Friendly Bakery

Call it the bogus bakery.
How do you call yourself a bakery if you don’t bake on the premises

I have been coming here for years. Its a nice small place. I just get my coffee and a toasted bagel or roll. or some cookies with my coffee.
All I can say is that it is good enough for what I want.
I don’t enjoy going to other places like Starbucks because first off… you can never get a seat! At least here I can If I want to sit and enjoy my drink. The owner is very nice. and the girls are as well. I have never had any problems with them not smiling
they have always greeted me .
Yes I also play lotto.
I have no need for an ATM machine’s no worries for me on that.
All in all its great for me and my daily coffee.

I really hate to do this, because the people are very nice that work in this small neighborhood place, however they don’t do any of the baking on premise (which sort of is the whole point of a bakery) and the coffee is god-​awful.
Croissants are good.
It’s quick and you can get a paper. Super inexpensive.
Honestly, would not even know about this place if it wasn’t on my secret non-​highway route to LaGuardia Airport.

This is based on my experiences from March 2008 and earlier, since I stopped coming entirely afterwards. My complaints may not even be applicable anymore, and things may have changed.
The positive aspects of this place include:
+Convenience for residents of the 21^st Avenue area.
+Decent coffee for people who know nothing about coffee but just want a hot cup of it.
Negative aspects include:
+Nothing is baked on premises
+Hot coffee is brewed only when the previous pot is finished. During a rush, this is fine since that means it’s a new pot every few minutes. Otherwise, it may remain standing for hours.
+Coming during a rush while a fresh pot is brewing? They may pull the pot early just to fulfill the order giving you a stronger tasting cup, and the following customers and inconsistent watery leftover.
+Competent, friendly, respectful, knowledgeable staff is difficult (to put it nicely) to come by here. This works on a «get in, get out» basis.
+If the owner’s husband steps in to serve customers and/​or make them their bagels, he rarely wears gloves.
+Milk products used to make coffee as well as butter and cream cheese are left on the counter all day at room temperature until they either run out or someone realizes it should probably be fridged. The chances of the latter happening are as high as getting a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.
+Products are low quality and overpriced.
+If you order a bagel or any other item with some condiment on it, chances are you’ll receive it sloppily wrapped, in an oil-​stained bag. This depends primarily on who makes it and how much they care to be neat.
+Some cookies sold by the pound have remained in the display case for anywhere between 1 – 6 months. This applies mainly to the butter cookies. I have seen untouched Valentines Day cookies in June. The Italian cookies (the cheaper of the two) are usually fine.
+Some cakes are too old to be sold. They end up stale/​dry inside, with a hard outer frosting. What happens to these? They are removed from the case and sold by the slice. Mm, instead of a whole stale cake, you can get a slice of stale cake.
+The bagels can be hit or miss. Overall, they are low quality and can end up dry. Especially as the day progresses, since they’ve been sitting on the shelf. The softest ones can be found on the bottom.
+The toaster is old and unreliable. It is infamous for setting bread-​items on fire. Literally. Bagels/​croissants/​rolls/​muffins have burst into flames and emerged as a firey ball of burning. Some days the toaster is simply «not working» so if you wanted your item toasted. too bad. Learning to live with that sort of disappointment will help you get through your customer experience here. It’s also shut off at an arbitrary time.
+Muffins, danishes, and other pastry items available for sale may have been there from the day (or more) before. Choose carefully for the freshest looking item, which is usually the one closest to you.
+In the summer, the air-​conditioner rarely works, and if it does, barely. The establishment ends up being about 10 – 20 degrees hotter inside than the hottest day outside. In the winter, the heating system functions (or rather, doesn’t function) in the same way. Inside has been just as cold or colder than outside since half the store is glass window. Customers have complained constantly about this to no avail. Employees must dress appropriately. This usually involves parkas, hats, and a scarf.
+Complaints about anything to the owners will fall on deaf ears.
+Iced coffee when in the circulating iced coffee machine is simply old coffee, up to (or more) than one week old. The machine is rarely cleaned out. If it starts tasting a little stale, a little bit of NesCafe is added in a futile attempt to salvage it.
+There was certainly at least one customer complaint about seeing a rodent and/​or pests in the establishment.
+Credit cards are not accepted, but there is an ATM on premises.
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All this may have changed in the time I stopped coming here. If I find out anything is different or no longer true than what I’ve stated above, I will edit this review happily, and without hesitation.

I don’t even know why this place is open after 5pm. They never have anything left. Not even BREAD. I think the main reason they stay open after 5 is so people can use the ATM machine or play lotto. The teen girls they have working there are rude and obviously do not want to be there. God forbid they smiled! I really hope new owners take over since this place is so close to me.