By Gus Saltonstall
The Upper West Side storefront that housed the iconic Cafe Lalo for more than three decades is set to become a coffee shop, according to a Community Board 7 notice.
The ground-floor commercial space at 201 West 83rd Street, off the corner of Amsterdam Avenue, will become a Jack’s Coffee outpost, states a notice posted to its front door. Cafe Lalo was made famous by its appearance in Nora Ephron’s 1998 romantic comedy, “You’ve Got Mail,” starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks.
Now it seems the line becomes, “You’ve Got Coffee.”
The notice reads that there will be a Community Board 7 meeting on Wednesday that will include an application for a retail permit to the New York State Liquor Authority for a two-year license by Jack’s Coffee.
Jack’s Coffee has 10 locations between New York City and the Hamptons, and describes itself as “the highest quality coffee, delicious vegan baked goods, thoughtfully curated marketplace items, and customer service second-to-none.”
Jack’s Coffee’s website indicates that an Upper West Side outpost is “Coming Soon,” but does not provide an address. West Side Rag reached out to Jack’s Coffee for comment, but we haven’t received a response as of Monday morning.
The permit on the door of 201 West 83rd Street also states that an “interior renovation” is taking place inside the shop for “finish and fixture work.”
The new permit for Jack’s Coffee will be discussed during the Upper West Side Community Board 7 meeting on Wednesday. The Rag will review the meeting for additional details and any information on the timeline of an expected opening.
The storefront has been dormant since Cafe Lalo mysteriously shuttered in 2020, before the landlord of the building filed a lawsuit against the business for unpaid rent, which the cafe countered with its own lawsuit, claiming that the landlord had not fixed water damage within the property.
A settlement related to those court proceedings happened on September 27, 2024, which included Cafe Lalo surrendering possession of the property and its lease back to the building’s owner, court documents show.
The judge ruled that not only would Cafe Lalo not have to pay any of the alleged unpaid rent, but that the landlord of the Upper West Side building had to send $125,000 to the owners of the eatery, according to the court documents.
Thanks to Aidan Zimmermann for the tip.
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So Cafe Lalo’s demise lies mostly with the landlord? It’s good that a new business will move in, but I doubt that Jack’s will provide the same quality of desserts.
“the same quality of desserts”? They didn’t offer anything that was uniquely theirs. They did have a great selection of cakes, pastries and cookies. I still miss that place.
Did they make their own desserts or did they have a great vendor. Any chance we know who that was and where they distribute. Really set Cafe Lalo’s apart.
They bought desserts from a selection of bakeries in NYC
Multiple cake suppliers. One was a family owned but no especially upscale bakery in Pennsyvania
Cafe Lalo started off nicely, but the film put them over the top. Towards the end, they were simply overcharging , , , they became over rated!
Just what the UWS needs, ANOTHER coffee shop. (Nothing against Jack’s, but….)
Hey, it beats a bank branch or head shop.
Better a coffee shop than another nail salon! 😊
There is no central repository of “what the UWS needs.” Entrepreneurs assess and then test their hypothesis if it’ll stick.
Sad. Nothing against Jacks but a unique business replaced by a chain is a net loss for the community and city.
The days of individual stores opening in New York is coming to an end.
The costs and the environment is not conducive to a small business.
If you want to see more independent stores move to Texas or Florida where the business climate is better,
Yeah, no chains in either of those places. /s
Unfortunately the human climate in those two states is not better…..
That’s a matter of opinion.
Do you mean the weather ?
What Jack’s is replacing is an empty storefront in disrepair, which has attracted rats and provided negative value for the block for 5 1/2 years now. It will be a major upgrade.
I am not saying that is isn’t an improvement over an empty storefront in disrepair. I am saying it is not an improvement to have a chain coffee shop where there used to be a unique business that many considered special, and one that cannot be replicated, unlike Jacks.
I hear you. But to quote Mick Jagger: “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you might find you get what you need.” As a longtime resident of 83rd Street between Broadway and Amsterdam, I can tell you the block’s primary need after 5 1/2 years was to have that vacancy filled with any reputable tenant.
I’d been praying for the return of my beloved Amaretto Tiramisu! 😭 If anyone can point me to another one I’d be grateful. But Lalo was a special place.
Try this? https://littleferrarokitchen.com/amaretto-tiramisu/
(I can’t vouch for it, I don’t much like tiramisu and I haven’t made it. But think how impressive it would be if you brought that to a pot luck!)
So the landlord killed Cafe Lalo? Can we identify the landlord?
We need to start making a list of the worst landlords on the Upper West Side and hold them accountable. There have been too many neighborhood business casualties due to irresponsible and greedy landlords who have not been held accountable.
Our court system held the landlord accountable. Let’s please not become a society in which everyone is watching everyone else.
You’re missing the part where the settlement dissolved the lease and gave the space back to the landlord. The monetary award was part of that transfer.
I’m all in, I have a Word processor for the making of the list. How do we hold them accountable? In what capacity of yours – as a citizen of the world?
(Needless to repeat, they were just held accountable by a court of law which ruled that they (presumably) correctly went 5 years without receiving the rent, and paid $125K for their mistakes/actions/inactions)
The parties settled – there was no court ruling.
