Harlem's Lenox Coffee Closing After 11 Years

HARLEM, NY — Lenox Coffee, a neighborhood mainstay that helped propel Harlem's recent restaurant boom, is closing after more than a decade in business, the cafe announced Monday.

The coffee shop, on West 129th Street just east of Malcolm X Boulevard, will close permanently Wednesday due to what owners described as financial difficulties posed by the pandemic — though the business is also facing a lawsuit from a former employee, alleging he was underpaid for years.

"Thank you all for your continued support over 11 years, through a pandemic, through the freezing winters and the scorching summers," owners Monica and Rosa Prado wrote in an Instagram post. "We could not have made it this far without you."

The owners attributed the closure to "the aftermath of the pandemic and rising cost[s] associated with running the shop," which "made it impossible" to keep the business open.

Lenox Coffee opened in 2011 as the invention of former college roommates Jeff Green and Aaron Baird. Baird told DNAinfo that they envisioned the shop as "a cool place to hang out," sourcing their beans from a Canadian roaster and outfitting the interior with a "shipwreck chic" design.

By 2017, Lenox Coffee had come under the ownership of sisters Monica and Rosa Prado, who have kept the business running in the ensuing years.

During its decade-long lifespan, Lenox Coffee has won praise from Red Rooster chef Marcus Samuelsson and been featured in visitors' guides to Harlem's best restaurants, all while amassing a devoted local following for its drinks, vibes and open-mic nights.

"You all helped make Lenox feel like home for many of us, and we will never forget that," reads Monday's Instagram post.

The closure also comes just two weeks after an ex-employee filed a lawsuit against Lenox Coffee and its owners, alleging that he was deprived of proper minimum wage pay during his five years at the cafe.

The employee, Margarito Basurto, worked as a cook dishwasher and coffee server at Lenox Coffee from 2017 until June 2022, and was paid below the minimum wage during the most recent three years, he alleges in the federal suit, which was filed on Aug. 15.

Owners also failed to give Basurto accurate wage statements and other legally-required information — which he claims was "done willfully to disguise the actual number of hours" that he and other employees worked."

A summons was served on the shop on Aug. 22, according to court filings.

The shop's phone was disconnected Tuesday morning, and an email requesting comment was not immediately returned.

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