Coal Yard Cafe pops up downtown

The Coal Yard Cafe has been open for eight years, yet many people outside of the Cornell University campus are unfamiliar with it.

Tucked away between Collegetown and East Hill Plaza, the cafe is typically bustling with college students and employees, as well as an increasing number of tourists due to its positive Yelp reviews.

Luckily for Ithaca locals, summer is a great time to visit this popular eatery on Maple Avenue for breakfast or lunch without having to fight a crowd of undergrads for a table.

Chef and Manager Michael Wszolek invites everyone in the greater community to take advantage of the opportunity to sip coffee and savor crepes or falafel at this popular eatery on the hill while the students are out of town.

“We bring a fine-dining aspect to a casual atmosphere with the same attention to detail and really good, fresh quality food,” Wszolek said. “Even when we’re busy, people should know that service at the cafe is quick, and there is plenty of parking.”

I found both to be true at a recent lunchtime visit. Though parking can be intimidating near campus, there is a row of reserved spaces behind the cafe, as well as free parking in the lot across the street on weekends. There was a short, fast-paced line to order, and neither the indoor nor outdoor seating areas were overly crowded.

The dining room was cooler, though tiny, lined with old wood and hung with interesting historical decor illustrating the building’s past as the office for the Perry Coal Plant. I barely had time to look at the maps and antique brass scale before the waitress brought out my Greek salad. It was crisp and flavorful, generous both in size and number of tasty tidbits (lots of artichokes, olives, peppers and feta).

Wszolek joined me, and we moved to a quieter spot on the covered patio for a conversation. I asked about his background and what brought him to Ithaca.

“My father lived here, so I spent time in the area as a kid,” Wszolek said. “I moved to Ithaca from Fort Lauderdale, [Florida,] in 2001. I had always worked in food service, busing tables and washing dishes since I was 14, but I didn’t start cooking until I came to New York. And I fell in love with it.”

After eight years at The Heights Restaurant in Community Corners and another eight years at Glenora Wineries on Seneca Lake, Wszolek opened the Coal Yard Cafe.

“This building and the apartments out back are owned by Beer Properties, but I’m looking to take ownership of the restaurant within the year,” Wszolek said. “COVID set me back a bit, but we were lucky enough to remain open the whole time.”

Though the cafe never closed, Wszolek said that he had to shut down the dining room and furlough the staff. An existing waist-high window in the kitchen, formerly used as a weigh station for coal, was converted into a takeout counter.

“I was working solo for three or four months,” he said. “Unfortunately, I lost a lot of good people. Out of the 14 staff members I had, only two came back. It’s hard to find replacements right now, particularly in the kitchen. I’ll give anyone a chance who wants to work!”

Though the cafe uses some regional suppliers, Wszolek hopes to expand on that in the future.

“We get syrup and mushrooms from Sapwood Farms in Freeville and coffee from local roasters Seneca Sunrise and Gimme! Coffee,” Wszolek said. “I’d like to tap into more of the local farms where I can, like I did at Glenora.”

Looking to expand the cafe’s visibility and float the idea of a second downtown location, Wszolek and his fiancee Cassandra Pickering are holding weekend pop-ups at the site of the old bus station.

“We’re set up near the new Paddledockers ramp on the canal. Building on the waterfront theme, the pop-up features seafood fare,” Wszolek said. “In addition to five of our most popular sandwiches from the cafe, we serve lobster rolls, crab cakes and salmon cakes.”

Open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through at least the end of August, the Coal Yard pop-up might be the only place in town to get a lobster roll, homemade chips and creamy coleslaw for $15.

Surrounded by colorful kayaks, with the sun glinting off the water and strains of island music floating on the breeze, you can pretend to be at any beach town on the coast, at least for the few minutes it takes to finish your lunch.

The Coal Yard Cafe is just one of the small businesses bringing the old bus station new life as a micro-retail space. In addition to Paddledockers, there is DripHouse spa, DarlingCake bakery and Ithaca Waterworks property development.

“We can all work together and promote each other’s ventures,” Wszolek said. “Lincoln Morse of Waterworks is really trying to re-energize and rebeautify the West End. I’m super excited to be a part of it.”