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    Purple Waves

    4.2 (46 reviews)
    Closed 11:00 am - 7:00 pm

    Purple Waves Photos

    Business Info

    PURPLE WAVES ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Happy hour specials
    Outdoor seating
    Good for kids

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    Recommended Reviews - Purple Waves

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    lemon loaf
    Sophia W.

    Great cafe to study at (wifi, clean bathroom, lots of seats and even a comfy couch, people are generally quiet and hard at work, great music that is not distracting). I like how eco-friendly they are, and there's a small market section too. Tuna salad, latte, and maple sea salt latte were all pretty good.

    Ample space
    Abbe K.

    This place may be my fav spot this summer. Decent outdoor seating although not all covered, and table near the plants hosted bees, so I moved inside. Lovely homemade lemonade with a hint of sweetness. The lox was fresh and sourdough perfect toasted to be soft in the middle and crunchy on the edges. The only weak spot was not enough labneh cheese. Looks to have been added to the toast when a wee too hot or simply too thin a schmear to start with. Basically I had a perfectly poached egg with lox on sourdough - no taste of cheese or creamy conveyance of the lox. Green salad had a savory dressing that complimented the lox. Waitstaff friendly and the place is clean. Kitchen appears small so when busy I wonder if I'll have to wait longer than I did today. I look forward to finding out.

    Chia oats with sliced apples.
    Stephanie B.

    The food in this restaurant is delicious! The staff are very friendly and their coffee is always well made whenever I order.

    Ciara J.

    Food 5/5 the Muhammara with crostini and honey cinamon latte. This was my first taste of muhammara and I would order it again. Light and very flavorful. Service 4/5 Ambiance 4/5 indoor and patio seating for a cutest cafe. Great location steps from Central Park

    Teddy Bear cookie
    Najwa G.

    I got a Too Good To Go bag from here by hap chance as I'm typically not in the area and it did not disappoint. Both the amount and the baked goods itself were fantastic. In my bag, I had a little teddy bear cookie(?) that was tasty, three banana nut muffins that were great as well and had a very generous amount of walnuts, and a couple of croissants on top of that. All in all, I'd be back whether it was through the TGTG app or in general. Also, shout out to the super nice employee who separated the goods containing nuts from the ones that didn't so nicely as my dad is allergic. 10/10 spot in my book!

    Ava E.

    Have been here a week and have been here twice..the first time it was for a latte and lemon pound cake, both were great!! Then today we went back for a meal...I had the egg salad...and it was AMAZING! My friends come here often and I know why...it's a great little spot!

    Muhammara (red pepper and walnut spread with olive oil)
    Amelia D.

    Located on the sunny Frederick Douglass circle on Central Park North, Purple Waves is a sunlit cafe with a middle eastern twist on the menu. I tried the Muhammara (a red pepper and walnut dip) which is one of my favorite middle eastern mezze. It comes with 3 crostini and is topped with pomegranate seeds. The chef said it was inspired by their Kurdish roots. I enjoyed this take on it, though it was more oil heavy than others I tried. I also got the half sandwich half salad lunch special for $15. The ham and cheese sandwich was served on crunchy bread and the salad has a yummy yellow garnish that tasted of miso. I didn't try the roast beef sandwich but it was clearly their most popular dish since the chef made a whole line of them while I was there. My friend got the avocado toast which came with a poached egg. The egg was quite runny, so maybe ask for it to be cooked longer if that's not your style. Nicely sunlit, there was plenty of table space inside and out with free WiFi and big glass windows. I didn't try their coffee but they had both drip coffee and espresso options. It was a weekday morning, and the crowd appeared split between moms brunching and folks at work with their laptops. I'd come back especially to meet a friend or to work for a few hours.

    Claire S.

    Such a cute coffee shop to duck into and study/get work done. It gets crowded pretty quickly, and once it gets busier, wait times can go up, but that's to be expected. The food is fantastic--though a bit on the pricier side, it's definitely delicious. The only downside is that it can be difficult to find available outlets, so if you're using your laptop, I'd recommend charging it fully before you stop by. The staff is really nice and seem to have a great connection with their regulars. There's both indoor and outdoor seating, which adds to the cozy vibe. Overall, a great spot to relax or get some work done.

    Lemon Loaf
    Bridget M.

    The most lovely little coffee shop, wine bar, and cafe all in one! The owner of the business took my order. She was lovely and told me all about how she wants this resturant to be a place for community. It definitely gives that vibe! This is a great place to sit, enjoy a coffee or some food, and work on your own or with others. They were selling paintings from local artists. They also host trivia nights during the week. Lots of stuff happening here! Definitely check it out.

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    2 years ago

    We love Purple Waves! Family friendly, delicious food and drinks and a beautiful patio area with umbrellas.

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    Sofi K.

