Lucid Café

Adorable and comfortable. Service was fast, and I liked the ambiance. I only got a coffee, but it was good. I’ll probably go back often.

Love Love Love this Café. The crew are so nice and the environment is very calming! Also the Kimchi fried rice is so good!!!

I normally end up at Starbucks, but this place is awesome. The coffee is delicious, the service is (surprisingly) fast (unless you order a pasta or kimchi fried rice, but that takes time to prepare).
They always put a pretty design in the coffee, are friendly, and there’s wifi!
Downside is it’s a little pricey, but it’s not a huge chain so that makes sense.

The Counter Culture coffee is the best coffee I ever tasted. You also can buy the beans for a freshest cup that you can drink at home, $ 19 per pound. I WISH THEY PLAY KOREAN HIP-​HOP!

I always get the soy hazelnut mocha. Love it! The ambience is very good, you can read peacefully here. Baristas are so friendly. They customised a drink for me: I asked for a bigger soy mocha even if they don’t have bigger sizes for it. The only downside is this café closes too early. I’d like to sit and read with some hot chocolate or coffee at like 9pm before going to bed. But other than that, good place to sit and take some downtime.

The food was okay. I really loved the ambiance and how you can browse through the internet and the place didn’t feel overcrowded like how Starbucks generally is. It is a safe haven for coffee shop lovers. I had the chai drink and it was awesome.

This place was great, nice and roomy, quiet and overall great place if you need to study or meet someone. The homemade honey lemon ginger tea is a bit sweet but excellent.

Coffee here is expensive for no reason. Manhattan prices right in the middle of woodside.

Pricing was a bit too much for the quality of the food. Like, the food was okay. the café is cute. The staff could be more helpful and the food could be better. I tried the Belgian waffles and they were like hard and rubbery? Not worth the money. They could be so much better! The latte art was cute tho!

Sometimes Unilocal reviews of places I frequent surprise me. I can only assume that the people who have had experiences at Lucid Café which lead them to leave poor reviews have been there at times when I’ve not. It’s true that some of the lunch dishes are more Korean than American. But the scones are baked fresh every day, and are amongst the best I’ve had in NYC. The tea is very good. The service is friendly and efficient. The restaurant and bathroom are kept scrupulously clean. The wifi works. And it’s a local business — not a chain. [Rant follows]: Please, fellow Unilocalers, if you have a problem why not report it to the owners before whining to the public and destroying someone’s livelihood. NYC has had too many good places like Lucid close. Otherwise you’ll be left with only Starbucks and Dunkin. Won’t that be a sad day?

DO NOT GO TO THIS CAFE!!!
EVERY workers are VERY SNEAKY here and all deserved to be fired!!! Be careful if this café is your first visit. They will not ring your order in their register and keep the change straight to their pocket if you are paying in CASH. For example, if a single latte cost you $ 4.50, they will call out $ 5 even and put money straight to their register with no receipt handed to the customer… Obviously, they will take the left over change later on when you are gone out of sight!
Crazy thing is EVERY workers at Lucid Café will try to pull this trickery daily basis but not too much be caught! I already have been a victim by these 2 korean girls and a korean guy today. I myself am Korean so i tried to play cool when it happened 2^nd time… Now, 3^rd time got me to write this review at last… YOU JUST CANNOT PLAY AROUND WITH CUSTOMERS MONEY LIKE THIS

After being very disappointed early on with Lucid, I feel the need to update my review. Enough time has gone by since I witnessed the manager being so obnoxious during their first week.
I recently started to stop by for an occasional beverage. I like the quality of their coffee. I’m also a fan of their hot chocolate and their green tea lattes (intense in green tea flavor!). Although the price seems a bit high for the neighborhood it also seems completely fair for the quality. My only complaint (and I realize for most people this is not an issue) is I wish they would use barista grade soy and almond milk.
Lastly, the ladies manning the shop are always helpful and cordial. Good job Lucid.

Just meh. Overpriced drinks that are either not blended well or plain tasteless. Their low level of quality combined with high prices leads me to believe they are taking advantage of the fact this is one of the few cafes in this neighborhood.

Gave this place another try after many many months. Customer service is much more friendly. Lattes are improved too. Deserves the 5 star treatment.

