Jinkies Coffee & Hangout: A '70s spin on the usual coffee shop

Driving down 151st Street, you’ll barely notice Jinkie’s Coffee & Hangout in the concealed strip mall tucked in between a Phillips 66 and an IHOP. Upon entering the seemingly bland store from the outside, I was skeptical, until I saw the blue and orange accented walls and the cheerful employees greeting each customer.

Jinkie’s is a ‘70s-themed take on your average coffee joint. The store’s ambience embodies “That ‘70s Show” with the bubble font menu, a wall coated top to bottom with record labels and peace sign emblems on every table. Even the bathroom stayed true to the theme with hanging disco balls, quotes from the ‘70s and flowers painted on the walls. The only thing the shop was missing was a radio station to play ‘70s hits. 

While the shop served classic drinks like lattes and mochas, there were other menus hung around the store featuring “groovier drinks” and the seasonal spring menu. Although the Charm-a-licious drink featuring a cereal milk latte topped with whipped cream and Lucky Charms was tempting, I opted for the fan-favorite specialty drink — the iced cookie dough latte. 

The drink is described as a traditional latte with cookie syrup and a secret house syrup. Just by looking at it, I’d give it an A+ in the presentation category — the chocolate drizzle around the cup seemed professional and matched the perfect light honey color I look for in a latte.

Since the cashiers described the cookie dough latte as one of their sweetest coffees and being practically a dessert, I expected a major sugar rush. While the latte was definitely sweet, it was no sweeter than my usual vanilla or caramel iced latte from Starbucks. Since all I could really taste was chocolate, I wondered if the secret syrup was some kind of vanilla and chocolate mixture. I’m all about sweet coffee, so I would’ve preferred a few more pumps of the cookie dough syrup to give it more of that advertised cookie flavor.

Apart from the vast selection of coffee, Jinkie’s offered a variety of baked goods from chocolate chip cookies to homemade poptarts to lemon poppyseed bread to eat alongside your coffee. 

I tried two of their sweets: the lemon poppyseed bread and chocolate chip cookie. The picture-perfect looking bread disappointed with its dry texture — making it obvious the bread had been sitting in the open case for hours, if not days. While the center of the bread was more appetizing with its lemon drizzle, part of me disliked the citrus icing that seemed to make the bread taste too wet compared to the rest of the dry bread.

The chocolate chip cookie on the other hand was anything but dry and tasted much more fresh. The thick cookie was baked for just the right amount of time — giving a doughy taste while still having crisp edges.
Although Jinkie’s is a bit of a hike being about 20 minutes from the East area and the coffee isn’t anything spectacular, the ‘70s experience is well worth the trip. When you’re looking for a change from the usual Starbucks or Dunkin’ run, I would recommend Jinkie’s for its lively atmosphere and unique environment — you might just spend over an hour like I did enjoying the ‘70s vibes and hangout space.