Joyce C.
Yelp
This is a very belated review, but little peck's deserves to be recognized! Recently they have been getting overlooked by other newer coffee shops. But for the record, this was HOW Downtown Troy or "North Brooklyn" came to be.
little peck's (cafe), alongside the former Peck's Arcade, The Tavern Bar & Lucas Confectionery, is run by Clark Hospitality Group. Literally you could have all your meals around this block of charming businesses, each with a unique atmosphere & menus to boot (pre- and post- dinner drinks as well). But back to little peck's!
I think they're still a great intro to Downtown Troy, for those new to Troy, students, out-of-town visitors, work meetings, older crowds & even families. The space serves coffee & teas, curated wine & local beer, breakfast/brunch items with *just* enough unique ingredients to set them apart & a lil fancier from other cafes.
Order at the front counter, the staff is sweet and patient in the explaining menu items. There's 'The Grocery' to the right side with more cold drinks & old & new school Italian & snack items, little peck's merch.
You get a number and the space is yours to get comfy! I don't know how to describe it, it's a mix of warm reclaimed, retro, mid-century, industrial design, that weirdly works well together. I mean- even the bathrooms are interesting! Pre-pandemic, there were a few tables to sit indoors (now the area's for cooking pizza), the back covered patio is always open (and has such a nice hidden garden feel), the 2nd floor, with large rooms for special events/dinner during the evening, has some cozy chairs also. It's just a great non-pretentious central hub to meet, mingle, get creative. Occasionally there's live jazz/music in the back patio on Monday nights. During the Summer, the sidewalk seating out front and communal tables in the street is THE SPOT to be, with a DJ on Fridays.
There's been a few changes with the menu since I started going there in 2017- which I felt was their height of quality & chefs. But I still mostly go for their $5.75 biscuit breakfast sandwich with $2 bacon (light on the fry sauce!). The biscuit is dense & flakey, nice cheese, quality bacon. It's an interesting twist on the breakfast sandwich with slivers of pickle & fry sauce. This is still great for lunch also.
My other go-to (also very affordable) is the $5 Tahini Butter Toast. This is a "grown-up PB & J" & SO delicious. THICK cut griddled bread, Tahini butter is Sesame butter & when I used to order it, the strawberry (maybe + Rubarb?) jam was a nice compliment. I wonder if this is seasonal.
I've had their Stuffed French Toast, which was enormous, but a little too sweet for me (there was a mix of caramel creme 'stuffing,' pear jam, hibiscus syrup.) It looked gorgeous though!
They used to have an delicious Nicoise Tuna Wrap with capers. A Flakey tuna salad bursting with flavor- I'm not even a huge fan of tuna! Searching for a late lunch, I've had the Farro Bowl(old menu), Quinoa Bowl & Tahini Kale Salad. All were fresh & good but not too filling for $10 each. Back in 2017, they were serving Cups of Bone Broth, riding that bone broth wave & it was tasty. I remember a piping hot lemongrass ginger one.
The baked items are huge & spot on in quality. Back in the day, there were unique corn & blueberry cookies and compost ones. Still a huge fan of anything brown butter. Their German oat chocolate chip cookies, brownies & blondies are tasty. ($2.75 - 4) Follow their social media for daily specials & bakeds!
The drinks! The first time I've had a Iced Cardamom Latte was at little peck's and it was amazing! Wish they would bring that back. I feel the coffee is generally smooth and medium. May have had a Chai or Matcha Latte there, but neither were memorable. Have tried an Orange Blossom Turmeric Latte during a Troy Night Out "Hot Chocolate Hop." It was just okay.
little peck's is 4-4.5 stars for me. Not totally 5 because the offerings and quality was a bit better in the past. But hoping this charming space will be around for years to come. It reinvents itself a little bit each season, I'm excited to see how it continues to grow.