New York · United States
Joe Coffee Company
Joe Coffee Company is one of 3 New York roasters tracked on day9, in New York.
Since 2003 · Jonathan Rubinstein, Gabrielle Rubinstein
Overview
Joe Coffee was founded in 2003 by Jonathan Rubinstein, a former Manhattan talent agent, with his immediate family — his sister Gabrielle managed, his mother poured espresso, his father did the books — at the corner of Waverly Place and Gay Street in Greenwich Village. It was one of a small handful of specialty coffee cafes in Manhattan at the time, alongside Ninth Street Espresso.
Known for
- First major specialty coffee operator in Greenwich Village (2003) and one of the earliest in NYC overall
- Family-founded — Jonathan Rubinstein with sister Gabrielle (catering), mother, and father as initial team
- HACCP-certified roastery in Long Island City
- Backed by Enlightened Hospitality Investments, the Danny Meyer / Union Square Hospitality Group fund
- Joe Coffee partnership rolled out to all U.S. Shake Shack airport and roadway locations plus Grand Central and Penn Station (July 2024)
- Long-running celebrity regulars from the Village — Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick, Philip Seymour Hoffman; Amy Sedaris baked the early cupcakes
Why it matters
Joe Coffee is the East Coast counterpoint to the West Coast third-wave story — built family-first in a Greenwich Village storefront when New York had almost no specialty culture, scaled deliberately to roughly 24 cafes plus a roastery, and now embedded in Danny Meyer's hospitality network. The Shake Shack airport rollout in 2024 is one of the clearest signals of how a hospitality-led NYC coffee brand monetizes at scale without losing its retail identity.
Production
- head roaster
- Ed Kaufmann (Director of Coffee, joined when Joe began roasting)
- roastery location
- HACCP-certified roastery in Long Island City, Queens
Café
This roaster operates a café.
Recognitions
- Investment from Enlightened Hospitality Investments (Danny Meyer / USHG fund)
- Joe Coffee rollout to all U.S. Shake Shack airport and roadway locations (July 2024)
- Featured roaster, La Marzocco Home subscription (February 2025)