42 Comments
A Siberian location and even chillier service appears to have put yet another Morningside Heights business on ice.
Café Fresh seems to be the latest victim of These Economic Times. With its windows covered over with butcher paper and all signs removed for the exterior, the brusque coffeeshop looks vacant from the sidewalk. Some patrons also report the café closing unusually early Saturday at noon, which may have been a very last last call.
Strangely enough, a Craigslist ad was spotted last October offering for sale a coffeeshop that matched Café Fresh’s description. Though managers denied the ad was their doing, a little Internet wheelin’-and-dealin’ may not have been such a bad idea in retrospect.
Let the calls for a Five Guys or Chick-Fil-A begin.
UPDATE (10:30 a.m., Monday): Did sanitation violations kill Café Fresh?
A [former] patron tells Bwog that the café may have succumbed to its ongoing battle with the NYC Department of Health. Records show Café Fresh pulled an Amir’s back in February after inspectors slapped 47 points worth of violations on the coffeeshop (the average score is 16), reopening once it passed re-inspection with a 5-point score. But that’s only the latest in a series of stomach-churning inspections for Café Fresh—it was shuttered in 2008 and 2007 for similar violations, which include lack of soap, improper food storage, and employees not washing their hands after using the bathroom.
Café Fresh management could not be reached for comment.
—JYH
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42 Comments
@also service was AWFUL! i once ordered a bagel, and the woman spent 15 minutes yelling at her employee who didn’t speak english, in english, before she realized that she had forgotten my order. first and last time i ever went there.
@phut and tbell plzzz
http://hypem.com/track/808675/Das+Racist+-+Combination+Pizza+Hut+And+Taco+Bell+Wallpaper+RMX
@GSer If bad service was a guarantee of a M’side Heights establishment going out of business, wouldn’t Morton Williams have been shuttered long ago? I guess it is location, location, location, but don’t we deserve better?
@how do they know the employees didn’t wash their hands after using the bathroom?
i mean the “employees must wash hands” signs are usually in the bathrooms, not next to a sink in the food preparation area. did they go by word alone? the workers were dumb enough to admit to that? i am genuinely curious.
@i'm fine with taco bell, chicfila or five guys
whatever works
@cafe fresh I thought the food was good and cheap but they were assholes all the time and once I saw them make my sandwich with bare hands . . . the guy making it literally grabbed the meat, cheese, & veggies and stuck it on the grill all with his hands. The lady who works there bitched me out when I told her what I saw and requested a new sandwich.
@MOES willies, or Chick fil A
@check it out bwog http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/16/nyregion/16columbia.html?_r=1&src=twr
@... uh, maybe they’re just renovating?
@Nothing and I mean NOTHING beats a Taco Bell breakfast.
And why the hell would you want a Wawa in New York? It’s nice because it has a range of things and is open late, but when you’re in Manhattan you can get anything at any hour already.
@Zzz Taco fucking bell
@i want another independently-run boutique restaurant.
@yeah i’ve had enough of the corporatization of morningside heights
that said, if a chain fast food place is absolutely necessary then i guess a chick fil a would be pretty cool
@lmfao people who desperately want fast food.. i laugh at your poor health and taste. LMAO
@all wawas have to be built within a certain number of miles of the original wawa. that’s why you’ll never see one in new york.
it’s also just another reason why wawa is the rawest convenience store in the world.
@This reporting sucks The location isn’t “far” for everyone. Columbia spans pretty far north of 116th street. And they NEVER had signs on the exterior of the building. Only signs in the window and a mobile sign outside of the shop.
I will agree that the service sucked and no one will miss them. Just an awful, awful place.
The violations don’t surprise me at all. The one guy with the hair that looked dyed in kool-aid was probably the employee who never washed his hands.
Good riddance!
@yea! oh boy, you really got this reporter good! you really taught him a lesson! ooh, im sure he’ll think twice about giving the wrong location of signs again.
@yea!! oh boy, you really got this commenter good! you really taught him a lesson! ooh, im sure he’ll think twice about complaining about the reporting again.
@three votes for taco bell so far (kentacohut includes taco bell)
@is it humanly possible for five guys and chick-fil-a to combine into a super fast food place?
nah, i think the cows would get angry.
@noo I love taco bell!
It’s probably not authentic enough for all the hipsters on this campus though
@please, wawa why won’t you grace new york with your glorious presence? there’s nothing better than a wawa milkshake during the summer, and a toasty hoagie and some wawa hot chocolate during the winter.
wawa would make columbia such a happier place.
@No, stop! You’re giving me a Wawa! And I’m thinking of you… And all the things that we used to do…
@Wawa Yes, please! Wawa for morale!
@beard papas it closed in midtown… i want one uws :(
@Cafe Fresh sucked so much. The woman who owned it was completely incompetent
@Anonymous This is sad. I liked this place
@no. i don’t want people disturbing the glorious institution that is wawa.
people around here don’t deserve wawa. they would never appreciate it’s beauty.
@typo *its.
@Dub Hell yea Cafe Fresh sucked!!! Lets get some real food suckaz
@am I the only person who NEEDS a taco bell in morningside?
@clg there used to be one where floridita is now.
@WAWA google it
@Adam Nobler This man is a prophet. Wawa is the Lord’s convenience store.
@steaknshake anybody? come on.
@never heard of this place…
We could use a Kentacohut
@CHICK-FIL A!!! As one from the North, I learned about the delicious goodness that is Chick-Fil A.
How about putting a BOJANGLES’ up here???
@There's a Bojangles in Brooklyn. It’s mediocre though
@!!! You have got to be kidding me. SERIOUSLY?!?!
@Wendy's has good salads for cheap. I’d be up for one of those near campus.
@WOOO good riddance overpriced food and incompetent service. PUT IN A WENDY’S
@no! jambaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa