Well, well, well… it looks like Greenpoint’s getting another coffee shop on Nassau Avenue. But, before you groan over the sheer amount of java joints in the neighborhood, hear me out, because this one’s a little different.
Jenny Vazquez and Kyle McKay are “super stoked” to open Well, Well, Well (141 Nassau Ave.) a coffee shop and gift boutique that will serve locals starting sometime around mid-March to early April.
Well, Well, Well is “ultimately a coffee shop run by two deeply unserious people, who really just want to do what they’ve always done, make some gnarly coffee,” Vazquez and McKay told Greenpointers.
“If that’s finally given us a way to sidestep our deep seated authority issues, that’s a happy (not) accident,” the duo laughed. Both Vazquez and McKay have been working behind the bar in one way or another for most of their adult lives, but until the pandemic, they were unable to visualize a reality where they could be their own bosses.
“When the cafe that we managed together in Fort Greene was forced to close permanently, we decided to take that breathing room to figure out what we could do differently if given the chance,” the duo told Greenpointers.
From there, Vazquez and McKay began birthing Well, Well, Well. The pair describes their coffee shop and boutique as “Le Tigre meets 90’s cartoons” and are using the tagline: “for gay idiots, by gay idiots.”
The coffee shop side of the store will serve Variety coffee, while the retail side can be described as “a kind of brick and mortar Etsy shop,” with a multitude of locally made items, including records, ceramics, jewelry, art prints, t-shirts, and tote bags. “Retail has been something that Kyle and I have talked about wanting to incorporate for awhile now,” Vazquez said of the idea to make Well, Well, Well, a combination coffeeshop and retail space.
“What we’re really trying to focus on, apart from serving the best coffee on Nassau Avenue, is to bring an almost obnoxious amount of personality back to the industry,” Vazquez and McKay lovingly stated.
It will be a month or two until locals can visit these larger-than-life personalities in the flesh, but in the meantime, Vazquez and McKay have successfully launched Well, Well, Well’s online store. The owners assured Greenpointers that as the early spring opening date approaches, more retail items will be added to the website.