Hideout Chai Bar: NYC's Top-Rated Chai H

Hideout Chai Bar: NYC's Top-Rated Chai Hiding in Plain Sight

by Ally Smith

July 2, 2025

The Hideout Chai Bar resides in the Lower East Side, nestled modestly on Rivingston Street. The LES has a surprising number of chai-specific cafés, such as The Chai Spot and Kolkata Chai Company. The thing that sets The Hideout apart, though? It was voted the Top Chai in NYC.

The Hideout’s shop design is beautifully minimalist. True to what its name implies, it is a small, cozy shop, complete with two-person seating options and a community-style long table. It’s crisp and clean– white walls, smooth light grey flooring, and framed minimalist art. The kitchen and counter reside in the back, just beyond a black-framed opening, a framed minimalist art in itself. The Hideout is quaint, yet its carefully designed interior informs you that something exquisite lies in wait.

After cooling down, I approached the counter and was greeted with a friendly smile. Large chai latte, please. Oh, and a tea flight. That sounds good. Thank you.

I didn’t have to wait long for my bounty. The barista brought out my beverages, still smiling. How nice! The chai latte looked beautiful in its tall, skinny glass, filled to the brim. The tea flight was a sight for sore eyes, each tea in a smaller version of the latte’s glass, their names labeled on the chalkboard strip along the lower border of the wooden tray. After such a harrowing journey, I was ready to get reviewing. Does Hideout Chai Bar truly serve the best chai in NYC?

Tea Flight
Early grey (black tea, bergamot oil), Houijcha (roasted green tea), Golden Milk (tumeric, ginger, black pepper), Chai (no milk) (black tea, cardamom, clove, cinnamon, ginger, black pepper)
$17

Perhaps you can tell from my notes, but I wasn’t in love with the tea flight. For sure, it was an interesting experience. I enjoy trying new things. However, it ended up being something I tried/consumed simply for the experience, yielding no particular emotion (spare confusion). Cool, still!

6/10

Chai Tea Latte w/ oat milk, cold
Black tea, cardamom, clove, cinnamon, ginger, black pepper
$7.50

“Our masala chai is an elegant blend of spices and sweetness that makes you crave for more.” Certainly, Hideout. The blend is indeed discernibly elegant– taking from the words of my teachers growing up, it’s “a pleasure to have in class.” I do have a bit of a qualm with the “sweetness” notion.

While the latte was undeniably enjoyable, I wished it were sweeter. Yes, I do favor borderline egregious levels of sweet. However, Ksenia agreed with me that it could be a bit sweeter, so I feel validated in this thought. “Could be sweeter by 4 glitter particles,” I wrote in my notes. Do you know what I mean?

Furthermore, the chai could have some more body. I found it a bit thin. The melting ice could have been the culprit, but still.

That being said, The Hideout’s chai latte was a delight, well deserving of its top-rated chai status!

9/10

Overall, Hideout Chai Bar was a wonderful journey of discovery, tea pondering, and trying out different ways to cool down/make it look like I haven’t been sweating profusely. (For the last point, the best way was simply time).

The atmosphere was probably my favorite part of the experience! It was so chill in there, the vibe curated by the tasteful, minimalist design, and the very friendly barista! I have no idea what his name was–if he was the owner, or simply an excellent employee–but he was very welcoming, chatty, and personable. He was asking me questions with genuine interest in my answers. Since I have trouble processing, we did have a very awkward interaction.

Tea Slinger: So, whatcha doing today?
Me: [smiles, eyes blank, yet searching]
Tea Slinger: Oh! So, any plans?
Me: [smile faltering] Cool!
Tea Slinger: [stares back, seeming to understand that I am struggling]
Me:
Tea Slinger:
Me: Oh! Plans! We’re gonna drink after this.

Not my best work, but not my worst… You don’t even want to know…

Anyway, back to our main question: is Hideout Chai Bar actually the best chai in NYC? Honestly, I think it might be true! However, since I haven’t tried every single chai latte available in the Big Apple, I don’t think I can proclaim this definitively. So, to give you a confident statement:

Hideout Chai Bar serves the best NYC chai latte that I, allylovechai, have ever tried!

