Earlier today we learned that Yaffa Cafe, the East Village restaurant that was a paragon of quirkiness and safe haven for all-night hanging out for 32 years, has closed for good. “Yaffa Cafe is gone, and 23-year-old me is very sad,” tweeted Alex Koppelman, an editor at The Guardian, and that kind of reflection seems to be shared by many on Twitter. Of course, there have also been some not-unexpected digs on the food and more on the service, but it’s basically the endless scroll of surprise, nostalgia, and anger that you’d expect. Straight ahead, a few of the most poignant, plus some funny ones.
Wat the hell RT @claire_voon: I’M CRYING RT @Gothamist: St. Marks Staple Yaffa Cafe Has Closed http://t.co/fM2ugnwtFw pic.twitter.com/HD4Z2Q5cyb— Dorsey Shaw (@dorseyshaw) October 2, 2014
Yaffa Cafe is gone, and 23-year-old me is very sad: http://t.co/Bd75cAYTuv— Alex Koppelman (@AlexKoppelman) October 2, 2014
THIS IS A TRAGEDY RT @grubstreet Another East Village icon is gone: Yaffa Cafe has closed for good http://t.co/GfI4C1ByYS— Jillian Berman (@JillianBerman) October 2, 2014
End of an era RT @Gothamist: St. Marks Staple Yaffa Cafe Has Closed http://t.co/QpDFk3XDoP pic.twitter.com/UnQ0uGeHCa— David Kushner (@davidkushner) October 2, 2014
It’s pretty shocking and sad to hear that East Village staple Yaffa Cafe has closed for good. I will miss this place. http://t.co/rSe6XnCqVt— Christine Champagne (@itsthechampagne) October 2, 2014
Ate next to Molly Ringwald there. So fine. RT @EaterNY: Farewell, Yaffa Cafe: http://t.co/2aYS6nQAT9 pic.twitter.com/CdV4PSQh8B— Brian W Boyles (@BrianWBoyles) October 2, 2014
This was my go-to place the summer I was 20 and lived in NY. RT@EaterNY: Farewell, Yaffa Cafe: http://t.co/bSWcLjeKhf pic.twitter.com/ALhKNyOcbl— Ashley Parker (@AshleyRParker) October 2, 2014
So upset to hear about this! The East Village’s Yaffa Cafe is gone. http://t.co/wBmELbCafo— SMollot (@SMollot) October 2, 2014
@misterpatches @Gothamist I went out with a guy who waited tables there- he charmed me by delivering a hummus plate to my apt. Oh, youth.— Brianna Ashby (@brianna_ashby) October 2, 2014
Goddammit, New York RT @EaterNY: Farewell, Yaffa Cafe: http://t.co/9imzshkH0w pic.twitter.com/DacvRqXPMs— Brian PJ Cronin (@brianpjcronin) October 2, 2014
NOO! I was just there! RT @Gothamist: St. Marks Staple Yaffa Cafe Has Closed http://t.co/649dUk69Np pic.twitter.com/bH8kKWiFhZ— Creighton (@sensiblemadman) October 2, 2014
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO RT @grubstreet Another East Village icon is gone: Yaffa Cafe has closed for good http://t.co/6rsbs24N52— alexander smith (@alexqsmith) October 2, 2014
Yaffa Cafe RIP— Mark Allen (@_MarkAllen) October 2, 2014
NOOOOOOO best apple pie in all the land “@Gothamist: St. Marks Staple Yaffa Cafe Has Closed http://t.co/A4k6s4cGba pic.twitter.com/1zTMmVS1ew“— Liz (@misslizrichards) October 2, 2014
my youth is dead to me now @bsamek RT @Gothamist: St. Marks Staple Yaffa Cafe Has Closed http://t.co/OFMTvoggx8 pic.twitter.com/75FUx9GlOO— lindseyfrances (@lindsfrances) October 2, 2014
More sad news as landscape of Manhattan gives way to banks and upscale fast food: St. Marks Staple Yaffa Cafe Closed http://t.co/vIdIg7Lkhg— Kaja Whitehouse (@kajawhitehouse) October 2, 2014
Before I moved to NYC I learned of Yaffa Cafe because my college roommate had one of those condoms pinned to a bulletin board.— Greg Morabito (@GregMorabito) October 2, 2014
@dansaltzstein @jeremoss I got in trouble there once for asking to have tomato added to my grilled cheese.— Heather Greene (@HeatherMGreene) October 2, 2014
No! Yaffa Cafe closed for good. http://t.co/eX5l1ybWU7— Jeremiah Moss (@jeremoss) October 2, 2014
Things like this make me feel old and angry MT @Gothamist Yaffa Cafe Has Closed http://t.co/Nbqks2fD1Z … …— Julia Dahl (@juliadahl) October 2, 2014
RIP Yaffa Cafe. I think I will miss your carrot-ginger salad dressing most of all. pic.twitter.com/uQPEKR82zX— Jill Tatara (@jilltataraworld) October 2, 2014
Can’t really handle the closing of Yaffa Cafe..Spent a good amount of my formative high school years there. Soon there will be nothing left— Samantha (@samlaurenphoto) October 2, 2014
First Odessa, now Yaffa Cafe. If they close down Sidewalk, I’ll never go back to the village again. http://t.co/gNL9lB40aI— Andrew Bard Epstein (@andEps) October 2, 2014
Sigh. I loved this place RT @DNAinfo: Yaffa Cafe closes after 31 years on St. Marks Place: http://t.co/S1uVVaopmR— Mathew Katz (@MathewKatz) October 2, 2014
Ate my first NY dinner here in 2008 RT @NYMag: Another East Village icon has shuttered:Yaffa Cafe has closed for good http://t.co/45gQWVMDYD— Jennings Brown (@tjenningsbrown) October 2, 2014
No more Yaffa Cafe, aka no more free wifi at 1am in a christmas light-bedecked East Village backyard. RIP. http://t.co/LpChA8akH8— Zoë Schlanger (@zoeschlanger) October 2, 2014
The site of one of my first meals as a New Yorker RT @DNAinfo: Yaffa Cafe closes after 31 years on St. Marks Place: http://t.co/ThiNVSozaV— David Lawson (@dtlawson) October 2, 2014
Related: Another East Village Icon Is Gone: Yaffa Cafe Closes for Good
