Primo Cappucino

Fresh & delicious ready-​made sandwiches and wraps, great freshly brewed coffee, sweet and gooey dessert bars, and super-​friendly staff. And they sell Deep River potato chips, THE best chips you’ll ever have. I always grab something here before boarding Amtrak for Upstate NY. Find Primo on the south side of the Amtrak Passenger Waiting Area /​Lounge near gates ⁵⁄₆ East.

Great for a candy bar or a soft drink. Despite their name, Primo Cappuccino, they don’t know how to make cappuccinos at all. I ordered one, assuming it would be better than say Dunkin Donuts; however, not only was it terrible, but it was also lukewarm at best! Again, great for a candy bar or soft drinks, unacceptable for just about anything else.

Fine by me. Was only looking for cold water. They had it for a reasonable price and an added bonus in Penn Station? Somewhere to sit down. Yeah, while everyone else is in that giant purgatory of people standing and looking up to see when the train arrives (don’t those have GPS by now?!), somewhere to sit and friendly crew.

Got to Penn station so early that Dunkin Donuts wasn’t even open yet. But this place was. They have bagel w/​cream cheese & coffee for $ 2.95! They also had great selection of pastries & fresh fruit.

This little place inside Penn Station has detiriorated somewhat in the last few years. I used to like stopping in while waiting for a train to enjoy a nice coffee and a baked goodie while reading the paper. It was a pretty cool place with a nice low key seating area in the back with armchairs and sidetables. I liked the kitschy pictures on the walls that were of people in the 1950’s enjoying coffee.
That was then, this is now. I stopped by today to have a smoothie. The mango smoothie I got was pretty good. My problem with this place isn’t the food, although it is disappointing they don’t actually make anything there other than coffee drinks and smoothies. I think they used to.
They never have but one person working and they never seem to be busy. As I sat for a little bit today, I figured out why. It looks run down and worn. The cushy armchairs and old and ripped, the tables were dirty, and the carpet looked decades removed from a good cleaning. The place looks like the owner doesn’t care about the appearance. To me that’s sad and ridiculous, considering the amount of foot traffic in Penn Station.
There are plenty of places inside Penn to get coffee and baked goods. Hot & Crusty and Le Bön Pain are pretty good for that, but their seating areas are boring and tiny. Primo’s used to be unique and inviting. It seems as if they simply gave up.
My suggestion, spruce the place up. Get some new furniture. Patch the holes in the walls, get some fresh paint. Keep the kitshy pictures, I love those. But remake it to feel like the ambiance of those pictures. Hire some part time people to make it look inviting. Having one person by themselves behind the counter but nobody cleaning the eating areas, is just stupid.
I bet they could increase their sales alot if they simply invested in a fresh look, some different and unique food items, and some cheer in the place. Until they do, I will miss the way it was when it was nice.

Meh. It’s OK. You can grab a cappucino here on the way to work from Penn Station — but it’s just OK and way too expensive. There are better coffee spots nearby. The deli next door has better food — that’s for sure!

Oh, for shame!
I ask for a small cappuccino. $ 4.50 — good thing they take cards because I was not prepared! Smallest beverage option starts at $ 4.50? Of course everybody is running late so we all bite the bullet.
Beverage comes to me 30 seconds later, three times the size of a normal cappuccino which might make some customers happy (somehow thinking this is a bargain)…but its basically regular drip coffee with a thin layer of milk bubbles on top.
Wheres the creamy foam? Or even some crappy airy foam? And what about that sexy balance, the proportion of shot to milk? At least the flavor of the coffee was not bitter (needed no sugar).
They have misrepresented a classic coffee creation and I am unforgiving.

Holy moly!
My train leaves in 5 minutes and I need a giant cup of coffee so I can be alert enough for the next four hours back to Boston to bang out some work n my trusty laptop.
Enter the convenience, competence and efficiency of Primo Cappucino in Penn Station. Located a hop, skip and a jump away from the tracking board, I was able to monitor my train’s track number announcement while getting an iced latte.
With three minutes to go, I was on my way to to the train, latte and bottle water in hand. A smile on my face, too. The counter gal was really friendly and made our order with the quickness. Large latte, large cappucino and a large bottle water: $ 14. I paid the price of convenience. I am okay with that!