a genuinely distinct one. Washington Street has Joe Coffee, a 3.8-star outpost of the New York mini-chain with a laptop-friendly setup and pastries.

DUMBO is a short walk from Brooklyn Heights and close enough to Carroll Gardens to make a neighborhood-hopping coffee day work without much effort. The concentration in DUMBO itself means you could spend a morning moving between Red Coffee Stand, Usagi, and Butler without covering more than a few blocks.