Café Renata owners Kate Steenstra and Yasser Aiq (archived photo).
Great news for Café Renata regulars and everyone who appreciates good coffee, enjoys food with Mediterranean flavors and supports local businesses: Nearly two months after the devastating fire that shut down the popular café’s storefront at 43rd and Locust, owners Kate Steenstra and Yasser Aiq are sharing the news that they are reopening their business at a new location – the former Subway restaurant space at 4533 Baltimore Avenue. Last month we reported that the space that had been vacant since December was available for rent.
The new lease was already signed, and Katie and Yasser’s plans are under way at full speed to get up and running again. They have started moving their equipment to the new location and upgrading the space.
Morning after fire at Café Renata at 43rd and Locust.
It wasn’t an easy decision for Renata owners to give up Locust St that worked great for them. However, after considering the pre-existing structural issues with the building that were exposed by the fire, the amount of time they had left on their lease and the timeline projections on rebuilding that space that their previous landlord gave to them, they decided that the best option for them and their customers was to give Renata a new long term home.
After the fire a lot of support poured in for Renata owners from the community members and local businesses. A fundraiser for Renata took place in March at The Bar(n) on Baltimore.
“The easy part for us was deciding that there was no way we were going to quit all together. And that 100% came from all the support and encouragement that our customers and neighbors showed us after the fire. We couldn’t have asked to be in a better neighborhood. We’d like to thank everyone for all their continued support, it means so much to us to be a part of this great community!” Katie wrote in an e-mail.
We’ll keep you posted on an opening date, which is expected this summer.
Café Renata is relocating to the former Subway restaurant space at 4533 Baltimore Avenue.
May 4th, 2015 at 2:04 pm
No posts yet about how food will ruin this location? bring too many people. too much garbage. too much noise. too many bugs. too much alley action. no?
May 4th, 2015 at 2:13 pm
Great new location! I can’t wait!
May 4th, 2015 at 3:06 pm
I hope and think that they need to be held to the same standards/list of requirements that the Subway had to sign off on to get past neighborhood opposition, just because they area “local business” doesn’t give them a free pass or automatically be on top of on issues like: litter, maintenance of the alley fence around their “back yard” ,alley entrance being blocked by patrons, patrons cars, delivery trucks etc., care on part of their customers and vendors for the alley not being a though way or hang out, also the issue of noise, especially if they are hosting special musical events (don’t know if they do that but know some similar places do) and its impact on neighbors.
May 4th, 2015 at 3:08 pm
How is Norma Terzian doing? Does her not being mentioned in the articles about the fire mean that she somehow isn’t associated with the building anymore?
May 4th, 2015 at 4:56 pm
No one (or at least almost no one) said that the problem with Subway would be food and too many people. It’s a street full of restaurants. People complained because Subway does not fit the neighborhood’s character, at all. As was shown when it went out of business. Because if you’re in West Philly, why go to the tasteless chain you can eat at anywhere else instead of somewhere awesome like Lee’s Deli?
Now, I’m pretty sure that any business has to follow litter and traffic ordinances. Also most of their business will be from locals who do not need to drive there. They’ll walk or bike, and there are already public bike racks on that block.
I don’t see how Cafe Renata will add any more noise or litter than the restaurants right next to it.
May 4th, 2015 at 5:43 pm
Maria, I believe you are missing the point. Yes, the main objection was that many residents did not want a chain restaurant on the avenue. However, that is not a valid reason to deny zoning to a business. So people made up the noise/trash/deliveries/thinkofthechildren as reasons for the ZBA to not approve their application. This, of course, is bougie NIMBYism at it’s worst, which is why people are making fun of it on this thread now. The market spoke, Subway has predictably closed up shop and I think Cafe Renata will be a great addition. I look forward to brunching there often.
May 4th, 2015 at 5:49 pm
NOOOOOoooooooo!!!!
I loved you guys. Two iced coffees and a shot of espresso every day I walked my wife to work. 🙁 Every day I pass your old building with high hopes.
Oh well. Really glad you two are doing well! You will be missed greatly.
