Coffee Company On Meteoric Rise Opens Outpost On Upper West Side

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — A coffee company on a meteoric rise in New York City just opened a location on the Upper West Side.

A Blank Street outpost opened this week at 2218 Broadway, which is on the corner of West 79th and Broadway.

The small-format specialty coffee company born in Brooklyn was founded in 2020 and has already expanded to 15 locations across the city.

The rapid growth is made possible in part by a chunk of its locations operating out of mobile coffee carts. The other spots, like the Upper West Side location, operate out of micro-footprint brick-and-mortar spaces.

In October, Blank Street announced a $25 million investment by General Catalyst and Tiger Global into the company to help its rapid retail expansion.

Its goal is to open 100 locations throughout New York City by the end of 2022.

The Blank Street on the Upper West Side is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Its menu includes all types of coffee, baked goods (including gluten-free options), breakfast tacos, and special seasonal drinks depending on when you visit.

Blank Street was founded by two immigrants, Vinay Menda and Issam Freiha, who both moved to New York City to attend college at NYU and Columbia.

Upon graduation, the duo co-founded a NY-based venture capital fund called Reshape that oversees $100 million in assets. The pair then turned their attention to coffee, which was a plan they first began considering in college.

Blank Street's current valuation is $98 million, according to PitchBook.

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