Photo and reporting by Stacie Joy
Café Cortadito's new home is very close to its previous home.
Ricardo Arias and Patricia Valencia, the husband-and-wife owners of the Cuban restaurant, confirmed to EVG contributor Stacie Joy that they will be moving to the NE corner of Avenue B at Second Street (17 Avenue B) — the former Cornerstone Cafe.
In addition, Cafe Cortadito will be going as Cantina Cubana. They plan to be open six days a week, dark on Mondays with an 11 p.m. close on weekends. While there won't be a bar on the premises for patrons, Arias and Valencia will be applying for a liquor license in April for their mojitos and other drink specials.
No word yet on an opening date, though renovations have started behind the papered-up front windows...
As previously reported, Café Cortadito closed 210 E. Third St., just east of Avenue B, at the end of January after 18 years in business. The landlord increased the rent from $8,000 to $15,000 monthly.
The Cornerstone Cafe closed in December 2021 after 10-plus years in business. In an Instagram post, the Cornerstone cited the ongoing pandemic and the city's related mandates and restrictions for the closure.
8 comments:
Yes! I was hoping they’d end up here. Good to see they landed quickly. Hopefully they can serve alcohol. Shouldn’t their be a license attached since Cornerstone sold alcohol?
Doesn't work that way
I hope they go back to being a normal restaurant, and I hope they carry on the legacy of Cornerstone with a wider menu of affordable great food. I am nervous that it will just be another shitshow like when they were next to Poco and tried to compete.
I don't think you can sell a license in NY State... a new operator at the same location has to apply fresh with the SLA.
Applications by responsible business operators are usually a cheap formality. There isn't a liquor license cap in NY State so there is no significant cost attached to the licensing. Here, the rent is what gets ya
$15k rent for that tiny location when there’s already an entire block’s worth of empty commercial real estate on B between 3rd and 4th is just greed to the point of stupidity - that landlord is going to feel those losses. Good for them for landing a new spot, can’t wait to pop in!
Have you checked how much a full liquor license cost, and not just in annual fees?
Grandfather it in depends how much time they have on the exiting license..but people do it all the time..
why did cornerstone close in the first place, anyone know? that was my go-to, sorely missed.
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