Ave U: Heavenly Chock Full Cafe Gone to Heaven

(Photo by Ray Johnson)

When Chock Full o’Nuts arrived on Avenue U last year, I breathed a sigh of nostalgic relief. With all of the changes – not always for the better – happening in Sheepshead Bay, it was nice to see something I could remember from years ago.

While I didn’t drink any coffee when I was a kid, I did savor the heavenly aroma at the 34th Street store. Whenever my mother would take me on her frequent shopping trips to Macy’s, she would almost always stop at the Herald Square Chock Full lunch counter for something to sustain us for our trek through the world’s largest department store.

See what happened to our Chock Full cup after the jump.

I don’t know though, which was more memorable — the heavenly aroma of the coffee or the catchy jingle. The tune was soft and saintly as sung by cafe founder’s wife, Page Morton Black — who, according to CNN Money news, was rescued from a fire in Larchmont, NY last month. It went something like this: “Chock full o’nuts is that heavenly coffee…better coffee a millionaire’s money can’t buy.” You can hear modern-day versions of the song on the company’s website, but it seems that everyone’s a millionaire these days, so the song lyrics have gotten a raise to “billionaires”.

Usually, product slogans are just a melodic exaggeration, but not in this case. According to Jim LaGanke, Senior Vice President for the Cafe Division, New Yorkers recognize that Chock Full O’Nuts is the best coffee they can get for their bucks — (way before Starbucks!) and it is still the number one selling coffee (one-pound containers, that is) in the state where it got its start.

In our distracted world where we choose our coffee shop based on the internet access, Chock Full o’Nuts gives us a chance to just sit and savor the flavor.

I went to the store at 1903 Avenue U between E. 19 St and Ocean Ave to redeem my Val-Pak coupon for a free cup of coffee, only to find it had expired. The store owner graciously gave me a free cup, anyway. Right from the start, the cafe was known for its good deeds with the Brooklyn Eagle reporting that last holiday season, they gave away soup for toys for needy children.

The store was so clean (it was inspected in 2007 and had not one single violation) that it was a real breath of fresh air compared to all the old coffee shops along Avenue U, and I made it a frequent stop. The delicious date-nut bread cream cheese sandwich and hot soups were very good, but definitely the best thing at Chock Full o’Nuts was the coffee.

It seems, though, that the store has been shuttered after less than a year in business. Mr. LaGanke alluded to some landlord/tenant issues which resulted in the operator closing the site, but could not go into it any further. My guess is that he couldn’t break even after having to honor all the freebies and thousands of coupons that got sent out in the Val-Pak envelopes.

He did assure me that they are in the process of securing another owner for the operation. Within the next couple of weeks, we might even see the heavens open up, cafe resurrected, shutters raised, and smell the lovely Chock Full aroma, again (soooorry, I couldn’t help it).

If you get tired of buying and dumping Dunkin Donuts coffee and don’t mind heading over a couple of blocks, you can still get a Chock Full o’Nuts cup at Ocean Avenue Bagels (at 2965 Ocean Ave) — be fairly warned that while the Chock Full coffee may be heavenly, the food there might just send you to heaven — but, that will have to wait for another post.

Finally, I’d like to give a little shout out to the former owner of the Chock Full o’Nuts cafe, because he seemed like a friendly guy who knew quite a few people. If any of you know him, ask him to stop by our site.