Since you’re so bothered by “greedy landlords” perhaps you should invest in commercial property and lease your space to whichever business is willing to pay you the least in rent.
Assuming the judge knew the facts of this case, they ruled that not only did Lalo not owe rent but also awarded them $125k.
Perhaps in this case, concern about “ greedy landlords” negatively impacting the neighborhood is warranted.
The judge didn’t rule on anything – the parties settled. There was no court ruling.
They likely settled with a Mediator or an Arbitrator, per many contracts; either is often a retired Judge.
I hope they keep the beautiful labradorite counter in the bathroom.
I used to stare at it in amazement wondering how many beautiful necklaces and bracelets could be made out of it.
Friedmans Management
Haim Lalo made memorably delicious fruit pies, varied and not too sweet, such as I’ve never found elsewhere. I won’t soon forget them.
His café was also one of the loudest establishments I ever visited in years past. Something about the clientele, I think. But these days I find many popular restaurants are extraordinarily, painfully loud. What is the reason, I wonder?
Maybe we all get more sensitive as we age? I can’t handle the noise in most restaurants either. Plus they blast nasty loud music instead of playing quiet pieces that create a nice atmosphere. LOL, I probably sound like a terribly crabby old person!
I liked that place, but it became way overpriced. Their pies were the best.
This is actually great news. Jack’s is a longstanding local business with multiple locations with better than average coffee. Coupled with the space and pre-existing vibes, this should be a nice place to frequent. Think about it, the tenancy situation could’ve gone a lot worse.
Sounds good, and certainly better than the empty space. Wondering about the application for a liquor license. Serving alcohol sort of changes the vibe of a coffee shop, doesn’t it? (Although a nice Irish coffee on a cold night is a Very Good Thing.)
I’ve seen coffee places that successfully try this limit themselves to things that don’t diverge too far from their coffee DNA. Time will tell
I loved Lalo. So very very sad.
Vegan pastries?…no butter, no milk, no eggs, no cheese, no yogurt…no thank you.
sounds great to me!
Sorry, Cafe Lalo can never be replaced.
You can bet most or all of that $125,000 went to the tenant’s attorney, so only the lawyers ‘won’.
OTOH owners of Cafe Lalo aren’t stuck with huge bill for attorney fees. Billable hours for good legal representation in this city isn’t inexpensive. More so for a case such as this that has dragged on for months.
Do the sums; what’s better? Paying legal bills out of your own pocket (with what money?), or having some or all of that amount paid by someone else?
All in all owners of Cafe Lalo walked away from not owing past and holdover rent, and (if your presumption is correct), all or most of their legal bills were paid by LL. I’d say that’s a pretty sweet deal.
Love Jack’s Coffee! Happy it’s coming to the UWS.
What we need is pie. Where can you sit and eat a great slice of pie?
To roughly quote Yogi Berra, that place was so popular no one went there anymore. I miss Cafe Lalo. It was a gem. But happy to have something in the space after many years being empty. The anti-chain crowd is obnoxious. What would you prefer? I wouldn’t mind an In N Out burger.
What would I prefer? A unique business, with character, providing a useful service or enjoyable place to be, that feels like it is emblematic of the neighborhood in which its in. We used to have a lot of those all over town. Its something that differentiates us from the suburbs and small towns across the country.
Look, no one is saying they are against all chains. I happen to like Jacks, but was hoping for something special for this location. But I don’t know how one can ignore that the erasure of so many unique businesses, replaced by chains, has not diminished the city, and made our neighborhoods far less interesting and unique.
Loved Cafe Lalo and glad to hear it is returning to the UWS!
What?
It wasn’t so much a court “ruling” but judge signing off on a settlement reached between LL and Cafe Lalo, Inc.
LL agreed to terminate eviction/hold over proceedings and pay $125,000 to owners of Lalo Cafe (among other things), in turn Lalo Cafe agreed to surrender premises to LL and agreed to also surrender any current or future claims to property, etc…
This sort of agreement happens all the time in both commercial and residential rental properties. Basically LL gets back their property with tenant surrendering all claims and so forth to same. Tenant gets out of lease with least possible cost (including being on hook for any past due and holdover rent). In housing court such things are worked spelled out in “stipulation” settlements.
For commercial properties usually thing LLs want most is return possession. Any financial hit can be made up by perhaps increasing rent on future tenants.
The owner of cafe lalo ran a great place with a huge variety of cakes and other traditional desserts and sandwiches (?)!
Though he was awarded a bit of money by the court for his aggravation, it can not make up for the loss of a business he built over 3 decades.
The neighborhood owes him s debt of gratitude for bringing a touch of hospitality and gemutlichkeit to the West side.
Cafe lalo was open at night when only saloons and diners were open on the UWS.
HOURS
Monday-Thursday: 9am-1am
Friday – Saturday: 9am-3am
Sunday: 9am-1am
THANK YOU “Mr Lalo”!
Also the menu is still on line it was diverse and unmatched.
http://www.cafelalo.com
What I really miss is Cafe Vivaldi on 70th. It was a perfect meet up
Spot.
Very disappointing! All this time waiting and we get another expensive chain coffee shop. I always thought the space would make an excellent cafe/wine bar.