The Little Bird, the vegan cafe that opened on Avenue B near 11th Street last June, appears to be shuttered. The phone has been disconnected. We contacted one of the owners via e-mail, though haven't heard back. This is seemingly a tough space to make work. The previous tenant, Panache Cafe, lasted just four months. And before this, Cafe de Nova.
Maybe it's — in part — the competition... you have B Cup Café on the corner of 13th Street... and Ninth Street Espresso around the corner on 10th Street (and not to mention their location on Ninth Street and Avenue C...).
No surprise there. It's a shame because it would be nice to have a small cafe there but you have to wonder what their business plan was. It was one of those places with very few items for sale & nothing visible from the street so you had to go in to see what was for sale.
ReplyDeleteAw, what a shame. The peeps here seemed to have the right idea. I hate to offer advice on interior design BUT there was lots of wasted space. What was with the HUGE counter yet still no place to really sit and unwind? Was just too hard to navigate, and I just went back to 9th Street on (WTF!) 10th Street.
ReplyDeleteToo bad. They were nice folks, but their menu was seriously limited and also pretty pricey for what was on offer. And this does seem to be one of those cursed locations that nothing can stay in. In the late 70s/early 80s it housed a Santeria store; the window was full of plaster Indian chief busts sporting Mardi Gras necklaces, bowls of High John the Conqueror root, money candles, Good Luck soap, etc. Every morning the owner would come out with a bowl of blue liquid, chant something, and toss the liquid onto the sidewalk; there was always a blob of dried blue on the concrete that I assumed was to protect against evil spirits. Maybe whoever opens the next store there should resume the practice!
ReplyDeleteI would love to have a great little cafe in this space. Panache ran itself into the ground. It literally took me an hour to get a coffee and a sandwich there once. It was like he was playing restaurant and he was rude on top of it. The people here seemed nice but with no sense of how to run a business. They had a limited menu and it was pretty pricey. They also didn't do much to entice people to come inside. Good luck to the next place that opens here. It is right next to the laundromat and if they place served fast, affordable food and drink it could do a brisk business.
ReplyDeleteI really loved this place and I'm sad to see it go. The staff was always so nice and friendly. A shame . . .
ReplyDeleteMAYBE IT'S CAUSE THE RENT IS TOO DAMN HIGH!
ReplyDeleteFUCKIN FUCKKKKKKNDSJCBDSJCBDJSBCHDSBCYCKING HATE EVERYONE