Each year Bronx Week celebrates the best of the borough, and in 2016 there’s a new Bronx best to celebrate: Arthur Avenue’s Prince Coffee House. Prince Coffee House opened its doors just a little over a month ago, but these coffee mavens have already established this charming cafe as an Arthur Avenue destination, and a shining star among the scores of new businesses emerging in the Bronx.
The location is quite picturesque, spanning the corner of the Arthur Avenue, Crescent Avenue, East 184th Street intersection. Ernesta Zhubi, Prince Coffee House C.E.O., says its team searched far and wide looking for the perfect spot to launch Devolli Corporation’s first Prince Coffee House franchise outside of Kosovo.
“And we found it right here on Arthur Avenue, right here in the Bronx,” Zhubi says.
Delicious at Prince starts with the coffee: café Parisian, espresso, lattes, macchiato and cappuccino, as well as Viennese and Thai mochas to name a few.
The coffee menu is extensive with an international flair — Prince Coffee House features Prince Espresso and Devolli Turkish Coffee brands, roasted in Devolli’s native Kosovo. Baristas adorn the offerings with elaborate, frothy designs, and the Turkish coffee — very strong and very unique — involves a pouring ritual that’s a delightful experience unto itself.
But a visit to Prince is not just about the coffee, though the coffee alone is certainly worth the trip. A seat at Prince, alongside its eclectic coterie of Arthur Avenue locals, Bronxites, university students and tourists, is a show unto itself. It’s a scene — the classic café, loaded with a hip international vibe, right here in the heart of the Bronx. “We’ve already generated a lot of buzz in only a short time,” Zhubi says. “The word on the street is that we’re trending big time.”
But it’s not just trendy. In a word, the Prince experience is “delicious.”
The coffee, the desserts and pastries are all delicious. The ambiance is as delicious as the edibles and the welcoming, passionate and knowledgeable baristas and wait staff are quite delicious as well.
Prince’s décor is so sweet it should be on the menu. Shady trees ring the front entrance. Warming sunshine spills through huge window-walls that circle the storefront, bouncing sunlight off the mugs and vintage light bulbs that hang haphazardly from the ceiling. Blond wooden tables host artisan, hand-crafted lattes and cappuccinos.
A century-old Eastern European mural spreads across the main counter. Prince offers an array of seating options: Small tables are sprinkled throughout the front; the back room includes a huge wooden table for groups; and the well-appointed, dimly lit basement is the perfect spot for some off-site work or a clandestine rendezvous.
The upstairs counter is loaded with the most delicious, baked-on-premise fare that is the equal of anything served up on the avenue, in the Bronx or in the entire city for that matter.
Poppy seed cake, berry cheesecake, gusto bianco, tiramisu and tres leche cake are some fan favorites; and there’s no artificial ingredients or high-fructose corn syrup to be found. “It’s all small batch, baked daily and homemade,” Zhubi says. “We promise a simply delicious experience awaits at Prince Coffee House.”
