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Coffee war could be brewing in South Boston: Board approves new coffeehouse with baristas around the corner from the Home of the Bucket
By adamg on Tue, 04/25/2023 - 1:06pm
Rendering of proposed Blank Street Coffee.
The Zoning Board of Appeal today approved plans by a Brooklyn-based coffeehouse chain that specializes in cold brews to turn a former real-estate office at 489 East Broadway in South Boston into a place where baristas can ply their trade - right around the corner from the more old-school PS Gourmet, which sells giant-sized "buckets" of flavored iced coffee.
Blank Street Coffee, still needs the approval of the Boston Licensing Board before it can open its proposed 18-seat coffeehouse. It's plans for the 1,000-square-foot space call for 18 seats - and for locally sourced baked goods to go with the coffee.
The coffeehouse needed a variance because a "large" restaurant with takeout is normally forbidden in the block's zoning. Nobody spoke against the proposal, which the board approved unanimously.
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Comments
That is THE MOST DEPRESSING
That is THE MOST DEPRESSING looking place.
Oh come now
Just think how homey it will look when it's filled with techbros with laptops.
Not so!
Yeah, it is kind of ... blank ... but Blank Street is a great place and many NYC locations have unionized. The baristas have good jobs and a good place to work!
Check out their Cambridge St. location near MGH. Nice little respite and great coffee and service.
18 seats is large?
In that case, what is small?
Oh, right!
It's not the number of seats that makes it "large," but the fact that it's a bit over 1,000 square feet (which I wouldn't consider particularly large, either, but, then I don't write Boston zoning codes).
Coffee
I don't see much in the way of PS losing that many customers. Their customers are pretty set in their ways and my guess is the coffee that will be offered in Blank Street is not what they are inclined to buy.
There is no shortage of coffee shops in the neighborhood, so far, they all seem to be doing well.
Agree
On the east side, in addition to Sidewalk, Starbucks and Dunks, Deja Brew has been there for awhile and recently expanded the menu. Also, KoKo Cafe opened recently at the corner of L and Emerson (where the Indian place used to be) and is pretty good.
Deja Brew breakfast sandwiches are fire.
Set in their ways?
That would be an understatement.
Uh oh! The east side hates
Uh oh! The east side hates getting anything new or good :(
There used to be a Dunkin
There used to be a Dunkin Donuts right across the intersection (where the large new building was under construction forever - I haven't been over there in a while so I'm not sure if it's finally done) - not sure if there are plans to move it back in when the building is done, but if not, it might not bode well for the new place that a Dunks wasn't able to survive across from PS Gourmet. (And surely the constant double-parking outside PS is more of a neighborhood concern than another coffee shop opening up - glad it was approved!)
Variance south boston
I live in Jamaica plain and received three of the same kind letter delivered by the post office though it clearly wasn't the correct address. I opened one letter saying it was for the variance at this very place in south Boston. I can only assume all three were the same and I gave them to the mail man when I saw him. I wonder if anyone in that neighborhood ever received mail on this issue .
The bucket is neither giant nor a bucket these days
I used to love the original buckets, but at some point in the last two years, they switched to a smaller, generic foam cup, and I've been annoyed about it ever since. I can only speak to the Rozzie Square PS. Maybe the original still deserves the terminology, but what I'm getting is something much smaller, and without the distinctive labelling.
PS Gourmet
Is that like... PS = Purity Supreme