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    2 years ago

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    2 years ago

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    3 years ago

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    3 years ago

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    3 years ago

    Great ambiance, coffee was good, Sharon was great! Excited to come back for drinks in the evenings, great new neighborhood spot (:

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    Page 2 of 2

    Ask the Community - Purple Waves

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    Costa Restaurant

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    3.9(15 reviews)
    1.1 miUpper East Side

    This restaurant is a bit tough to rate. I came here for a coffee. I ended up getting some breakfast…read moretoo. I got a Iced Latte decaf with regular milk. It was pretty good. To eat I got the egg sandwich with ham, cheese and it came with tomatoes and lettuce. There was one slice of what I think was American cheese and it was on a brioche. Looked like a hamburger bun and it was small. I thought the eggs would be scrambled by they were over easy or over hard or something as they were not runny and not scrambled. It comes with fries but , I opted out of fries or a side salad. The sandwich had no taste really and it was pretty oily. I was disappointed in it especially, because of the price of it. This restaurant was empty with one table being used when I came as I came around 10am so it was still early. But the decor in this restaurant is very pretty and elegant. They have a back area with more tables and chairs and a nice looking bar area. Will I come back and try something else for either lunch or dinner or to have a drink? well maybe. I mean the staff were nice though when I placed my food order and explained to them my food allergies there was a bit confusion, they thought I was allergic to only potatoes because I opted out of having french fries but that was not the case. She had to have one of the other guys come over to hear what my allergies were. They both were nice but felt a little rushed while telling them my allergies. I rate this 3.5-4stars. I wanted to rate it a bit higher because of the gorgeous interior.

    Major side notes: The prices online are a whole lot less than what's listed on the menu there so I…read morehave added a photo from outside. For instance, the pistachio crusted salmon is $28 online which is a good deal for the area and $38 there which is a bit much among other dishes. There are also missing things from the online menu such as the grilled octopus. Anyway, I was here recently at this pretty new restaurant with a small group of 5 others. The menu online is listed as Mediterranean and Italian but I found more stuff on here to be Italian and in general, there's a lot of seafood on the menu. I am quite aware how new this spot is because I was (rather unfortunately) at a prior cafe at the same exact location called Atelier which was Middle Eastern and French influenced which was absolutely terrible but luckily this place is much better. There is ample rooms between the different tables and the lighting is nice. The music, or rather muzak, are covers of songs which don't really fit here such as Despacito (I can't believe I heard this at a Yorkville place) but at least the volume was low. The service was a tad slow and didn't pay attention well enough but I presume some of this will improve as the place has been here longer and I'm not surprised how long the meal lasted because it's Yorkville/the UES. They gave us several types of bread to munch on with a couple pieces on each side not matching and there are bottles of olive oil. The best of the breads were the grissini/breadsticks and there was a piece of olive bread which was pretty tasty also but all of them were good. I went with a special of the day as my appetizer which was the Soft Polenta with mixed vegetables and tomato sauce for $24. This was pretty pricey but the portion size was probably big enough for two to share. The polenta texture was fine and warm while the vegetables (zucchini, carrot, eggplant, tomatoes, some other stuff) was much hotter on top which was a bit odd. I wish that there was more of said vegetables because this was the best part of it with the tomato sauce being quite nice. Another person had two appetizers as their meal and enjoyed the Fritto Misto as well as the Eggplant Napoleon. My main dish was the Pistachio Crusted Salmon which is listed online as $28 with citric fennel and butter. However, as said, the actual menu version is an extra $10 more and has a lemon-capers vin blanc sauce instead along with sweet potato puree and asparagus. I have no complaints about the protein as the salmon was good quality, they gave a pretty decent portion, and it was cooked very nicely with me personally having ordered it as rare and it coming out as such being fork tender and quite buttery. My issue instead of the fish was the pistachios as while the dish was listed as crusted, the pistachio flavor was almost muted being more of a topping than a crust which was unfortunate. The asparagus below were fine and the puree which took up the majority of the plate had a good texture and the flavor was fine. Overall, the dish was good but not almost $40 good. Another person had the Spaghetti Special with cherry tomatoes, calamari, and fra diavlo sauce for $42 (also available with shrimp instead for $36 on the main menu) which they enjoyed, one person had the Fettuccine Bolognese, and another person split the same salmon dish with someone else along with I believe the whole Mediterranean Branzino which they enjoyed. For dessert, another person ordered the chocolate cake at the end for us to share which which was a good portion but unfortunately was a bit dry with another person at the table saying that was probably a bit old. I was happy that it wasn't too sweet though I did find it dry with the crust at the end being the best part as it had a good texture. From the completely different price points and menu to the service woes to the minor issues with dishes, it's hard for me to give this spot a higher rating. The chef clearly knows how to cook everything perfectly but the little faults add up. Mid 3 lowered.

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    The Lexington Social - Lexington Burger

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    3.7(231 reviews)
    0.9 miEast Harlem
    $$

    This place is a hole in the wall. I was in the area and hoping this would be a hidden gem but it…read morewas definitely not. The "empanadas" on their menu are nowhere near an actual empanada. The dough was raw and gummy. When you open it up it had zero filling in it. I had hope for the flatbread and it looked pretty decent when it came out but I was quickly disappointed. The dough was again gummy, the cheese was not fully melted and the sun-dried tomatoes were very chewy. The hamburger was overcooked, dry, and the patty was all falling apart like a chop steak instead of a burger. The roasted potatoes on the side actually tasted good but tasted more fried than roasted. The service was not great at all and after seeing we were not happy with the food, they didn't even bother to ask how it was. They were then uncomfortable and afraid to come over to the table. I will never return to this place again and I recommend you find a place much better next time!

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    Purple Waves - cafes - Updated September 2026

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