Urban Coffee, 101 Broadway, Greenlawn; 631-261-7979; urbancoffeegreenlawnny.com

Urban Coffee is not a very apt name for this resolutely homey coffee shop on the main drag in Greenlawn. The name, the Starbuckian logo and, especially, the photomural of taxis whizzing up Manhattan's Park Avenue, are entirely at odds with the Mayberry aspect of the enterprise. All are holdovers from the original owner who, after four years in business, sold it to Alice Salzone in April.

Alice, a mother of three and a veteran of various retail and administrative jobs, had long harbored a fantasy of owning a coffee shop. "I wanted a place where people would hang out, like they were in my living room," she said. She got her wish and then some.

People hang out here all day. They greet Alice when she opens at 5:15, and often walk her to her car when she closes at 9 p.m. (10 p.m. on weekends). There is Wi-Fi, so they can work or study, board games so they can play. Customers are welcome to bring their own lunch or dinner. In addition to left-behind newspapers, there is a small-but-growing lending library of books that customers have contributed. (On a larger scale, one regular, Pete, noticed that the wall behind the milk pitchers was vulnerable to stains; he decided to install a backsplash with no charge for labor or materials.)

Alice's staff is drawn principally from her immediate family. Nicky, 21, and Alexandria, 22 (who bakes most of the cookies and cakes), left full-time jobs to help their mother. Louie, 17, works when he's not in high school. Alice's husband, Lou, works when he's not investigating insurance fraud, and he is the driving force behind Urban Coffee's "Belgian Waffle Sundays."

In addition to the family feeling, you'll find very good coffee and tea, incomparable chai latte and an addictive frothy-sweet-creamy coffee-based drink called an ice scraper.