Pretty much the only place to sit down and study in Woodside.
Coffee is average. Food is pretty passable but bland. If the food were better or if they served salads, I could be here all day. As it stands I stay for 3 or 4 hours tops.
Cleaner than most Starbucks. Cozy atmosphere and I’ve never felt rushed here.
As I type this, I am wondering if I should get another coffee since I’ve been sitting here for 3 hours, 1 of which with nothing but melted ice in my iced soy latte.
Did I mention food is bland? I am kind of hungry now so I think I am going to call it a day.

For a café in woodside it is pretty decent. It is a nice touch to the neighborhood. I enjoy the waffles and the lemon bread. I tried the quiche and the potato flavors are strong but it is yummy. The staff is efficient but I wouldn’t say the friendiest. There is a nice selection of desserts and sandwiches to eat. There is also a good set of tea and coffee options on the black board. The décor and set up is very cozy and nice.

So glad there is a coffee shop in Woodside. They have a good selection of coffee and tea and vegan baked goods, and you can sit and hang out. Servers are very nice and the restroom is clean. I like it!

Lucid Café is warm in a semi-​corporate kind of way. It’s like Starbucks, all popular music and muted café décor. Not that that’s bad. It’s still cozy-​ish, with lots of windows and seating and tables. Office road warriors will appreciate the free Wi-​Fi — if it’s crowded, expect it to be slow. Oh, and the service is friendly.
This shop stocks Counter Culture coffee beans. I’m a fan of their lattes — they do the job, warming and waking you up. There’s an assortment of pastries too, if you’re into that.
Find Lucid conveniently close to the 61 St/​Woodside 7 train stop. Bring friends, a date, or just you.
Only gripes? They close earlier than I’d like, and what’s with their $ 7 credit/​debit card minimum? I’d be a regular here way more often if it wasn’t for those factors.

I’ve had two occasions when I was sitting on a table, while utilizing another one for my laptop computer. Why would I do that? Well, number one, the place was nearly empty so I didn’t feel obnoxious doing that. Second, the breakfast that I ordered was a trayfull, making it impossible to only use one table. Mind you, the tables are very tiny. And again, if the place was even nearly half-​full I wouldn’t do that.
Unfortunately, the two times I actually sat down there was the two times I was harrassed to only use one table — despite the availability of so many other tables. Again, I wouldn’t be so inconsiderate as to do this if the place was busy. I think the lady just nitpicked me for no reason.
Besides, no matter how many times I’ve stopped by for my takeout coffee, I never find the woman on the counter to at least make the effort to be pleasant. Again and again I had to ask for a napkin, and am always given that somewhat dirty look.
There is, indeed, a much better café around the corner where staff are so much more pleasant, and the coffee is much better. Lest I’m accused of being a spy for that place, I wouldn’t mention the name. Still, just walk towards the train station and you’ll figure it out. There you’ll appreciate the better tasting coffee, better price, and the more pleasant staff.

Automatic points for being the only café of its kind in the immediate area: espresso-​based drinks, free wifi (password changes frequently), baked goods and sandwiches, plenty of tables to hang out or get work done.
They also offer typical Korean café items such as bingsu, waffles, and even pasta dishes, none of which I have much faith in after other experiences with Korean cafes who tend to put more stock in presentation than quality.
It does suck that you won’t have an issue hitting that $ 4 credit minimum. Prices are higher than they should be: $ 4.25 for a latte, $ 4.75 for a hot chocolate. Sure, they use Counter Culture beans, and the latte is okay, but that beats many of the better-​known spots for schmancy coffee in Manhattan!
Unlike its Manhattan café brethren, Lucid isn’t staffed by coffee nerds (a friend was annoyed they couldn’t tell her how recently the bags of whole beans were roasted and instead gave her an unfriendly blank stare), and closes at a puzzling 7:30pm every night — booo.

This place has a really nice calm atmosphere that is great for studying. Already been here 2 days in row to reax with my friend.
Their drinks especially the espresso ones are also very high quality. Love that they have an option to use almond or soy milk for an additional 75 cents! I recommend their cortado or green tea latte but surely everything I’ve tried here is better tasting than starbucks.
They have a selection of vegan cookies and other baked goods. Also, they serve waffles, french toast and omelets.