A Big Welcome to (and a List of Survival Tips for) Our New Cafe
Colador Cafe on Bedford
It looks like a new cafe is opening up on Bedford Avenue just south of Dekalb. The Colador Cafe is setting up shop in the disputed territory between Clinton Hill and Bedford-Stuyvesant (I like to call the land between Classon and Marcy the “Kashmir” section of Brooklyn). I hope that this cafe is able to stick around for awhile. Unfortunately, this area hasn’t had good luck with restaurants. In the past couple of years several “Kashmiri” restaurants met untimely deaths:
I’m going to welcome Colador Cafe, but I think we should help out our new neighbors by suggesting some things they can do to make their business successful. I’ll start off by suggestion this:
Get some solid hours. If your sign/menus say that you open at 7:00 a.m., then BE OPEN AT 7:00 A.M. (Not 7:05!)
Any other suggestions for our new cafe?
21 May 2008, 9:47 am
2. consistency. i give up on places when they are continually out of basic items.
i’d also like to say that i know it’s hard to open a business. one has to throw down alot of cash just to open the doors. however, too many places in our area open up in a half-assed manner. like they have a partial menu but not everything. they open for a day here and a day there. they close at 6 instead of 8 or open at noon instead of 10.
a “soft opening” can be ok if your intent is CLEAR to the public. but if you’re not really ready to open in a way that makes you look like you know what you’re doing and meet your customers’ needs and expectations then just wait until you can do it properly. first impressions…
21 May 2008, 12:00 pm
glad to see this place is comming to the area we need 10 more places like this on Bedford. Bedford Ave needs more trees. Trees are a simple fix to a problem. Areas in manhattan like the village, UWS and Kips Bay do so well because of tree lined streets along the busy business corridors. Trees make people feel safe when walking down the sidewalk or eating outside. I guess this is more for the owner of the building. Fulton Street in Bedford Stuyvesant is ugly because of the lack of trees. Fort Greene Fulton Street is nice because of the new trees put there a few years ago… and all the business in that area are doing well..
21 May 2008, 12:30 pm
Wait. Foccacino closed?
21 May 2008, 12:50 pm
I’m with Stu. Foccacino closed?
21 May 2008, 1:02 pm
Is Foccacino open? It’s been closed the last several times I passed by. See–that’s what I’m talking about! We don’t even know if it is closed or open!
21 May 2008, 2:47 pm
We tried calling them for delivery two weekends ago. They weren’t open then, at like, 7pm on a Saturday. We didn’t understand it at the time. If they’re closed for good, that would make sense.
It seems rude to close and not to let people know that you’ve closed, through like a phone message or something like that.
I liked them, though. I wonder why they closed? Just a tough neighborhood, or did they overreach?
21 May 2008, 4:17 pm
I tried ordering from them a couple of times and it took an hour and I’m only a few blocks away. I’m wondering if the slow delivery did them in…
21 May 2008, 7:27 pm
Sad to see them close if they did. Always thought they were a great addition to the neighborhood, awesome pizza (cheap too) and big portion sandwiches. Really nice, quick delivery too. Boo.
21 May 2008, 11:44 pm
Bristen’s is now on Franklin Avenue near Prospect in Crown Heights, and seems to be doing really well….
22 May 2008, 7:56 am
I would say actually being open and having stuff to sell is key.
24 May 2008, 9:56 am
Good luck, Colador!
Consistency is huge–I didn’t want to mention it again, but nothing turns me off to a place faster than not being able to judge when it’s going to be open and what I’m going to be able to get.
There is a ton of great, easy-to-digest business and marketing advice at Seth Godin’s blog:
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/
I use his ideas all the time.
BTW, anyone know anything about the “french rotisserie” that just put up a sign near the Northwest end of Von King park, on Lafayette?
