657 Washington at St Marks is becoming a cafe/coffee place

They are pretty far along: Menu is up, chairs are ready, construction tools are absent. It looks like it could open this week

I can’t imagine looking at that stretch and thinking, “this definitely needs another coffee shop”

I've heard that this may be more of tea place than a coffee place; The owners are reportedly Asian. ...so this might a little different.

A recent ad for the space sought $3900. https://www.elliman.com/new-york-city/657-washington-avenue-comm-brooklyn-nkilkmo

MeMe's Diner https://www.memesdiner.com/

Seems they signed back in September https://commercialobserver.com/2016/09/new-diner-coming-to-washington-avenue-in-prospect-heights/

Wonder what's going on with their neighbor Gen - has anyone else noticed a significant drop-off in the past year? It seems to be under new management? Yeah, this probably deserves a separate post and one may already existing, but I guess I'm speaking to the location. It may become a little less crowded in the not too distant future.

MeMe is in the process of seeking a liquor license. Surprisingly, they are seeking a full liquor lic as opposed to just beer and wine. So, they might be keeping their options open. https://www.tran.sla.ny.gov/servlet/ApplicationServlet?pageName=com.ibm.nysla.data.publicquery.PublicQuerySuccessfulResultsPage&validated=true&serialNumber=1304309&licenseType=OP

Also of note, the names of the people who are the principals: WILLIS, ELIZABETH CLARK IV, WILLARD WILLIS, LISA A. ...which seems to not match the "owners are reportedly Asian" comment I made above.

Ah, here's is info about the site from a year ago when I first learned of it: http://www.brooklynian.com/discussion/47204/657-washington-near-bergen-would-like-to-become-a-diner-with-alcohol

Press: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/02/12/memes-diner-is-brooklyns-delicious-delightful-and-very-very-gay-place-to-be

Thanks for the heads up! We hit this place last night and loved it. They were very busy (maybe due to that press), and the staff is extremely friendly. It has a small menu but everything we ordered was done really well and tasted delicious (two cocktails, BBQ meatballs, buffalo chicken salad, meatloaf, and fried potatoes). It's a modern/ clean twist on a diner, with a touch of queer-ness throughout. Perhaps pricey for a regular dinner spot for us (mostly because I require lots of food to be content), but it's absolutely somewhere we want to take friends.