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.