Yay! Yay! Let’s take a moment to clap………….. Thank you.
I have come to this conclusion based on the holistic quality of Hideout. The carefully designed establishment, the excellent customer service, the air conditioning, the tea flight, and, most importantly: their chai blend.

A chai latte’s foundation is such an influential aspect of the drink. If you simply buy a premade, outsourced chai, whether it be tea bags, concentrate, or syrup, you have very little control over the drink’s flavor. If the outsourced chai is subpar, the latte will most likely be subpar, I fear. A chai latte is, in its rawest form, the chai flavoring and milk, typically in a 2:3 ratio.

Crafting your own chai blend allows you to build the flavor profile exactly as you like it! How much cinnamon you add–cloves, ginger, cardamom. Any black pepper? Star anise? How much sugar should you add? Everything is in your control, whether you lean toward traditional chai methods, or take inspiration from tradition to make something new.

Hideout Chai places heavy emphasis on their homemade masala chai blend, passion and pride steeped in every word in their “About” section. “Craft chai brewing company,” “oat milk tea brewed perfectly,” “our masala chai,” “unique and powerful flavors,”

“At the Hideout the product speaks for itself.”

Direct quotes from their website, each phrase written to convey their expertise, care, practically perfect, homemade chai. At Hideout Chai, it’s not (necessarily) about money, sales, traffic. It’s about the product, the individual, the community. A community gathered in a shared love for chai.

Such a proclaimed passion for their craft makes it nearly impossible to dislike their chai, especially since their latte is so damn delicious.

Native New Yorker Christopher Bunet founded The Hideout in 2016 with the hopes of “creating a café atmosphere centered around tea.” Bunet certainly achieved his vision. The café boasts a short, yet impressive, tea-focused menu, featuring five different teas and two coffee options. All of their beverages “are vegan, dairy free, non-GMO, and gluten free” – music to my lactose-intolerant ears.

Additionally, customers can enjoy a marvelous chai flight! Indeed, you can select any four teas for $17, a delectable bargain compared to the $30 you would spend if you got each tea separately. Yes, the serving is smaller, but you get a variety served up on a cool wooden board! What’s not to love?

I have been waiting to visit this café for a while. Quite a while, in fact, that I forgot I was even waiting. Yet, the memories flooded back to me as I scanned Google Maps, searching for establishments to visit with my friend, Ksenia. There, bookmarked with a little coffee emoji, was The Hideout. Waiting for me to return, to remember it. So, we went.

It was a blazing hot day. So blazing that I had to chant to myself, it’s okay. You’re okay, you’re okay. Anyway, I eventually made it to The Hideout, fifteen minutes late to meet Ksenia (sorry, girl). The beautiful café was a tear-jerking sight after such a trying journey.

I love a good beverage flight. Honestly, no matter what liquid a restaurant offers– beer, wine… other liquids that I can’t think of right now– I will purchase a flight.

Hideout’s tea flight was interesting! It was a bit of a strange experience, as the tea was neither cold nor warm. One might call it room temperature.

Since this is a chai review, not a tea flight review, I will try to keep this section short. In fact, I’m going to simply copy and paste my notes I recorded that fateful day of tasting! Zero attention to grammar, sentence fragments, spelling errors. You will get a glimpse into my mind.

The latte’s presentation matched The Hideout’s interior design. Minimalist, marvelous, mystifying. It had a deep sepia color, leaning more to orange undertones. Looking at it, I suspected that the latte had a good consistency; not too thin, most likely a favorable chai to milk ratio. I was optimistic – my observations paired with Ksenia’s positive sentiments about the beverage gave me something to look forward to.

I can definitely see why The Hideout’s chai was voted the top chai in NYC! It felt like summertime, frolicking in a field as the sun sets. Sparklers. Sparklers against the pink, orange, dimming sky. Dancing spices. Cardamom, hello! Cinnamon, good to see you! Oh, hi, Clove! A bit shy, huh?

It was like a party on my taste buds. The latte maintained its chai spice, the flavors standing strong against the oat milk and melting ice. You can tell that the chai is made in-house. Other establishments often utilize lackluster, outsourced concentrates, devoid of love and excellence. Actually taking the time to craft a masala chai blend, making contact with each aromatic spice, yields a more intentional, warm flavor.