Corner Cafe and Bakery

Not a fan of this place at all! I kinda had a feeling it wouldn’t be good, but I gave it a try twice. I had a chocolate brioche which wasn’t the worst thing ever, but extremely expensive. I guess the location is what does it. I also had a bagel with cream cheese there that again, didn’t impress me at all. Their coffee tasted burnt and upset my stomach a bit. I had their hot chocolate later on in the day which was $ 4.50 for a medium!!! Ridiculous pricing especially after paying only $ 2.00 for a bagel with cream cheese which is normal. (Their prices are up and down.) But the hot chocolate was awful. I wasn’t able to even sip it for at least 10 – 15 minutes due to the temperature. Then when I finally did it was terrible and also upset my stomach. Later on I passed by and saw it had a B grade for sanitary inspection. Hopefully I’m not diseased. Lol
Positives are seating, food choices and appearance. Again, the chocolate brioche wasn’t the worst thing ever and neither way the bagel. But I’ve definitely had better many places throughout the city. Coffee and hot chocolate were no good.

I came in to grab a quick coffee and sandwich just after 2pm, but left with just a coffee. I asked if they were still making eggs, and I waited 5−10min for an answer. Then when they said they are indeed still making eggs, I still stood there waiting another 5−10min for someone to take my order. I didn’t have time to just stand there waiting so I just paid for my coffee and left. Very disappointing because everything looks very good here. One cashier was very nice and friendly, but the other who was «taking care of me» didn’t seem to care and kept forgetting what she was doing.

I had a great sandwich, but between the rather generous prices and poor service, I can’t give this more than three stars. This place reminded me a lot of many other places in NYC (including the Pret A Manger chain) with pre-​made food, lines for made-​to-​order sandwiches and coffee. I had difficulty ordering my sandwich since the guy behind the counter seemed to be purposely mumbling – at every single question I had to ask «Excuse me?» Then I got to the register and the clerk seemed unable to find the sandwich he’d made for me. This place is nothing exceptional, but if you’re in the neighborhood and need a quick bite, it’ll do the trick.

I have been going to corner café and bakery for years and love what they have recently added to their menu! They now have a burger menu which has about 12 burger choices, they even have a vegetarian option for those of you who don’t eat meat. Anyway, I really love the new menu there are so many options and it’s a great deal!!! For $ 15 dollars you get a massive Kobe burger and a beer! Amazing choices, flavors and an amazing deal… Oh yeah I almost forgot to mention their new sides are outrageous! I had the sweet potato fries, the fried onions (they are like upscale onion rings!) and their fried pickles!!! To be honest I don’t like pickles but I actually really enjoyed these so I’m assuming if you do like pickles these will blow your mind!!!
I’m going to add a picture! :)

Food is pretty good but the prices are insane.
I am not the only ‘regular’ there who works nearby and feels like a prisoner because other neighborhood options have closed in the past year.
It’s pure chaos at peak times — I’ve never seen a food service operation so poorly organized.
Worst part is the rude and nasty staff — it’s really terrible.
It’s gotten to the point where I almost enjoy commiserating with other suckers like me waiting in line who openly complain about the treatment there. If only the counter staff and management, who are in full earshot of our conversations, gave a hoot.
Just wish other neighborhoods spots would open so this place would go under.
Better off on Seamless Web …

I was on the Upper East Side running errands and I was waiting on my bus to come and I had 10 minutes to get some coffee. So I had two choices and they were go to this place that was across the street from the bus stop or walk 2 blocks to get to a Starbucks and possibly miss my bus. I selected going to Corner Café and Bakery. From the outside it seemed pretty full and like a good choice. I walked in and it smelled absolutely divine. Got up to the cashier asked if they could make a café mocha with soy milk. She said yes. All the employees so to want to rush you in and out. I got my drink and hopped on my bus in time. My bus pulls off and I take a sip of my mocha. They made me a hot chocolate (or the weakest coffee). Maybe if they weren’t in a rush they would have gotten my drink right. I spent 6 dollars on something that didn’t even taste remotely close to what I asked for. Should of read the Unilocal reviews before walking. LESSON LEARNED.

