The Victory Café

So sad this place is closing — good food, really good coffee and cookies, and a nice staff.

I go to this place every morning for coffee on my way to work. They’re closing the end of January — and i’m devistated. Knowing the neighborhood now, it will turn into a place that sells $ 400 dish towels. Or will sit vacant. What a bummer.

Great place to grab a quick drink on the way to work. Friendly staff, and a great neighborhood feel.

I live in the area and often go out of my way to get coffee here. The coffee and iced coffee are both great. My only problem with the place is how seemingly disinterested there are in any environmental awareness. I’m no canvasser for earth first but Victory seems completely unaware in this regard. I’ve been told by their staff that there is no recycling (this is against the law) and that «there’s no room for glasses for iced coffee». No room? Maybe they should remove a few jars of the marmite that have been sitting around and buy a few pint glasses. It’s less waste and will save money in the long run (I have to imagine that the biggest cost in an iced coffee is the cup). They have great food and I really like the place but I’d just love to see Patrick (the owner) take the place to the next level.

An Afternoon in The Victory Café.
3:07: Walk in. Stare blankly at menu.
3:09: Order tea.
3:12: Sit down in the hidden alcove to the left of the counter.
3:14: Open book.
3:15: Sip tea; burn tongue. Curse silently.
3:16: Note the barista’s affinity for Lou Reed and MGMT.
3:18: Sip tea; burn tongue. Curse audibly.
3:25: Wonder what that actor was in.
3:27: Realize you don’t care.
3:28: Turn back to the book.
3:31: Drink what you imagine is tasty tea, as tastebuds no longer work.
3:57: Nod and smile back at the girl who sits down.
4:04: Glance up at the guy who walks over.
4:06: Realize you are in a closet-​sized space with two people on a first date.
4:10: Try and ignore the painful yet hilarious awkwardness.
4:12: Fail.
4:17: Choke on tea at miserable attempts at conversation.*
4:21: Poorly disguise laughter until he suggests they take a walk.
4:22: VICTORY!
_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​
*“So, do you like… music?”

The Victory has character and charm. It truly has a neighborhood feel. it isn’t hard to become a regular here. They make the best americano’s! The staff is always friendly, and aside from the coffee they are the best part of the Victory!

I’ve walked by this place many times on the way to work, noticing that all the baristas are cute semi-​hipster girls. The place has character. I got a chai latte and a bialy with marmite. The chai had perfect temperature… it didn’t burn my mouth! (Yay!!!) How often do you get that??? Although, it could have been flavored better. Hey, I like serious masala spices in my chai. The bialy had perfect texture, and was delicious, especially with the marmite.

cute little place. i was eager to have a new york bagel, seems like something to have in new york, right? well, not here it isn’t. my friend swears to me that this was an off day but my bagel was hard and dry and they gave me the tiniest amount of cream cheese. i hate when i have to ask for more of something but looking at this little solo cup, i knew it would never be enough. also, why did the waitstaff look at me like i had two heads when i ordered my bagel?
good iced coffee.
oh jesus and this isn’t victory’s fault but this place was hemhorraging children! this woman actually approached me and said, «if you stay here too long, you’re bound to get pregnant…» i’m sure my face was priceless as i was scanning the area for the rapist with an erection and then i realized there were just kids everywhere… everywhere.

underwhelming in décor, but it definitely packs a heavy punch in flavor. This place is so simple, so hidden (in its metal-​covered-​store-​front way), and so friendly I just love it. I waited a bit as the barista made a shot of expresso for the customer in front of me. After a few minutes, he finally smiled adorably at me, greeted with a slight crack in his voice as I ordered my large ice coffee with soy milk. Just because he was so unspokenly cute (sort of like this café), I also grabbed myself one of their brownies. Let me tell you, the self-​acclaimed «most amazing brownie» is truly amazing– in fact, 3 layers of amazingness.
Layer 1: some form of custard, soft and velvety
Layer 2: solid chuck of chocolate, bitter and sweet
Layer 3: brownie as you know it, rich and comforting
One bite, I was hooked. The different textures, the different flavors, top with a decent glass of ice coffee– it was heaven. The cute barista will be seeing a lot of me.

A metal lined corner hide out. If in England we have grotty little corner shops which are combinations of tat, plastic frontage and 4,000,000 copies of magazines no-​one should ever review, this is the antithesis of it. Shiny shiny metal, a discrete selection of food and snacks and a beautiful location.
Strangely the owner has some hook up with the UK as it stocks Hobnobs, Marmite, PG Tips and all that other stuff. Also, get a bottle of the water; the hip flask design almost makes you feel you should brown bag it.
Unassuming and awesome.

place looks perfect from the outside, mediocre coffee and cramped inside. also the croissants were kind of bland.

Best iced coffee in Brooklyn! I visit the Victory pretty much every day — even when its out of my way. If the line is out the door I know I probably wont wait longer than 10 minutes. They have a delicious brioche and biali’s and a turkey, cheddar, spinach, honey mustard grilled panini I have once a week. Support independent business and get your coffee at the Victory!
Oh sidenote — if you have kids there is a little sandbox and chalkboard outside to amuse them while you read the paper and sip your coffee. (If you can get a seat outside that is.)

Great coffee on the go. Most of their products are organic and fresh. For a small corner shop, I have to say I love this place. there is usually always a line in the morning so be prepared to stand for a couple minutes, nothing crazy. The owner Patrick is super cool, and tries to learn the names of most of his frequent costumers, the place is a nice neighborhood spot. I love it. Also try the bake good if you are not calorie counting, they’re great.

