Ara Coffee

They have a very friendly staff. Fresh coffee as they roast their own coffee beans on-site. The commercial grade coffee bean roaster is on display in the left corner. A nice assortment of pastries as well. Very impressive.

Cozy spot with excellent coffee and people. Right from walking in you know you're in a cozy area but you won't feel cramped. There is a huge wooden table with bench-style seating that covers most of the customer area where you'll feel invited to make your order and relax and chat with your friends over coffee. Great spot right off of Park Avenue and reasonably priced too.

Always a pleasant stop for a cup of tea hot or iced! The Customer built counters are totally awesome .

Nice location right near the rotary in the middle of Rutherford. Small space, but they have some long tables in the middle of the shop and some bar top style seating against the windows. One of the coolest things I noticed about this place is that their roaster is RIGHT BEHIND THE COUNTER! I’ve never seen a setup quite like this. It’s pretty cool. Don’t worry though it looks like it’s been setup with some special walls and ventilation. I have to say my experience was a little strange. I’m from out of town, but I’m often in the NY/NJ area for work and I like to just do some quick Google searches for specialty coffee shops in the area. Ara Coffee has some good reviews and seemed like they would be a great choice. I walked in, was gruffly greeted by the lady behind the counter. I asked if they were doing pour overs today and she looked at me like I had 8 heads. “What’s that?” I crudely tried to explain that it’s like a drip but made for a single serving. She said “Ohhh hand drip.” Yes! That was definitely what I was looking for, but just hadn’t heard anyone refer to it as a hand drip before and not know what a pour over was (I hate sounding snobby, but they DO pour overs here - It’s not like I was trying to quiz a Dunkin’ Donuts worker on specialty brewing methods.) She mentioned a couple of the bean options so I asked what she recommended and for me the fruitier and sweeter the better. Again, blank stare. I just went with the Ethiopian. The coffee was very good. It was well brewed over a V60 and had a very nice spicy, fruity flavor to it. I would definitely go here again, but for those seeking a more interactive experience this may not be the place for you. I love having a conversation with the roaster about what they have, what makes them different, and what gets them excited about the coffee. Aside from the coffee itself, that’s my favorite part of visiting a roaster and ordering a fresh pour over. This wasn’t a bad experience by any means, but it would have been nice to have a pleasant greeting and to learn a bit about what these folks are doing, especially since they clearly have a very interesting roast operation right here on-site.

Great pour over, excellent service. This is a very calming and relaxing environment. Always return here. Shots are either slightly over roasted or over extracted, a little on the harsh bitter side. I haven’t tried the pastries, but they look and smell incredible. Always service with a smile.

The banana bread 👌🏽👌🏽 great coffee as well

Love the coffee and the owner is really friendly too! Would definitely keep going back there.

such a beautiful place and amazing owners

It's a small place but has a nice feel to it. Doesn't have too many coffee options. The cookies were good but the individual cake slices were expensive. Also, the Tiramisu we got didn't taste like tiramisu.

Truly delicious coffee. The owner buys high grade beans, roasts them daily in store making smooth not-an-ounce-of-bitter espresso. Big chains like dunkin and starbucks don't even come close to how good this is.