Coffee and pastries are at most decent, but the miserable service makes me want to avoid this place like the plague. HOW can this staff expect people to put up with their rudeness?
My friend and I walked in and ordered separately. His barista alleged she asked him if he wanted two cappuccinos. He had only ordered one. She charged him, and he wondered why his cappuccino was a startling $ 6. Paying blindly, he saw what had happened when she presented two cappuccinos. She insisted he ordered two. In fact, she had never actually asked him how many he wanted — she saw us together and made two, assuming we both wanted one.
Meanwhile, I was ordering and receiving a black coffee and doughnut. While my friend politely requested a refund for the unwanted cappuccino (it’s not like we were planning to keep it), my barista and his ganged up on us and insisted they couldn’t and wouldn’t take back the mistaken cappuccino. There was NO apology for their miscommunication, just a staunch refusal to satisfy our reasonable request — a $ 3 refund for an item we had never ordered. My barista, perhaps assuming I wouldn’t pay for the items I had ACTUALLY ordered, then forcefully demanded my total. Again, ZERO apology for the confusion. It was clear that in the span of five minutes, we had become swindlers. Their rudeness stopped just short of telling us to get out.
It makes me sad that Starbucks would have been a more pleasant place to grab a mediocre coffee than this neighborhood spot.
Spare your $ 3 — you may find it costs you a lot more.

Great sandwiches and prepared foods. Not inexpensive but you get what you pay for. Unfortunately the coffee is subpar.

I stopped in here because I happened to be in the neighborhood. I usually check a place on Unilocal before I go in but I just went for it since I don’t really know the neighborhood. Some of the reviews here are absolutely terrible and management obviously needs to do something about it if so many people are complaining about the service!
I got a pre made «picnic on a bun» sandwich — fried chicken breast, Cole slaw, chive mayo pickled cucumber on a sesame bun. Coleslaw, mayo and bread were D E L I C I O U S buuuut the fried chicken was dry and I was desperately trying to get a mouthful of mayo with every bite to help the situation. It was $ 6 for HALF a sandwich (what) which I didn’t realize until I sat down. Staff wasn’t pleasant or rude — pretty forgettable service.
I wouldn’t boycott this place but I also wouldn’t go out of my way to come here either.

Convience, Pleasant Staff, Great Selection. Just remember, nothing is free up here.

Are you kidding me! I would give this place ZERO stars if I could. The prices are outrageous, but if that’s not bad enough the service is despicable! The staff are rude, they get an attitude if you ask for clarification of the menu. If you have any personal preferences they look at you rudely and then handle your food like they’re angry. I’m sorry, are you not being paid to do your job? Am I supposed to give my money and settle for whatever you give me?!! Everyone there has a major attitude, excluding the newest woman working there who is very nice. The big guy that makes the food is an absolute dick, with the look of «I REALLY FKN HATE MY JOB» on his face. I think if he smiled, his face may really break. There is a lil woman who works the register who is equally filled with attitude. When you ask for a substitution all of the employees look at one another, with this undertone of «ugh, this paying customer just asked for no mayo on her sandwich, what a B*CH.» They need to replace the entire crew and start over. These ppl are horrible on the inside!

Those people who are working in this café are bad people and the service is the worst I have ever had in New york city.
One of the guy I guess is the manager is a crazy man, agressive and screaming at clients.
If this guy is not fire I will tell to all the people I know «Never ever to to this place!!!».
Also as I am a journalist specialize in food and restautants, We will ruin the reputation of this place and we will make sure this man won’t work anymore.
Please never go there…

This is a great place to stop if you are there with others and are having trouble compromising on a type of food. You just want a pastry while your partner wants a meal? Stop here.
I was able to get a moist black and white cookie with thick icing and an iced chai (no judgment from the cashier) while he got a spinach feta quiche. The cashier offered to heat it up. If I had been hungrier, I would have snatched up some Brussels sprouts or one of the many types of salads.
If you’re looking to dodge the array of unhealthy roach coaches along Fifth, stop here. Yeah, okay, I had the cookie that was the size of my head, but there are at least many wholesome options here.

Best take-​out lunch place in the area… if you can get over the attitude of a couple of people who work there. Whoever prepares the food is very creative and uses extremely fresh ingredients! #yummm

Why all the bad reviews? I’m up here quite often and this is a great little spot to grab a quick bite to eat, bfast or lunch.
Tons of sandwich options, always a few soups and assorted teas and coffee.
It’s UES prices but that’s what you get when you’re up here.
Overall, good spot to grab breakfast or lunch, eat in or take to the park.

I stumbled upon Corner Café looking for a place to grab a coffee that would actually have an open table. Coffee — check, open table — plenty, but it’s pretty basic. It was also quite loud (just the employees — there weren’t enough clientele to overpower them), and had poor service, certainly without a smile. Regardless, coffee was cheap (the quality reflected the price) and the pastry was overpriced but decent.
I would have given the place three stars if the place had wifi…
All in all, it wasn’t horrible but deserving of two stars — no more.