If I could give this place minus stars, I would.
Eating here is risking food poisoning. I used to come here for coffee or occasionally a sandwich… but watching the baristas (and owner) in action led me to stop and never vow to go in here again. The food handing here is unbeatably bad… they’ll use a knife on meat and then on veggie options, they leave things that need to be refrigerated out and touch the food with their bare hands (without washing before OR after handing anything).
The coffee is also pretty gross. I don’t think they ever clean their espresso machine. I love me some coffee, and this café is so convenient to my apartment, but i really wouldnt be caught dead going back here.
Especially now that Blue Marble, with its non-​crazy owner, pristine environment, and really good coffee are now right down the street on Atlantic. There’s the Flying Saucer Café which is a cute hangout even if the coffee is bunk, and there’s a new café on Nevins on Atlantic with a quirky name, just opened… coffee is so-​so but the evironment is peaceful and clean and there’s a nice message behiind the place too.
My point being… I know the Vic has location, location, location… but thats all it has going for it. Unhinged owner, sloppy service, bad coffee, potential food poisoning. Walk a few blocks and support good coffee and better service!!!

The Victory has the best bagels in the neighborhood. They toast them on a panini grill, and oh my goodness… they are totally amazing. I crave these bagels with cream cheese, a slice of tomato and a little pepper. Maybe add a few capers. This place is small — really small — but there’s a regular stream of people from the neighborhood that line up for coffee and hang out outside. It’s a place I’d go to by myself, or with one friend… bringing 2 or more is really pushing it. Oh, and they have a nice tea selection as well.

I know the whole «oh my god this tastes like crack, it’s so good» analogy is probably over used. And unfair to folks trying to quit a crack habit, b/​c they only wish it was easy as giving up chocolate.
But, screw it, The Victory has these little Fleur de Sel chocolates that are a like crack. Somewhere in a tiny Brooklyn kitchen, the NuNu choclate genius is heating cocoa poweder, salt, and baking soda over a flame and giggling. Because, there’s no human metabolic way to stop from having a second one. It’s just not possible.
Oh yeah, the coffee, food, service, staff, ambiance, etc are all good too.
But how can you focus on that when those little choco-​sirens are calling out to you.

I haven’t quite put my finger on what makes this place so popular — because it does have a dedicated group of regulars, myself included, every morning.
Maybe it’s the friendly service — the (I believe) owner Patrick does seem to make a point of knowing everyone’s name, and his friendliness seems to infect his staff. Maybe it’s the old-​time feel of the place — it’s a little (and I mean LITTLE) hole in the wall old-​fashioned coffee shop, all metallic looking on the outside and not much bigger than your kitchen on the inside. Perhaps it’s the food and drink — they serve a smooth, highly caffeinated cup o’ Joe that is not really robust in flavor, more chocolaty and smooth, but damn fine. And they pull a fine espresso. And they offer up a variety of incredible baked goods from some bakery in Manhattan (including some of the best bagels I’ve had in NYC, a delicious ham and cheese croissant, and an unbelievable almond brioche.) Or maybe it’s the Anglophile edge, what with the variety of packaged goods that you can only usually find in England to the stunning selection of loose leaf teas.
Personally, it’s all these things for me and the fact that I pass it by every morning on the way to the subway. I’ve always felt like the crowd was a little bit hipper than thou, and many a morning I’ve trudged off to work while a bunch of intellectuals wearing horn-​rimmed glasses sit around on the sidewalk tables sipping their lattes, reading the NY Times, and chatting about real estate. DON’T YOU PEOPLE HAVE JOBS TO GO TO???
And then there are the children. My god, the children. So many hip stroller-​totin’ mums and dads, and although I’m (sort of) down with those folks taking their kids out to get coffee and go to cool restaurants, the place is so tiny that when there is a line of more than three people it becomes a cluster$%#@, so you can imagine what the strollers do.
Anywho, clearly my rant indicates that the place is important to me, for better or for worse, and this lengthy review was indeed fueled by a tall cup of their coffee with a shot of espresso. A truly unique Brooklyn coffee shop that is worth checking out.

In my Brooklyn salad days, this was my coffee place of choice. It helped that it was down the block. But it regardless has a tiny, almost hidden, charm, great coffee, great people (tons of regulars), and a staff that knows your name. It’s about as neighborhoody as a neighborhood establishment can get.

Meh. The coffee is overpriced and characterless, and if as a coffeehouse you can’t do your coffee right, you’re pretty much shipwrecked so far as I’m concerned. I do love the ‘hood aspect of the place, as it seems to be a magnet for, as one reviewer put it so aptly before me, ‘community theatre’. I think these guys are capitalizing on their location, right at the delta of many South Brooklynites’ commute. But head down the street to Flying Saucer if you want a better and more reasonably priced cup.

Unassumingly, on Hoyt and State Streets, along the local thoroughfare to Fulton Mall and the Hoyt/​Schermerhorn subway stop, lies a mouse hole sized coffee shop beyond compare in Brooklyn and Manhattan. As someone once said, «A coffee bar should be about, «The Coffee!, The Coffee! The Coffee!» The Victory is about just that. Sure there is the Cheer’s «Everybody knows your name,» aspect of the place and a parade of local characters that makes for good morning theater, but ultimately what makes me go to the Victory is the truly rich, full bodied flavor in the cup.