25 May 2008, 1:27 pm
FOCACCINO WAS ROBBED A FEW TIMES AT GUNPOINT I GUESS THEY HAD ENOUGH OTHER PLACES HAVE BEEN ROBBED ALSO IN THE BEDSTUY AREA. AS HARD AS IT IS TO RUN A PALCE THIS DOES NOT MAKE IT ANY EASIER
27 May 2008, 6:32 pm
please! focaccino went out of business because the food was sub par and the interior was tacky, at best. blaming the community for not being able to support good business is no longer a valid excuse. look at the neighborhood! take a look at tiny cup around the corner-packed day and night-why? because it is tastefully designed, well run, and well priced. there could be 3 more tiny cup like food spots in the area and they’d do well.
i hope that colador is being opened by people who have experience in the food industry-this could be the start of a good thing…
30 May 2008, 8:20 pm
Speaking of trees along the streets and aves. Go to the site for Million Trees NYC to see what you can do to get trees planted near you: http://www.milliontreesnyc.org/html/home/home.shtml
All that’s needed is the address of a tree plot and the submission of a form through the site. Don’t know how quickly they respond to the forms, but it’s a start. Folks can also plant trees themselves in empty tree plots. Not sure how one gets a tree plot put into sidewalks or spots that have been filled with concrete, which I know is a big issue on many streets in this area, ours included.
02 June 2008, 2:53 pm
OMG.. THANK YOU SOO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR FEED BACK!!!… This is very helpful to us as we want Colador to be here for good…Hi i’m one of Colador’s partners and am estatic to read your blog… We are basing this cafe on the needs of this community which I’ve been part of for the past three years…Your input and feedback is VERY IMPORTANT TO US please keep them coming!…
02 June 2008, 2:57 pm
jt, your enthusiasm is contagious! I wish you the best of luck with the new cafe. Please let us know when you’ll be opening your doors.
03 June 2008, 8:51 am
I personally know the partners of Colador and am so excited. I know that they will try to make Colador a staple in Bed Stuy where people can enjoy a good cup of coffee. I am wishing them the best of luck!!! Love you guys.
06 August 2008, 2:24 pm
Hello,
I’m glad to announce that Colador Cafe is finally openning it’s doors to the neighborhood on 8/16… I am looking forward to seeing you there and getting your feed back on our new neighborhood gem!!!….
06 August 2008, 2:32 pm
Congratulations, jt! I can’t wait to see the new cafe. What time will you be open on Saturday, August 16th?
15 August 2008, 5:15 pm
hello,
Apologies, due to a family emergency we have postponed Colador Cafe’s grand openning to 8/23. Hope to see u then!!..
24 August 2008, 9:05 pm
My compliments to the chef and the owners of this homey yet professional cafe. The food was awesome and the coffee was great! Keep up the good work!
01 September 2008, 6:44 pm
Cafe Colador is AWESOME. We had been eagerly anticipating it’s opening from our apt across the street for FOREVER, and once they did, they did not disappoint. Their iced coffee is delicious, not bitter or weak—we think it’s because they’re not lazy yet (like Choice.) We had breakfast there on Saturday and it was yummy; I’ve been in there during lunchtime coveting people’s enormous salads, too, but haven’t eaten lunch there yet. And they are super friendly and relaxed–we think it’s because they’re not jaded and sick of their customers yet (um, like Tiny Cup.) Great for people-watching, great location (um, so smart, make sure you open early to get all the G train peeps heading to work) and totally family friendly. <3
01 September 2008, 6:49 pm
p.s. I gotta add…Foccacino? Was good? Had great sandwiches?? We must’ve been going to different Foccacinos, because the Foccacino I remember was notable in the fact that it was the first place I’d ever eaten at that did NOT know *how* to make a sandwich. I mean, sandwiches…they’re not rocket science. The ones we would get from Foccacino were made as if someone was describing a sandwich in a another language to a translator who was describing how to make a sandwich to a computer who was writing an algorithm and telling a robot to make the sandwich. They were just SO wrong.