Porto Rico Importing Co.
Three downtown doors trade under this name, and the Bleecker Street one still prints its phone number as 212-GR7-5421.1
Why go
The other two are 40 1/2 St. Marks Place and a stall in Essex Market, so whichever part of the Lower East Side or East Village you are working, one of them is on your way.1 The catalogue runs coffees, loose teas of the world, dark chocolates, filters and Torani syrups, and there is a standing sale, Peter's Weekly Sale, which is where a regular starts. I have not found a coffee writer or a New York critic who has written about the beans.
Order this / avoid
- Order: whatever is on Peter's Weekly Sale, then ask what came off the roaster that morning.1
- Avoid: arriving expecting to sit down with a cup.
What locals & experts say
- The shop, on how far back it goes:
Owned and operated by the Longo family for three generations, Porto Rico Importing Co. has a tradition of serving the finest coffees in the world since 1907.
1 - The shop, on its own counter:
Our Coffees Are Roasted Daily
.1
Good to know
- Repeating orders ship every two weeks, monthly, or every two to three months, at the price on the day of shipment, and domestic ground shipping is free over $100.00.1
Verdict
could-visit — Order enough to clear $100 and the shipping is free. I would still buy one bag before I bought six.