The British headquarters of the King's arm Cafe in North America

It wasn't until 1696 that the first coffee shop opened in New York City. English immigrant John Hatchen opened his own King's Arm Cafe on Broadway.

Hachen's coffee-house was modelled on the London coffee-houses he knew, and had a large room upstairs with tables covered with green tablecloths. Through the door you can go to the balcony, enjoy the beautiful river view and dock, so that merchants can see the ship arriving at the port early. The new cafe immediately became "the informal headquarters of the British in New York," providing a home for "municipal and field officials, merchants, and port officials."

The cafe's opening was a sign that the British population was growing under Mayor Benjamin Fletcher, who sought to eliminate the influence of the rebellious Dutch Calvinist settlers who made up the majority of the city's population. Fletcher not only promoted cafes among his subordinates and held celebrations for royal festivals, but also hired a bookseller from Philadelphia to settle in town and support him in publishing a newspaper. With the advent of the first coffee shops and the first newspapers, New York began to feel like a regular British colony.

By 1701, the new mayor could boast that New York was "the fastest growing city in North America." In the cheerful atmosphere of the King's Arm Cafe, the British party gathered, sometimes to talk business and social gossip, more often news and politics. Over the next decade, New York City became more British, and Hatchen's coffeehouse occupied a central place in civic politics, hosting meetings of civilian committees and colonial council meetings.

Any colonial city hoping to grow quickly needs a café. Philadelphia opened one in 1703. The owner was the postmaster, and his cafe was also a merchant's exchange. Coffee houses in British colonies in North America attracted customers of status.