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.

Signage alert: Caleta on Avenue A, with a Jan. 7 debut

The storefront is shaping up at 131 Avenue A between Ninth Street and St. Mark's Place... where Caleta now has an expected opening date of Jan. 7 (per Instagram). 

As noted in September, real-life couple Jesse Merchant Zuñiga and Javier Zuñiga are opening their first restaurant ... this comes after they launched the pandemic-era business Bad Habit ice cream from their apartment.

During the day, they will serve cartons of their ice cream. And by night, as Eater reported, Caleta "will offer a New American small plates menu to pair with wine, cartons of their ice cream, as well as desserts that use Bad Habit product like baked Alaska." 

The space was previously Thai Direct, which closed following a COVID-related rent dispute with the landlord, per the restaurant's ownership.

H/T Steven!

Caleta will offer small plates and Bad Habit ice cream on Avenue A

After 18 months of making ice cream from their Bushwick apartment, real-life couple Jesse Merchant Zuñiga and Javier Zuñiga are opening their own storefront in the East Village, they announced in an Instagram post last week. (H/T Vinny & O!)

Caleta — with a tagline of "not a wine bar" — has an anticipated late-fall opening at 131 Avenue A between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street. 

During the day, they will serve cartons of their Bad Habit ice cream (a business created during the pandemic). And by night, as Eater reported, Caleta "will offer a New American small plates menu to pair with wine, cartons of their ice cream, as well as desserts that use Bad Habit product like baked Alaska." 

The space was previously Thai Direct, which closed following a COVID-related rent dispute with the landlord, per the restaurant's ownership.