Crown Heights' Newest Classon Avenue Cafe Is A Hit

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — It's a dream eight years in the making for Polly's Cafe.

The small cafe — which opened in late September — has already become a hit on the sleepy commercial stretch of Classon Avenue in Crown Heights.

With tables inside and an expansive backyard, the small storefront can be deceiving.

Their coffee is from La Colombe, and pastries are from Balthazar, but Polly's also serves an assortment of simple but delicious sandwiches made in-house at their small prep space.

Owner Terrie Mangrum, 55, always dreamed of opening a small cafe at 766 Classon Ave.

Years ago, it was home to The Glass Shop, a 600 square-foot cafe that was once listed by the New York Times as part of the serious coffee scene in New York City.

"I always loved the space," Mangrum told Patch, "I used to hang out there."

But the coffee was only one reason why the location remained in her mind — 766 Classon Ave. is also where Mangrum met her wife, then a barista working at the Glass Shop.

Years later, once her son began attending a school down the street, Mangrum would walk by the closed up shop and peer in the windows, thinking about what it used to be, and what it could be again.

Since the Glass Shop, the location has been the site of a few attempts at a pizza parlor, but the businesses seemed to fizzle out, leaving 766 Classon Ave. shuttered for most of the last decade.

"I would go, looking in the windows, and try to see who the landlord was," Mangrum said, but never with any luck.

Finally, Mangrum, who has a long history of working as a chef, including at the late Ft. Reno BBQ in Park Slope, found herself with a lease in her hands last June — almost by fate.

In May, she decided to quit her job as a chef at a charter school in the Bronx after nine years.

"I had enough of them," she said.

Two days later, 766 Classon Ave. popped up as a listing on Craigslist.

"It took a little back and forth, but I got the lease the next month," Mangrum said, "I waited eight years to get that spot."

"I wanted it to be a cafe again, because I thought the Glass Shop was just so cool. It was very chill and very welcoming and people hung out and you could meet people," Mangrum said, "it's just to build a place of community."

Despite Mangrum opening without an espresso machine (it arrived about a week later), she said business has been booming.

"It's just taken off," she told Patch, "like gangbusters."

The cafe is named after her mother in Tennessee, who is thrilled to read her rave online reviews from her computer.

Future plans include maybe putting back on the barbecue apron and getting a smoker in the backyard for takeaway dinners. Or maybe a grill, for weekend specials. Eventually, Mangrum wants to expand to a place with a full kitchen, beyond her small prep bench at Polly's.

For now, she's just focused on finding a balance — and hiring more people.

"I've only had one day off so far," Mangrum said, "but I just hired three people — maybe I can take another off soon, too."

Mangrum says the experience has really come full-circle for her and her wife.

"Now I'm the barista and my wife makes the big bucks," she joked.

Visit Polly's Cafe, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 766 Classon Ave., between St. Johns and Sterling Places.