Openings: Caleta and Bad Habit on Avenue A

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Bad Habit ice cream and Caleta opened at 131 Avenue A between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street on Jan. 7. (Mentioned here and here.) 

As previously reported, real-life couple Javier Zuñiga and Jesse Merchant Zuñiga are behind the business launched during the pandemic when the restaurant vets starting making ice cream from their Brooklyn apartment — "initially they were just thinking of it as a hobby," per Eater...

But the fledgling ice cream brand took off — enough that Bad Habit is now headquartered in the front of the space, where, starting at 2 p.m., the containers (in three sizes and with flavors like olive oil, chocolate honeycomb and dill & yuzu) are available to stay or go...

Starting at 5 p.m., the back room — Caleta, a 21-seat cafe that serves beer, wine and small plates — opens for business. (No reservations; walk-ins only.) The front and back are open until midnight Thursday through Monday.

You can find the Caleta website (with menu) right here ... Instagram at this link.