Astoria — Queens Blog Page

Communitea

11-18 46th Rd, Long Island City, Queens NY 11101

Communitea is a spacious coffee & tea house located on 46th Road in Long Island City (Queens) New York. It’s black-owned, founded by Kafia Saxe and Lloyd Canning 15 years ago and is now my favorite tea spot in LIC.

If you are outside of the Long Island City area (and driving is not an option) you can easily get here by taking the E, F, or 7 train (it’s closest to Court Square). If you are driving, parking is a little difficult on the block of Communitea but if you drive a block or so away you’ll find a spot.

At the top of my review, I mentioned that this is a coffee and tea house but you can get so much more here. They serve Buddha bowls, grilled cheese sandwiches, breakfast sandwiches, artisanal ice cream (tea flavored), freshly baked cookies/brownies/banana bread, beer, wine and even salads.

When you walk in you are immediately greeted by a warm staff member and let me tell you the long list of teas on the board can be overwhelming but just ask a few questions and the staff will get you to where you need to be tea/coffee and even food wise. Communitea has lots of Vegan options and can substitute milk per your request.

On my visit here, I ordered the following:

A soy cappuccino (because cappuccinos are my jam),
A Rooibos chai latte with soy milk (THIS WAS MY FAVORITE),
The BoB breakfast sandwich (pictured above) which was on a parker bun with bacon and cream cheese,
The croissant breakfast sandwich which is bacon egg and cheese on a croissant.

The eggs on both sandwiches were so perfect and fluffy and the cheese was placed inside of the eggs so you got a good gush of cheese when you bite down. Honestly, I’m still thinking about these sandwiches days later. I have to return here to try the other sandwiches on the menu.

Price-wise the lattes are about $5-$6 each and the breakfast sandwiches are around $9.

Communitea also has a gift shop/section where you can buy loose teas, mugs, aprons and masks.

Due to COVID-19, in-door dining is prohibited here but they have a nice sized out-door patio and are available for pick-up orders and delivery using Grubhub, Postmates, and DoorDash.

37-04 30th Ave., Astoria NY 11103

Gossip Coffee is a fairly new hip what I’ll call a “coffee-lounge” in one of the most poppin’ areas in Astoria (along 30th Avenue). I consider it a coffee-lounge rather than a coffee house because they serve fabulous cocktails. Not only are the cocktails fabulous but some of them have coffee in them!

I was introduced to this spot by the Queens Yelp Elite crew one night. After that night, I told a few friends about this spot and I’ve gone back twice just to chill and just to hang. I’m lucky enough to have one of my best friends living walking distance from place and he’s a coffee drinker so it all works out if you want a place to go and have a cocktail (that’s not a stuffy bar), maybe read a book while sitting outdoors.

The space is pretty large, they have an open back seating area that’s open all year around. They have tall heaters that can be utilized in the cold winter months.

My favorite cocktail from here is the spicy margarita coffee. It packed a lot of spice, heat and of course the perfect amount of coffee.

While you are grabbing a coffee cocktail you can munch on some of their small bites as well like tuna toast, oatmeal, avocado toast, chorizo bites, cobb salad, lobster rolls, or a slice of cake if you need something sweet.

The food prices range from $12-20 and the cocktails range from $10-12.

I look forward to hanging here and catching up with friends while eating cake and sipping coffee cocktails in the backyard area enjoying the space.

Gossip Coffee is perfect for a first date, friend hang, small group hang out, a quick meeting, a solo hang, or just somewhere to take your laptop and get some work done. It’s a great addition to the neighborhood.