Saturday, January 5, 2013
Tugboat Coffee Is Open For Business
Stop in, y'all. Tugboat's owners Kola and Chad would love to see you. If you're serious about supporting a local coffee shoppe, and by the responses on this blog you are, come out to day and buy them out of everything in stock. And hey, if you need something they don't have, let 'em know. Good luck guys! 546 Flatbush, next to Gino's Ristorantay.
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18 comments:
Very friendly staff, spoke with one of the owners, he was very pleased by the enthusiastic turnout. It was quite busy, but the staff was very efficient and the space made the short wait comfortable. The art is very nice, as is the baked goods selection and loose tea offerings. Does anyone know if they have a yelp page or social network presence? As a community, we should pump them up. The more successful small businesses like this, the more it will encourage other entrepreneurs to give the 'hood a fair shot!
I was there this morning. Tugboat is every bit as good as I expected, which is saying a lot since K-Dog is my point of reference. Good luck Kola and Chad; I think you'll do very well!
This place is so dead-on perfect - exactly what we needed. The baked goods are a huge improvement over what K-Dog or Blue Roost offered too.
Will happily spend my money there daily.
-Paul G.
Fabulous! They were open early this morning for me to get my cafe au lait and a scrumptious almond croissant at 8 AM! And I am told that everything is purchased in Brooklyn! Way to go!
Went in this morning - coffee was great, bagel was delicious, but more than anything it was just what the area needs. A coffee bar with pastries and a cool spot to sit in. Perfect. After losing K-Dogg and then the Roost, this was sorely missed in the neighborhood.
I asked and they said they'll be open at 7 AM on weekdays, so I will be there enthusiastically for my morning coffee. They also will be selling coffee by the pound at some point down the road, which I missed from the days of K-Dogg.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/tugboat-tea-company-brooklyn
smart of them to be open early for the dog walkers. I hope they open early on the weekends as well!
Had a chance to drop by this afternoon on our way to the park. Quite busy and judging by the greetings they seemed to know the owners/staff and vice-versa. A bit tight but no complaints considering that sitting space is not necessary to coffee culture. As we waited for the .... wait for it... "barista"... to draw our espressos my boyfriend mumbles "I am not bothering coming back!" My heart sank in desperation cause I really wanted him to like it. Having lived in Italy for many years and drinking 3-4 espressos a day, he knows a thing or two about the art of good coffee. "But you haven't even tried!" I pleaded.
You see he had already picked up on the lack of decent porcelain cups or at least small paper cups so when our espresso was served to us in large regular paper cups I just wanted to run back home and pick up my own porcelain cups to desperately cover up their snafu. As we went outside in the biting cold, he happily proclaimed that even even in this cup its superior to Starbucks. By the time he finished he declared it to be surprisingly decent if not excellent.
So I mention the paper cup issue not to be snobbish but because I think any decent coffee place should offer coffee in porcelain and at least espresso in small shot like cups. I realize this is day 1 so no hard feelings so please take this as what it is meant to be- friendly advice.
Happily checked in on Foursquare and will be sure to promote them elsewhere on the web.
Now how about we have them sell that wonderful pound cake that was featured here on the Q a while back? It would be great to have them collaborate.
On an unrelated note, why are there so few trash cans in the park? Froze my hand carrying my empty paper cup till I found one 20 minutes later.
Mrs. Bean,
As coffee aficionados with international expertise, Mr. Bean and you might consider suggesting porcelain cups to Tugboat's proprietors.
I absolutely agree about the need for porcelain cups – not just because it's more pleasant and tasty, but because it's just less wasteful. A big paper cup with a plastic lid is just environmentally irresponsible. The neighborhood wants to support you – get some cups for us!
maybe the porcelain cups hadn't yet arrived...
Can't wait to go in and try Tugboat! Re: garbage cans, I feel like everywhere in NYC there are fewer garbage cans and I often wander with stuff in my hand. Sanitation claims it's supposed to make litter better not worse. That's crazy of course.
As much of a snob as I can be about the porcelain demitasse (I know, it's shocking), it does incur a lot of extra expense and effort to serve and wash cups. So give these guys some time.
That said, I always envied some upstate coffee houses where regulars could hang (and rinse) their own mugs. I'd do that.
The place is great. I was there with the fam on Saturday around 4. We enjoyed the Bluesky muffins and some fine coffee and tea. Best of luck Tugboat.
I brought in my own travel mug this morning and they filled it for 1.09. No wasting a paper cup and no water or energy wasted washing lots of dishes. Seems like a win win to me.
They now have the porcelain expresso cups, as well as the newspapers I had requested.
There's a Brooklyn Paper article on Tugboat here:
http://tinyurl.com/bcspngw
Made it down to Tugboat myself finally, and was pleased - they make a mean tea latte. Great atmosphere, just right busy/quiet balance. Wifi wasn't working but that might have been my machine. Gotta support the call for porcelain/washable cups, spoons (for stirring), etc though, it's so wasteful for the "stayers." And tho others disagree, I think laptop power outlets are important - as a coffeeshop worker I know i spend three times as much money when i'm there for an hour or two doing work (plugged in) than just dropping by for a coffee. Tugboat could maximize it's seating by putting in a little counter with some stools in the window next to the atm. Carry on Tugboat, it's a good start so far!
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