June 16, 2016 By Christian Murray
A long-time Sunnyside resident will be opening a café on Greenpoint Avenue next month that will focus on traditional Colombian coffee, sandwiches and salads.
The café, to be called Coffee Tossy, is located at 42-14 Greenpoint Ave., where Halal Kitchen, a pork-free Chinese restaurant, had operated.
The owner, William Chaca, said that he has lived in Sunnyside for the past 22 years and currently resides with his a wife and two children two blocks from the café.
Chaca, who was born in Ecuador and then spent much of his youth in Colombia, said that he plans on roasting his Colombian coffee on premises and making his own chocolate. He said that he will also be offering croissants, yogurt, soup, salads and sandwiches among other items.
“It will be a lot like Panera [Bread],” he said, but with a focus on Colombian tradition.
He said the café, which will seat about 35 customers, will be fitted with several power outlets and he will be offering WiFi.
He said he has no plans on getting a wine and beer license, saying he wants his venue to be family-friendly.
Chaca said he determined that there was a need for a cafe at that Greenpoint Avenue location after walking his dog.
“I would walk my little dog and would hang out in the park [Noonan Park],” he said. “But there were no places close by where I could sit down and have a good coffee or a salad.”
He said that there is a yearning for traditional coffee within the neighborhood, which he described as mostly having fast-food type places for coffee options.
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23 Comments
I walk by this place every morningo my to work. I’m very intrigued. And now that I know he’ll make his own chocolate, umm, I might lose my gold membership in Starbucks. And no I’m not Latino i really want to see Cafe Tossy succeed.
Hope they have food that doesn’t go to a girls bottom.
There’s a coffee shop on greenpoint ave and 45st I’ve only been in there 2 times, from what I’ve seen is they have potential, but it’s untapped. Whoever said “thats all we need is another colombian coffee shop”, i think its a good idea, a lot of latin folks on south side, good location for him. Good for him
-MJ El Loco posted that remark along with a six month window which appears to be the trend for these ventures. Yes there are Latinos in the vicinity however they don’t have the disposable income to sustain an establishment according to recent census data.
Why is it assumed that he’s targeting only Latinos? He’s roasting his own coffee and making his own chocolate. Seems to me, he’s going after gentrifiers as well.
Ave Coffee isn’t all that comparable. Coffee is an afterthought there, but maybe they’ll step up their game now.
There are 2 Scandinavian coffee shops around the corner from one another in Greenpoint and that neighborhood barely has any Scandinavians living in it at all. Everyone eats Mexican and Italian food. Maybe everyone is going to like a traditional Colombian cafe too.
i met this guy one day and he showed me pics of the serious coffee machine he will be using. i want to see this guy succeed, anyone with this much enthusiasm I love.
Good luck man!!
Thanks for building up our neighborhood
See you at the opening, looking forward to it.
Anything but $tarbucks…….
Best of luck, I can’t wait for this to open. They did a great job on the outside, it looks great.
The amount of bored idiots who come and make their idiotic comments on here makes me sick like you Bread Man. Aren’t you supposed to be working? If you know everything, open up something yourself. And sit back and watch the negative comments come pouring in.
I started writing something similar earlier… I really can’t understand the reason for the negativity. I’ve lived in this neighborhood my whole life and I wish there was a sense of community rather than feeling like we’re surrounded by a bunch of grumps.
There’s tons of community in Sunnyside – just not online, unfortunately. People are awful to each other for sport.
It’s fun to be mean to others.
You can blame bored trolls like bulimic panda
Just for that I will open up my own restaurant. It will be a Polynesian Kosher restaurant. It will serve yogurt and pastrami sandwiches. The will be a friendly place and I’ll put my life savings into it. It will be on the corner of 50th street and 50th avenue. Hopefully all the prostitutes hanging out by the BQE will love it. Hope to see ya!
thats where they are?!!?!?! hey….they have to eat too!!!
lol. 😛
He’s gonna make his own chocolate and won’t have a beer / wine license????? OK. Good luck paying back the construction cost and making the rent. I want to be the first to put a bet on this place being in business six months. Any takers?
It’s gonna be like Pannera Bread?
Why do these guys want to be like a shitty franchise???
this place looks great so far, i cant wait!
there is no great need in the neighborhood for another Colombian restaurant or Cafe. It’s your right as an American to lose your life savings. I give this guy 6 months. Tops.
There’s no place around there to get a bite to eat. I think it’s a nice idea and I wish him success.
I’d rather SHOP LOCAL to get my iced coffee, than schelp all the way up to Starbucks.
The best of luck to you!
how can you possible give a dislike to the comment above?
Because this is the Internet!