Bye Society. Local cafe serves its last cup of Joe

A chalkboard sign thanked customers for seven years of loyalty as they walked into Society Coffee for the last time Monday evening.

Karl Franz Williams, owner of Society Coffee, decided to close the popular Harlem café on Frederick Douglass Boulevard and 114th Street because he felt “it served its purpose,” which was to show the community that locally owned coffee shops could be successful.

“We set the stage for what this could be,” Williams said. “We gave the opportunity for people to connect.”

In 2004, Williams—who also owns the bar 67 Orange Street just one block down on Frederick Douglass Boulevard—said he opened the doors of Society Coffee as a casual space for people to build relationships over food and drinks. With large communal tables surrounded by wooden benches, a collage of framed photographs on the brick wall, and an open kitchen area where the cafe’s signature red velvet waffles are prepared, the customers and staff have developed into what Williams called “a family.” Over the years, the café has been a place to work for writers, musicians, and artists in Harlem.

“I saw a gap in what was here,” Williams said. Among the sit-down restaurants and the fast food places, there was no locally owned business where Harlem residents could take their time to read a book and have a cup of artisanal coffee, which is exactly what Williams sought to provide.

Williams and his employees have built friendly relationships with their regular customers, and many have expressed disappointment over the end of Society.

“A lot of people are emotional,” Williams said. “Some people are very disappointed, some people are just disappointed.”

At the “closing party” on Monday evening, Williams treated customers—both first-timers and regulars—to free sangria and lots of conversation. Many customers stopped in to say goodbye to the owner on their way out.

“It’s a piece of history that is going away,” said Society regular Tom Kurlus, who said he has enjoyed his favorite menu item, French toast, for nearly all of its seven-year lifespan. “I met such an incredible crowd of people.” Although sad, Kurlus said that “it was a good decision” for Williams.

Meron Andom, another regular at Society, disagreed.

“It’s sad because there’s nowhere else we can go,” Andom, who had ordered her favorite shrimp and grits for the last time, said. She described the café as “new age, new Harlem.”

For Williams, not returning to the society he has created tomorrow and every day after will be strange, but he said “it’s time.”

gina.lee@columbiaspectator.com