By Gus Saltonstall
A popular coffee shop and cafe is set to open on the Upper West Side.
Eataly Caffè will open at 2252 Broadway, on the corner of West 81st Street, this fall, according to recently erected signage on the storefront.
Eataly Caffè will replace a longtime Starbucks at the location that shuttered in the fall of 2025, along with two other outposts in the neighborhood. The Starbucks on the corner of West 81st Street and Broadway was particularly well known for being featured in the hit 1998 film, “You’ve Got Mail.”
The specific storefront sits directly next to the Staples at 2248 Broadway.
Eataly Caffè describes itself on its website as a “vibrant experience with a menu featuring expertly crafted espresso drinks, freshly baked pastries, indulgent gelato, and savory delights like Roman-style pizza alla pala.”
Other menu items include prosciutto e melone, Caesar salad, paninis, pasta and chicken, and salmon dishes.
The incoming Eataly Caffè will be the first on the Upper West Side.
The chain already has six locations in Manhattan, including in SoHo, Hudson Yards, and on the Upper East Side.
You can find out more about Eataly Caffè on its website — HERE.
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This is great. But while they’re at it, why doesn’t Eataly also open a food emporium on the UWS like the one it has at Madison Square Park? There are adjacent, long empty stores with plenty of room and a major street presence next to the 1 train stop on the northwest corner of 86th Street and Broadway, for example. Banana Republic and Gristedes used to occupy those spots many years ago. Why do they remain empty? Can someone explain the laws and economics behind this? These would seem to present a golden opportunity for a business like Eataly or some other business that could find a captive clientele in the neighborhood. There are many other empty storefronts that depress Broadway and others streets on the UWS. I don’t mean to suggest every empty storefront should be filled with another high end chain. I simply wonder why so many prime spots sit empty for decades. And why our only solution is to fill them with cannabis dispensaries.
I’d much rather see a branch of Tashkent open up in the neighborhood! Much more interesting than overpriced Italian.
The Gap occupied the space, then the Banana Republic. And the old Banana Republic space, across the street, STILL hasn’t been filled. After, what, 15 years
That space on the north east side of 86th and Broadway that has been empty for over a decade would be a great location.
That does sound fun, but a lot of factors combined seem to make it difficult to launch a project like an Eataly food hall. The Cipriani food market in 60th/Waterline wasn’t able to make a profit, and shut down. Wegman’s decided not to open, at least in the near-term, probably because of all the other groceries people were excited for, only some of which seem to reach their potential: H Mart, Brooklyn Market, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods. And another reason-we are not a “captive clientele”, we can order almost anything, and we can travel.
And lest we forget, the Dino DiLaurentiis Foodshow at 81st & Columbus — a spectacular forerunner to the Madison Square Eataly– didn’t last very long. (While Zingone’s grocery, just up the block, just keeps doing its modest, neighborly thing decade after decade). I wouldn’t mind some spectacle and theatrics, but I don’t think the numbers add up. So I’ll welcome the downsized Eataly Caffe for what it is.
Simple one word answer: Zabars.
Someone tried a large food emporium on Columbus at 81st Street years ago. It got publicity but never got enough traction to survive. That’s not likely to have changed, at least enough to make it worth the business risk to open what you’ve proposed.
Dino De Laurentiis
the film maker?
It was memorable while it lasted….
Cafe Lalo was the coffee shop in You’ve got Mail
One of those 1998 scenes showed, in the background across Broadway, the location of an earlier Meg Ryan-scene in the 1989 film, “When Harry Met Sally.” It was shot in the second floor of the bookstore Shakespeare & Co., which, by the time of “You’ve Got Mail,” had been replaced by another store.
True, but the article is referring to a couple of scenes that were, in fact, shot in the 81st St Starbucks.
Great news.
Let’s hope the Eataly Cafe doesn’t allow people to buy a coffee and sit with their laptops for endless hours taking up space and losing business for the store the way Starbucks did.
Obviously business slowed down at Starbucks as they seem to be disappearing all over NewYork City. Their time has come and gone.
I doubt Starbucks was “losing business” because a few people may have lingered. The vast majority of the clientele walks out with their purchase.
The fact that it was uninteresting and oversaturated within a few blocks was more likely the reason it closed.
Perhaps they should not have electric outlets available.
Eataly should open in the old Harry’s Table/Bellini space in Waterline Square! It’s perfect for it. The area is void of a good café and eatery.
If the area is perfect for it, wouldn’t Harry’s Table/Bellini have succeeded?
They were absurdly expensive and super gourmet. I’d get a coffee there once in a while, and perhaps a croissant, but most of their food was way too extravagant. I did like the atmosphere, though, and they were generous about access to their lovely bathrooms. It became a destination when taking a run a few miles down the river. I wish they were still there for that reason! (And truth to tell, I occasionally visit Eataly on 23rd for much the same reason. ;-))) )
Perhaps no one is opening in that area because the rent is too high. The owner doesn’t seem to care that the location is sitting empty for years.
With Zabar’s across the street? Who needs this over-hyped pretentious outpost of the Bastianich empire?
Zabars has disappointed me. Not as good as it once was. A place with good pastries and nice atmosphere would be great. The atmospheric places are gone. The cozy places are few. So many empty places on Broadway in the 80’s is just sad.
The movie theaters all closed in the area which is bad. People used to go out for dinner and a movie.
There’s a Loews multiplex a few blocks away . People don’t go to movies as much but they go to dinner more often than years ago when it was once or twice a week. I know people who go out to dinner or brunch every day of the week and you probably do too.
Their food is not that good and very expensive. It’s nothing to get excited about.
Right across the street from Zabar’s., who essentially sells the same things, and most likely cheaper. Why didn’t they just take over the Cipriani mini food hall at Waterline Square?