Matto Espresso

Hi Tasters!

For our inaugural post, we've decided to highlight a local spot that's been popular among NYU student circles as of late: Matto!

Matto is a chain Kosher cafe that has locations all over Manhattan. Matto's call to fame—and what drew me into trying them out in the first place—is their pricing gimmick: every item (regardless of whether it's a food or beverage, and regardless of sizing) is a mere $2.00 (with tax, it's $2.18). This makes things super streamlined and easy for customers, and incentivizes stocking up and taste-testing their wide assortment of beverages, sandwiches, pastries, and desserts with little monetary commitment.

I caught wind of Matto first from a classmate, who'd sported one of their beverages in class and was intimating to everyone her surreal experience at a cafe that priced things for only $2. I'd actually visited the location in the Flatiron District first—and loved it!—before realizing there was a more local, accessible site. Since then, I've visited our Mercer site (an embarrassing) three times within the past two days, and here's what I have to show and say:

Located on 293 Mercer Street (literally a block or two from Silver, the Stern building, and Washington Square Park itself), the small cafe might look nondescript and might go overlooked. What definitely draws people into the small shop is the signage—announcing that everything in the store costs $2.

It might be a bit deceitful to call Matto a cafe: with no seating, and a small ledge for adding sugar and honey to drinks, it might be more apt to call the place a grab-and-go spot. Matto stocks a huge array of Jewish and gluten-free pastry options, healthy drinks, and your more run-of-the-mill assortment of sandwiches and caffeinated beverages: chia seed pudding, mango and green smoothies, cheesecakes, spinach and potato bourekas, veggie burgers, croissants, and almond milk lattes are all items that personally caught my eye and items that I've saved on my mental bucketlist of things to try. For a more expansive list of items, check this site out.

Despite the lack of seating and the cramped space, Matto seems perfectly suited to serve the kind of clientele around the area: NYU students rushing to find food and coffee between classes who won't have time to stop and eat, and locals and tourists headed towards Washington Square Park who arrive there by happenstance (for whom space is a nonissue, as they have the park to sit and stroll about in). Fast and friendly service definitely made the experience of getting in and getting out expedient. Two caveats to bear in mind: there's a credit minimum of $4, which requires purchasing 3 items minimum; and, though I've visited at multiple times before and after lunch times with no issue, there have been reports by reviewers online that claim low stocks of items.

I've tried the potato bourekas (three times..) and have garnered a specific loyalty to this item. Their almond milk latte is a bit sweet, and their lemonade was great in that it did not taste artificial at all. Their mango smoothie (which I'm drinking as I type this) and the avocado and egg sandwich are both items I would recommend as well.

Let us know how your experience at Matto goes!

Signing off,

Daniel