Lotus used to be the perfect basecamp for the laptop freelancer... big tables right next to outlets, free wireless, bagels, soup, sandwiches, good coffee, and a full bar for when that time of day came around.
Ideal for getting some work done outside the confines of your tiny manhattan apartment. Now all of this has changed- I guess to make it more inline with 'hot spots' in the LES, the 'club' part of the place is now receiving all the attention, while the cafe (and its customers) suffer. No more food at all- just coffee. They still have the wireless, but the big tables are being sacrificed one by one for bar tables. And if you come during the day to do some work, you'll have to endure people moving chairs, tables, and sound equipment around incessantly. All the regular locals that helped make this place great are pretty much gone. So now we live in a 'hip' neighborhood, but at what price?
Pros: Still has free wireless and a place to sit down with a laptop
Cons: No longer the perfect freelancers office away from home
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