A few months ago, we reported that Cafe Bookz-n-Beanz filled a vacant coffee shop space at 10th & Carpenter in Bella Vista.  Not long before that, we noted that Filter Cafe had taken over the very same space. It seems that at some point, between Filter converting to the colorful Bookz-n-Beanz, it was changed again to a more muted Brown Sugar Cafe.  On our usual weekend trips to the Italian Market, we never saw Brown Sugar Cafe in action – a small sign in the window advertised its grand opening in May 2012.  May turned into June, June into July… and over the weekend, we saw this:

For rent

According to our previous reports, the space first became a coffee shop under Mt. Airy’s InFusion, before turning into Mazag Cafe.  Mazag closed when the owner-operators moved back to Egypt, says a helpful reader, and it was the longest running business at this corner, operating for nearly two years.  Filter Cafe was open for a short five-month stint, and Bookz-n-Beans/Brown Sugar Cafe was around for an even shorter 4.5 months.  We believe that the owner-operator for both recent cafe names were the same, and according to this lonely Yelp review for Brown Sugar Cafe, probably predicted its demise.

Tacky wall art remains

The sign in the window advertises for a “turn key coffee shop” – do we have any takers?  After seeing so many failed coffee shops here, especially 3 concepts in less than 10 months, do you think a coffee shop can make it work on this corner?  If not a coffee shop, what could this nice corner location, fronting Bardascino Park, and in such close proximity to the Italian Market, offer the neighborhood?

Interior shot

It sure is turnkey, drinks are still in the fridge!