Monday, December 6, 2021

Caffè Bene has closed on Avenue A

The Caffè Bene outpost on the SE corner of Avenue A and 13th Street has closed. Workers cleared out the space last week (thank you to Steven for the photos)...
As we understand it, the family of this franchise owner, Rish Sheth, has a deli uptown, and they decided to combine the business. (We also heard the landlord was raising the rent by $2,000 a month here.)

The cafe arrived here in late 2015, offering a variety of coffee drinks, breakfast and lunch items, etc. 

In September 2020,  as part of a pandemic pivot, Sheth added a line of South Asian-inspired groceries and snacks, from bags of Masala Munch to boxes of Parle-G biscuits, alongside Caffe Béne's usual fare. He named this new part of the business Jaleby, which continues to have an online presence for deliveries here. 

This was one of two Caffè Bene franchises to open in the East Village in 2015. The location at 24 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue closed in April 2017 after 17 months of business. 

H/T Lola Sáenz... and thanks to Laura and dwg, who also shared photos last week. 
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8 comments:

  1. AnonymousDecember 6, 2021 at 5:23 AM

    More importantly, they had a small selection of sambal, the best kind of hot sauce, which is not easy to find around here.
    Their burgers were of good quality as well.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousDecember 6, 2021 at 8:08 AM

    Yet another chain to open all over the city, only to disappear within a couple years.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousDecember 6, 2021 at 12:44 PM

      “Chain all over the city.” Since when does two locations in the EV count as a “chain”? It’s still a small business. A chain is Starbucks. Not hard.

      Delete
    2. AnonymousDecember 10, 2021 at 1:25 AM

      Funny, Caffe Bene is known as the "Starbucks of South Korea" - these are franchises, located in Korea, the US (86 locations) and a dozen other countries - about 1400 locations in total according to Wikipedia.
      https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffe_Bene

      Delete
  3. AnonymousDecember 6, 2021 at 11:19 AM

    I was confused about this place since it had a Caffe Bene sign but inside looked like a deli. Thought the deli just took over and didn't have a chance to update the signage.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousDecember 6, 2021 at 12:46 PM

      Cafes in other parts of the world include sandwiches and snacks like a deli, that’s what Cafe Benne was aiming for. Instead of calling it another bodega.

      Delete
  4. Christopher PelhamDecember 7, 2021 at 12:33 AM

    Caffe Bene is (also) a Korean chain. Was this one related to those, like the one in Korea Town? It seemed pretty different.

    ReplyDelete
  5. MetroApril 3, 2022 at 11:28 PM

    Ive been stuck in Asia since Covid. I will miss this place when I return to NY.

    ReplyDelete

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