Corner Bakery used to be Yura and Yura was good. There was butter in baked goods in abundance. So many happy childhood memories. However, this is Corner. This is expensive and this is UES folks. Dad needed a sandwich and I needed to spend an absurd amount of money and we happened to be right by Corner on Madison. He protested, but I was just thinking we needed food and fast. I can see where it can get confusing during busy times, but we were there towards the end of the day and it was relatively empty. We checked out the prepared foods and the prices are indeed ridiculous. I opted for the spinach and orange salad (very strange combination that I wish actually worked but I will pretty much always eat spinach) which was about $ 8 and dad got a freshly made wrap. He picked everything he wanted although they were out of most breads by 6:00 apparently.
This being part bakery with the goods coming from the original location I grabbed a couple of treats for the family, a few cookies, a s’mores bar and a cream cheese brownie. They definitely aren’t what they used to be. Hubby did love the s’mores bar and the brownie is standard but there was no wow factor to anything. And everything is way too expensive to be so banal and just poorly executed.
I did find the service friendly however, even offering us free samples. I can see where the service might be different on any given day though. Bottom line is, it’s Madison Ave and you can blow that much money at way better places.

Who designed this place? And who hired the help? They really need signs to instruct people where to order what, as baked goods and breakfast items are in the front, but there is almost never anyone there to help. Sandwiches and prepared food seem to be in the back. Custom coffee drinks? Who knows? And, because of all of this, confusion reigns at the check out counter, which is in the middle. There is often a scrum of people crowding in with no sense of order, largely due to the poor flow.
And who is manning these counters? Only some of the snarkiest, rudest people ever.
Wow, do they make it clear they hate the customers, with eye rolling and sarcastic remarks. It’s just too darn unpleasant to deal with. Oh, and as for the food, it’s just okay and priced to the upscale neighborhood.

I was so mad when I left this place. I stopped in here because it was close to the Guggenheim, to grab a sandwich to go. They have a build your own sandwich, choose a bread and either free toppings or ones for an extra charge. When I went to pay, what I thought was a sandwich for $ 6.95 (+tax) rang up for $ 10.83. Huh? When I asked, the cashier said it was $ 6.95 + $ 1 for cheese and $ 1 for brioche. But the bread choices listed Italian brioche for no extra charge I pointed out. «Oh, that’s this bread» as she pulled out a baguette. The brioche that they made the sandwich on was an extra $ 1 and she admitted that it was their mistake. Did I want to switch to the italian brioche (really a baguette)? Come on, the sandwich was already made. My friend didn’t want to make a scene and said just get it and let’s get out of here.
And now that I listed the charges, I see that there’s an extra $ 1 charge I don’t even know what for. Ugghhhh… don’t go here! It doesn’t even desire a one star!
Oh and by the way, when we got home, it wasn’t even a brioche, it was a croissant and the chicken salad was mostly apples. Ugggghhhh…

Holy smokes did I have a terrible experience at this place. It’s a block away from where I live and I would like to be able to go there from time to time, but that’s not happening. Being in there was way too aggravating.
My GF and I stopped in to get a sandwich to split for a quick afternoon snack. All the sandwich ingredients are listed on an electronic screen, which informs one of the base prices and additional charges, if any. Chicken salad (9 bucks), a slice of havarti (extra dollar) on… let’s pick one off of the bread menu… make that on brioche please.
So when we went to pay, the counter lady rang the sandwich up for more than it should have been. Why? «Italian brioche is a dollar extra.» It didn’t say that on the menu board, where none of the breads carried a surcharge. We pointed that out to her and she agreed. She called the sandwich man over and said, «look, the board is wrong.» Then she turned back to us and, instead of saying, «Sorry, our bad. No extra charge», she said, «Do you want it on the other brioche instead?» Other brioche? Huh? Sure, why not. So the sandwich guy pulled out a loaf of regular Italian bread and started to split it open.
Okay, rather than owning their error and taking the dollar off, they were actually going to scrape the chicken salad off of the «Italian Brioche» and remake the sandwich on Italian bread, which they were calling «regular brioche». And do what with the «Italian brioche» afterward? Throw it out? Sell it to somebody else? Who knows. Who cares.
I couldn’t stand to watch what they were about to do to our sandwich, so we just paid for the damn thing and left. They made an extra dollar. We’ll never go back. Never. And the sandwich itself? Guess what, it wasn’t on brioche, it was a croissant. And the chicken salad was terrible, mostly Granny Smith apples. By «mostly», I mean a ratio of 3 parts apple to 1 part chicken. I wouldn’t have ordered it at all if I realized it was the type of chicken salad made with apples.
Folks, there is a reason this joint has so many one star reviews. Take it to heart. Walk another block and patronize an establishment that appreciates your business.
Edit: Oh yeah, forgot to mention, even in this very expensive neighborhood, $ 11 for a chicken salad sandwich from a deli is a ridiculous price. There is nothing about Corner Café and Bakery that works. Nothing.