Between banana bread lattes, guava matcha and baristas who already know your name, Latte Da isn’t just another Bay Ridge coffee spot, it’s a place you walk into once and feel like a regular.
Just a few months after its soft opening on Dec. 20, Latte Da is already drawing a steady stream of regulars — neighbors who stop in not just for coffee, but for a sense of familiarity that owners Ron Kavral and Joe Maori intentionally built into the space.
That sense of place is at the heart of Latte Da’s story. Kavral and Mayori, longtime Bay Ridge residents, saw an opportunity on their side of the neighborhood — something they felt was missing despite the area’s abundance of coffee options.
The idea was sparked by a specialty café farther north, near 72nd Street, that Mayori frequented. Impressed by its precision and quality, the pair began imagining how to bring that same level of craftsmanship closer to home.
“There’s maybe 50 coffee shops in Bay Ridge,” Kavral said. “But this was the only place that actually did coffee the way it was intended to be made.”
Living in the 90s blocks, Kabreal wanted to bring something to “the other side of the neighborhood,” he said. “[We thought,] let’s bring good coffee here, plus the cool drinks that our wives and friends like to enjoy.”
What they created is a café that blends mindful consumption with a playful menu. Alongside carefully crafted espresso drinks, Latte Da offers a lineup of inventive flavors in their specialty drinks — including banana bread, blueberry pie, maple brown sugar and more.
In parallel, their matcha selection adds to the specialty menu, with options like lavender matcha, guava matcha latte, passionfruit matcha latte and others. Kavral joked that “we spend so much money on the espresso machine, and matcha is probably more in-demand.
The process behind those drinks is less about strict recipes and more about collaboration.
“It’s trial and error, really. Our baristas are fantastic; they come up with a lot of ideas, too,” Kavral said. “Today we came up with the Cherry Garcia. It’s a mocha-cherry latte and it’s unbelievable.”
Even as the menu experiments, quality remains a non-negotiable for the owners. Kavral emphasized the science behind their coffee program, from bean sourcing to daily calibration.
“You can only extract 30% of the bean — the grinds need to be a specific size depending on the air temperature and pressure,” he said. “So it’s always changing this formula of extraction.”
Their beans, sourced from Colombia through Devoción, are shipped, roasted in Williamsburg and served within two weeks — far fresher than industry norms, Kavral noted.
“I don’t want to name-drop, but I know big names are keeping their beans in storage for like six to nine months,” he added.
The same attention extends to their matcha program, which has quickly rivaled coffee in popularity.
“For our matcha, we tried so many different vendors and we narrowed it down,” he said. “It’s based in San Francisco and shipped directly from Japan and its ceremonial-grade. It’s to die for.”
Still, despite all the technical detail, Latte Da’s identity is rooted less in precision than in the people who visit.
Inside the café is intentionally warm — a contrast to what Kavral described as either “really pretentious places” or “cold establishments” elsewhere. Though seating is limited, customers linger, and baristas are already learning names and orders.
“We wanted this to be a very cozy place where the neighborhood felt welcome,” Kavral said. “Baristas are already becoming friends with so many people; it’s incredible.”
That approach seems to be working. Without a marketing budget, the shop has relied entirely on word of mouth, and the response has exceeded expectations.
“It’s amazing. It’s fantastic. It’s unreal,” Kavral said. “We’ve gotten so much support and love from generational families and even newcomers to the neighborhood. Everything’s been organic.”
Looking ahead, Kavral and Mayori are cautiously thinking about growth. Expansion could mean another location in Bay Ridge, or even a leap into Manhattan.
“I love SoHo, and I think the foot traffic there would be incredible,” Kavral said. “If we’re able to make it in Bay Ridge, I think if we were in SoHo, that’d be a really good opportunity.”
For now, though, Latte Da is focused on the block it calls home — serving carefully crafted drinks and building relationships one regular at a time.
“We’re all in this neighborhood together,” Kavral said. “We hope everyone will be happy and caffeinated together.”
Latte Da is located at 280 86th St., off the corner of Third Avenue in Bay Ridge.
