The Spot Café will open at 43-24 43rd Ave. Friday (Photo: Elena Dominguez)
May 6, 2021 By Michael Dorgan
A local couple will open a new café in Sunnyside Friday – their first business venture together and just three months after the arrival of their second child.
Elena Dominguez Cardozo and Octavio Dominguez Campos, a husband and wife duo, will open The Spot Café at 43-24 43rd Ave. tomorrow.
The new establishment will serve cold-cut sandwiches, wraps, salads, pastries and hamburgers. It will also offer teas and coffees as well as a wide range of smoothies and fruit juices.
“It has been a lifelong goal for both of us to open a place together,” Elena said. “We also felt there was a need in the community for a café that sells healthy food and drinks.”
The pair will operate out of a 575 square foot space that was previously occupied by a Chinese restaurant. They have just completed a seven-month overhaul of the premises that included revamping the interior and exterior of the building as well as fitting a new kitchen.
The café will be open for takeout, delivery and to-go counter service and will not have indoor dining to begin with.
The old awning has been torn down and the original façade has been freshened up and painted a wine color. New signage bearing the company name has gone up, along with a white vertical sign that reads “grill n snacks.”
Elena, 25, who has lived in Sunnyside her entire life, said that she came up with the name for the café based on past discussions with friends and family.
“My friends and family would always ask if I knew of a good place or ‘spot’ in the neighborhood to eat or get some drinks so I thought it would be a nice fit for our own café. I think it’s catchy!” Elena said.
The owners plan on adding high stools and a counter for customers in the near future. They are also considering putting a table and some chairs outside for customers to enjoy.
The renovations to the space began in October and Cardozo gave birth to their second child, a baby boy, in January. The couple also have a 6-year-old daughter together.
“It’s been a crazy few months but it will be worth the wait,” Elena said.
Elena, who is of Mexican descent, previously managed a restaurant in Corona that is owned by her family, while her husband has managed a deli and a juice bar. Octavio, 30, immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico in 2005.
The Spot Café, Elena said, will only serve drinks, snack bars, as well as pastries from third-party suppliers for the first two weeks since they are waiting on a permit to open the kitchen. The issuance of permit has been delayed by the pandemic, she said.
She said they will bake their own pastries and prepare all of their own foods once the permit comes through. The café will also offer deep-fried snacks like chicken wings and mozzarella sticks.
Elena said she is excited to open and is looking forward to serving the neighborhood.
“We want the community to feel the café is their home and we hope they embrace us with open arms.”
The café will be open Mondays through Sundays from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
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23 Comments
I support black and brown owned business locally and throughout nyc. We should all. This place is so tasty.
Good luck and i hope its affordable and not geared to visitors and tourists. Local residents are hungry to eat something affordable and tasty. The city should allow recipients of SNAP to buy cooked food and drinks.
Went there today they had a huge hostess cupcake selection on offer. Killed the enthusiasm a bit.
Very excited!!!
I always support small businesses in Sunnyside but did we really need ANOTHER place that offers chicken wings and burgers? Pelicana, Mad for Chicken, etc. What I wish someone would open up is a REAL bagel spot and breakfast sandwich. So far Brookside is the only place to get a quality breakfast sandwich but Sunnyside still lacks a decent bagel spot with a variety of spreads.
Yeah brookside has great coffee but affordable breakfast sandwhich are you kidding me?!!! They are charging me 10$ to eat a BEC on a small bun the size of a English muffin yeah sure sub it out for a bagel for an additional charge. Man you must make bank to be able to call there sandwiches affordable.
Best of luck to you both. I’m so glad you’re near my building. The place looks so nice.
It would be amazing if we had a place in sunnyside that would have real let’s highlight the word real tres leches, flans, guava puffs, bread pudding, tembleque, Dulce frio, banana pudding, Bizcocho dominicano, dulce de leche, conchas, empanadas de leche, morir sonando. I will be there because I love cafes.
This guy knows what he is talking about. There is NOT a place in the neighborhood to go and get real latino deserts. WOW morir sonando I would be there all the time.
Yessssss this is the menu I would go for. Real tembleque.
Oh I would definitely go with this menu for sure
Anyone know anything about the new deli opening on Queens Blvd btw 45/46? 45-05 I think? In the old Allstate and nail place?
Such a welcome addition to the neighborhood! Healthy food is where it’s at. Wishing you both tremendous success.
chicken wings and burgers are healthy to you?
Why is the “N” in “Grill N’ Snacks” capitalized? And why isn’t the apostrophe on the left of the N?
And hey captain cheerful, why don’t you open your own business and make your own sign?
Good luck to you both.
There’s a reason he was the least liked friend.
Don’t be Ross.
Who is Ross? And why should anybody care?
I’m so excited to go there and drink my first coffee un the morning.
Good luck, we’ll stop by!
Looking forward to visiting. Always nice to have new businesses on our community.
Chicken wings and hamburgers are healthy?