Friday, April 21, 2017

A coffee at the Famous Cozy Soup 'n' Burger

There was a conversation the other day about coffee choices around Astor Place (specifically 51 Astor Place/the IBM Watson Building/Death Star) ... You have the Starbucks outside the downtown 6 entrance, the Starbucks on Broadway at Ninth Street, the Bluestone Lane Coffee in the Death Star, Dunkin' Donuts on Cooper Square, Pourt on Cooper Square and City of Saints Coffee Roasters on 10th Street near Fourth Avenue.

Just wanted to put in a plug for the Famous Cozy Soup 'n' Burger (24/7 since 1972) on Broadway at Astor Place...



I had randomly stopped by for a cup of coffee at the counter... see!



...and the empty seat next to me with bonus tile footage...



The place was pretty crowded (I'd guess that half the tables were tourists) this past Sunday... a lot of deliveries. I wanted to get a photo of their Wall of Fame photos, which includes a framed shot of Alf. (Next time.)

Good times for $2.45 ...



And bonus nighttime photo via the Cozy website...

22 comments:

sophocles said...

Free refills?

EV Grieve said...

Yes!

Anonymous said...

i will go! thank you!

Anonymous said...

nice post; a 40s noir neon dream!

Anonymous said...

My go-to place for burgers in the neighborhood. Or onion soup and turkey sandwich.

So glad this place is still here decades later.

Anonymous said...

Also, the food is so good!

Anonymous said...

Those of us who have lived in the EV for the last 30+ years know that this place is an easily missed gem. A real neighborhood fixture.

Anonymous said...

I ordered a Tuna Melt there one lunchtime & it was pretty heavy duty, i.e. I skipped dinner b/c I wasn't hungry.

Makeout said...

Gotta run the picture of ALF!

Anonymous said...

Grieve, I hope you rounded that check up to $5.00 for the tip. :)

Anonymous said...

Lovely Greek family owned joint with literally dozens of relatives working various posts and multiple generations hanging out on weekends. BEST pea soup and French Fries in the city but other food tends towards the meh and overpriced.

Giovanni said...

Order the veggie burger with jalapeƱos and some onion rings, delicious.

2ndAveSilverPanther said...

I've been in the East Village 40 plus years, and I long ago decided this place wasn't that great. Thought it was over-priced and just didn't feel that welcoming and "cozy", if you will. Of course, I was comparing it to The Stage, which was top-of-the-charts on so many levels. However, I recently met a friend for lunch at the Soup & Burger and thought, "What the hell was I thinking?" It was great. Good food, reasonable prices and very pleasant staff. What's not to love? I now understand I have to enjoy the legit neighborhood spots while we can!

marjorie said...

OK, now I wanna go. I haven't eaten there since the early '90s!

I appreciate their commitment to proper punctuation in this era of falling standards. ('n'!)

Also, maybe this is a SIGN: I have a tattoo of an old coffee cup that I was planning to cover up...but the cup is resting on the EXACT SAME SAUCER as the coffee at Cozy Soup 'n' Burger. Maybe I should just leave the tattoo in tribute?

Anonymous said...

shout-out to 10 am's description of the tuna salad as "heavy duty" (*hat doff*)

Anonymous said...

2.55 tip for a 2.45 total cup of coffee?

1.55 is more than enough of a tip.

If a counterperson served a cup of ready-brewed coffee every six minutes that's 15.50 an hour in tips just for serving coffee (9.30 an hour in tips just for serving a cup of coffee every ten minutes.)

To each his/her own...

Anonymous said...

Is Cozy Soup 'N' Burger technically in Greenwich Village since it's on the west side of Broadway if we assume Broadway is the western(most) border of the East Village and the east side of Broadway is the outer limit of the EV? I think so.

I consider the East Village's borders to be as follows:

North - The south side of 14th Street
South - The north side of E.Houston Street
East - Along the East River
West - The east side of Broadway

Anonymous said...

Long time favorite since I worked at the old Brentano's bookstore on 8th St at University, which closed in 1983. Like me, it's a neighborhood survivor!

Anonymous said...

Don't be a cheapskate, it is more than a cup of coffee. It is a seat, a counter, the waiter, the electricity, the rent. A different er is a place to eat, not sip coffee casually and while away the hours.

-barry said...

I can't believe you took pictures at Cozy and didn't photograph the neon clock in the back. I love that clock. I go there at least once a month, and the clock is a large part of why I go. The Five Alarm Burger is the other large part. :-)

meesalikeu said...

Wrong-o boy-o! The tip is for service. The cost is for those things like rent, etc.. So the buck and and half suggestion, given the free refill service was used, is correct. Laying a fiver is just throwing around rich kid guilt money, not the proper tip.

Anonymous said...

The $2.45 price already takes care of the seat, the counter, the electricity, and the rent, or the price would be higher.

A $1.55 tip on a $2.45 cup of coffee is more than fair considering it takes seconds to fill the cup.

Again if a server poured six cups of coffee an hour or one every ten minutes and made a $1.55 tip per cup that's $9.30 an hour in tips on pouring coffee alone. Wait on even just three tables in an hour where you get $12 in tips and that's $21.30 an hour in tips plus $7.50 an hour in shift pay for $28.80 total hourly pay.