~ mohawk guy and wife
May 4th, 2015 at 6:05 pm
Bianca, it was not all “made up” nor am I “making fun” of these issues. Those of us who live on that alley and who use the Baltimore Ave. end to come and go from home on a regular basis do have real concerns. The market that was there before the Subway was very bad about not blocking the driveway with their patrons and deliveries causing problem for residents on a fairly regular basis. There were also problems with trash and the back yard used to be un-fenced. When you back deck and parking areas face it this is an issue. Also there are over 2 dozen kids living on that one block stretch of alley and many are frequently out there playing, riding bikes,shooting baskets or just moving between houses so traffic etc in the alley is also a live issue for us. We the new tenant (no matter who) to be aware of and responsive to these issues (subways managment, while not perfect, was much better at keeping these issues minimal then previous tenants,in my opinion) I am simply hopeful that the same considerations will be part of any upcoming tenants occupancy.
May 4th, 2015 at 6:27 pm
Oh really? Hahahahaha!! Really? I’ve met the owners, they seem very nice. You should go talk to them about your very valid trash concerns. I’m sure they will listen. As for the rest you may want reevaluate your choice to purchase a house right off a main thoroughfare in a major US city.
May 4th, 2015 at 7:03 pm
Good luck with the new location! super sweet owners!
May 4th, 2015 at 9:06 pm
Sylvia,
You live in a city.
May 4th, 2015 at 10:09 pm
Agreed….if you live in a city you should expect a little bit of life in it…after all it’s the people that make the city. Besides that area is becoming super safe because of the business in the area. Let’s encourage improvements instead of outlaw them and make it impossible for our little Baltimore Ave to flourish … a little trash and a little drive away that is blocked or a couple of patrons of the cafe doesn’t even compare to a serious crime. Can we celebrate this milestone for Baltimore Ave….PLEASE??!?!?
May 4th, 2015 at 11:34 pm
Bianca, I think we just disagree on whether the “NIMBYism” was something to be deplored in this case. It can be entirely valid–such as when people don’t want a pollution-producing factory next to an elementary school or something. I think people’s wish to not have Subway there was perfectly understandable, and fighting it with whatever tools they had at hand was perfectly fine.
(I myself was not too ruffled though because I was pretty certain the problem would take care of itself, as it did.)
I don’t know whether NIMBYism is always bougie, either. The Muslim community was trying to fight the opening of a Wine & Spirits also on the grounds that they did not want it near their specific neighborhood. And in that case too, I think it was an entirely legitimate desire, and that they should use any legal and/or bureaucratic tools at their disposal. (I still think it is regrettable that the store did not choose another location, and even more so that some of the same people who opposed Subway brushed aside the Muslim community’s equally valid and reasonable objections.)
May 5th, 2015 at 4:33 am
I’ve walked by the Baltimore ave location for years. I think it’s a great spot for Renata. So happy to support them
May 5th, 2015 at 9:31 am
@MariaBerry – “I don’t desire to buy anything from that business” is not a valid reason to oppose its existence. Guess what you do when you don’t want to go to a particular restaurant/store? You don’t go.
I hope they do well in that location! Their place looked well kept and neat at the Locust location and there is no reason to think it won’t look that way at the new location too.
May 5th, 2015 at 12:30 pm
As much as I love to see cheering of capitalism on WPL, the Subway franchisee was having financial troubles prior to the opening of this location, his third, and eventually went out of business entirely at all of them. High rent and lower than expected sales on Baltimore probably didn’t help matters but it’s not like neighbors single handedly ran him out of town.
May 7th, 2015 at 7:53 am
I’m looking forward to Cafe Renata on Baltimore Ave. It is a great addition to our neighborhood. And I love living in a city, the more activity the better and safer as said above. Mixtures of businesses and residences are the best way to go. Yay Cafe Renata.
Also, I think it is a shame to cheer any ordinary individual’s financial woes. I feel for someone losing their small business in these times of struggle–chain or no chain. People lost their jobs.
May 11th, 2015 at 10:45 pm
They’ve already done work on the back fence and the gate in it. That’s promising.
May 15th, 2015 at 10:55 pm
It is absolutely hilarious when bougie people call other people bougie. Like have you ever looked in a mirror in your life?
Glad to see the Subway went away. Chains like that don’t belong on small business strips. Some of us who grew up in urban areas understand how their presence can disrupt a block and didn’t want to see that happen. Hilarious seeing suburban transplants making people who objected out to be bougie hipsters. Seems the situation worked itself out though. I wish the cafe luck. Seems like a great fit.