Exsoycise is now Awakened Nutrition & Training, a blog for health seekers, food lovers and dream body builders!

For the last 2.5 years since discovering I am allergic to soy and lactose intolerant I have been either drinking my coffee black with cinnamon and stevia or bringing my own jar of almond milk from home to coffee shops in the city. That option is usually totally inconvenient especially when I often don't have access to a fridge OR on the days when I would like to enjoy more coffee throughout the day but have already finished off the almond milk I brought from home. I have been impatiently waiting for Starbucks to introduce either almond or coconut milk to the world and would check the customer forum My Starbucks Ideas to see if there were any updates as to when this would happen. I've even chimed in several times about my frustration on the forums, their facebook page and on twitter. I wasn't the only unhappy customer, there are threads going back to 2008 dedicated to this topic, 1 topic has over 50,000 votes! The only response I could find from Starbuck was from January 18, 2012 from moderator sbx_bean stating "The beverage team is currently vetting alternatives to dairy and soy". Well they clearly aren't working fast enough and losing customers along the way!

Today about 75% of adults worldwide can't tolerate lactose and many others are allergic to soy and dairy placing these two foods on the "Top 8 Allergen List". I find it a little bit ridiculous that Starbucks, a multibillion dollar company with more than 10,000 locations in the U.S. alone, can't come up with some sort of dairy alternative to serve customers with food allergies.

So while I've waited around for Starbucks to get their act together, I did a little research and found that there are other coffee shop options around NYC who gladly carry almond milk, The first one being Whole Foods Market cafe. I started going to the Union Square location for almond milk lattes when I was in the area and then later they opened up their 57th street location and started offering Wifi in the upstairs cafe, this location later became the perfect office for me to meet with some of my health coaching clients. Then almond milk started trickling in other coffee shops like Dean and Deluca, Fairway Market, Health Nuts and then some smaller coffee shops in Brooklyn. Soon Starbucks became less appealing when I was out on the go and needed my coffee fix. So to make it a little easier on all of us New Yorkers or those planning a visit to NYC in the future here is a list of 40 coffee shops in New York City and Brooklyn that carry almond milk! Enjoy!

Manhattan Coffee Shops

1. Le Pain Quotidien - Upper East Side, Upper West Side, Chelsea, Midtown, West Village & Greenwich Village
2. Dean and Deluca - Columbus, Upper East Side, Midtown & SoHo
3. Fairway Market coffee shop - Kips Bay, Upper East Side, Flatiron, Upper West Side & Harlem
4. Whole Foods Market coffee shop - TriBeCa(wifi), Lower East Side, Union Square, Chelsea, Midtown(wifi), Columbus Circle
5. 12 Corners - Lower East Side - Wifi
6. Ground Support - SoHo
7. The Bean - East Village & Greenwich Village - Wifi
8. Elsewhere Espresso - East Village - Wifi
9. 71 Irving Place Coffee Bar - Gramercy
10. UR Cup - Greenwich Village & Chelsea
11. O Cafe - Greenwich Village - Wifi
12. OatMeals - Greenwich Village - Wifi
13. Hu Kitchen - Greenwich Village - Wifi
14. Whynot Coffee - West Village - Wifi
15. 'sNice - West Village & SoHo - Wifi
16. Kahve - Hells Kitchen
17. Crave Espresso Bar - TriBeCa - Wifi
18. L A Burdick - Flatiron
19. Koffeecake Corner - Chelsea & Flatiron - Wifi
20. The Commons Chelsea - Chelsea - Wifi
21. Terri - Chelsea & Financial District
22. Argo Tea - Columbus Circle, Union Square, Flatiron, NYU & Chelsea - Wifi
23. Sasha's Coffee - Upper West Side - Wifi
24. Health Nuts health food store - Upper East Side
25. The Chipped Cup - Harlem -Wifi

Brooklyn Coffee Shops:

1. 'sNice - Park Slope - Wifi
2. Sun in Bloom - Park Slope - Wifi
3. Crespella - Park Slope
4. Penny House Cafe - Prospect Heights - Wifi
5. Le Pain Quotidien - Brooklyn Heights
6. Clementine Bakery - Clinton Hill - Wifi
7. NeroDora - Clinton Hill - Wifi
8. Liquid Oz - Bedstuy - Wifi
9. Upright Coffee - Green Point
10. Bedford Baking Studio - Williamsburg - Wifi
11. Pudge Nuckles - North Williamsburg - Wifi
12. Kave - Bushwick - Wifi
13. Central Cafe - Bushwick - Wifi
14. Little Skips - Bushwick - Wifi
15. Fairway Market coffee shop - Redhook

Do you have a favorite coffee shop in your city that carries a soy and dairy milk alternative? If so, share it in the comments below!

Sign up here to receive your FREE 7 day meal plan (soy, dairy & gluten free) with tips, guide and shopping list!