By Carol Tannenhauser
Can you imagine if there was a shortage of coffee? No worries. Several neighborhood shops are open.
Irving Farm, Local coffee house, serving drinks made from house-roasted beans, 224 West 79th Street (Amsterdam and Broadway) “Business was still pretty consistent when we closed for the state mandate,” Jason, a barista, told us. “We reopened last Friday and are trying to get back to some kind of routine, as close to normal as possible.” They’re serving coffee drinks — no food yet — for pickup only, Wednesday to Friday, 8 a.m. – 3 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., (212) 874-7979
Starbucks on 63rd and Broadway isn’t the only location of the national coffee chain (that some locals consider local) to reopen in the neighborhood. Below is a list of others. All are open every day from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., but calls to partners — which is what employees are called — yielded many different instructions for ordering and picking up, and inconsistent reports of delivery. One solid fact emerged: you must have the Starbucks app. Go to the App Store, get it, and go to store locator to find the store closest to where you’ll be. As of Friday, May 15th, the following Starbucks were listed as open: 61st & WEA; 66th & Amsterdam; 70th & Broadway; 73rd & Columbus; 75th & Broadway; 81st & Broadway; 86th & Columbus; 88th & Broadway; 93rd & Broadway; 100th & Columbus.
Ortomare Ristorante Pizzeria, Pizza and pastas, 994 Columbus Avenue at 109th Street. Open every day for pickup and delivery from 4 to 9 p.m. You can call direct or use a delivery app. 212-665-2970.
Turkuaz, Turkish, 310 West 53rd Street, This Turkish spot has a revised menu to make sure the food is fast and fresh. 20% off if you call direct. 212-265-5500.
Box Kite Coffee, specialty coffees, 128 West 72nd Street (Columbus and Amsterdam). “Shout out to Box Kite. They are wonderful and have been open for us through it all!” wrote a WSR commenter. This tiny, stalwart store is open every day from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. for pick up only.
More open Starbucks: 61st & West End and 66th & Amsterdam.
Thanks!
Il Violino at 68th & Columbus opened today (Friday, 5/15) for delivery and takeout. There has been a gofundme page for this restaurant since March for the staff.
Popeye’s has a sign up that says they’re opening on Tuesday.
The Popeye’s on Broadway around 94th? Please say yes!
Is there another?
Starbucks announced in news media on Friday they were seeking “assistance” with rent for all locations for balance of year. This mostly was to come in reductions, and that they looked forward to working with landlords on this issue.
If social distancing and so forth remain the new norm, Starbucks and every other coffee place that promoted people hanging out for hours will need new business models.
For one thing much less space may be needed for some locations.
If Starbucks will no longer be people’s home away from home, WFM office, club gathering place, etc… then in many cases they won’t need as much square footage.
SB has closed many locations over past few years, and new stores tended to be smaller with less seating space. Thus what happens next is going to be interesting all way round.
Without a place to work with free WiFi and lounging around all day, Starbucks might have to rely on it’s actual coffee quality…yikes.
SO happy to hear that Ortomare, our very favorite neighborhood restaurant, is open for take out and delivery!
Boxkite allows the owner to sit in the entryway working on a computer all day long, without a mask or gloves. Everyone who comes in needs to walk past him, either risking being infected by or infecting him.
Any word on Celeste?
I miss Turkuaz, ever since they moved from 100th St. I wish they were close enough to deliver to me.
Good to have Irving Farm back. I’m tired of paying for shipping one bag of coffee every two weeks.