Cooltown Studios
The official blog for crowdsourced placemaking

Tuesday, December 16, 2003

CoolTown piazza 2: The cafe

Seinfeld restaurant, Manhattan, New York City, NY

Seinfeld fans can relate to this one…

Essential #2 - The things a CoolTown piazza can’t be without:

The late night cafe:  The place where you can get $5 sandwiches/burritos or $4 bacon*/eggs/toast at 3 in the morning, without OD’ing** on grease, fat and sugar.

The key is to establish places that people can theoretically frequent every single day without going bankrupt or skyrocketing their risk for diabetes.  Not everyone has to drink coffee or tea, but everyone’s gotta eat, and wouldn’t it be great if your local cafe served up good ‘ol home cookin’ that was healthier than your nightly microwave encounters, served quicker than a home-cooked meal, and abundantly more social (and less depressing) than eating in front of the TV - affordably?  Maybe even one of those boarding-house inspired sit-down buffets...

Since the cost of food is only about 20% of a restaurant’s/cafe’s expenses, this is an opportunity for the building’s landlord to become an equity partner and balance lower rent with happier residential and workplace tenants.  Or in other words, provide something infinitely better than a workplace cafeteria as a staple for eating out.

*or equivalent
**overdosing


Posted by Neil Takemoto in • Retail Venue DevelopmentThird Places | (0) Comments | Link
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