May 10, 2016 By Christian Murray
Breadbox Cafe, a Mediterranean/American restaurant that opened in 2010 as a bagel shop, is now offering dinner and has extended its hours in order to serve it.
The establishment, located at 47-11 11th St., was founded by three Israelis as a bagel shop at a time when that section of Long Island City had more businesses and construction was booming.
However, 18 months later and as residents began pouring in, the owners turned again to their Israeli roots to expand the Breadbox Cafe into a Mediterranean-American restaurant, with menu items including eggs benedict, salads, wraps, Shaksouka (poached eggs with spicy tomato sauce) and smoked salmon.
“The most popular items on the menu are the Mediterranean-Israeli items,” said Tal Shuster, who owns the restaurant with her husband, Eyal, and Moshe Mizrahi, who owns the property.
“We were unsure how these dishes would be received, but were pleasantly surprised,” Mizrahi said.
The restaurant’s evolution is now continuing with the new dinner service.
“We are going through a transition as the whole neighborhood is changing,” Shuster said. “Our customers are mainly residents who want us to open later and we want to meet their needs.”
Breadbox Cafe has always closed at 6 p.m. daily. However, last month, the owners expanded their hours until 10 p.m. on weeknights and 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
They brought in Kfif Kertis as their chef, an Israeli who has been living in the U.S. for the past three years. The new dinner menu includes appetizers such as falafel sliders, spicy beef cigars and fire roasted eggplant and tahini.
There are a number of salad choices as well as entrees.
Entrees include: homemade potato gnocchi; grilled chicken with chile and date molasses; traditional Moroccan baked salmon filet; and a Breadbox burger. (Click for menu)
There is a strong focus on “healthy, vegetarian and spicy food,” Shuster said. “We do everything from scratch. Our produce is fresh and our meat is
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ground here. We only use the freshest foods.”
The Shusters have been involved in developing several local buildings, including One Murray Park and 5-27 51st Ave. They met Mizrahi in Long Island City while developing the Badge Building at 1055 47th Ave. in 2005.
The trio took a 1950s gas station/mechanic shop and converted it into what is the Breadbox today.
The elaborate exterior, with the rolling pins out front, has remained the same since they overhauled the location in 2010.
However, the interior has undergone significant changes.
Nearly 18 months after moving in, they converted the bagel shop into the restaurant that now has 65 seats inside and 50 outside.
“You are literally sitting in what was the garage right now,” Shuster said. There is an old photo of the garage as customers enter the restaurant.
Moshe Mizrahi, Kfif Kertis, Tal Shuster
Many people sit outside with their dogs or children in summer and drink wine, beers or cocktails. Shuster expects more people to take advantage of the outdoor seating with the restaurant’s extended hours.
Since it was an old gas station, there is onsite parking for people who want to drive to the restaurant.
Shuster is particularly proud of the 1,600 rolling pins that are a big part of the Breadbox’s facade.
Each rolling pin features the name of someone who gave to the New York Foundling, a non-profit group that helps foster children that the café partners with.
Nearly $50,000 has been raised at the Breadbox in the past six years. Shuster said every $30 represents an enrichment class per child.
“For us, this was not about just opening a restaurant,” she said. “We wanted to give back to the neighborhood. The neighborhood has been very good to us.”
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Note: Breadbox is an advertiser of the LIC Post
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10 Comments
Apparently you are closed? No sign?
There’s already enough dinner in LIC, they should offer bowling.
We like going here for brunch and lunch, can’t wait to try it out for dinner. The bread basket is definitely good with brunch when it is offered, I agree. Also love that you can sit outside with your dog, I will be taking advantage of that this summer for sure! It’s so great to have another cuisine (Israeli) option in the neighborhood, I hope they add more Israeli inspired options to dinner!
They should either maintain the rolling pins on their facade or just take them off. They looked great when they first uninstalled them but these things need to be maintained.
Thank you for your reply. i am happy to hear that you like the food and I will certainly make sure that the bread basket is served in the same way and not just with a toast. During the weekend, the breakfast is served with amazing variety of breads.
Thank you for your reply. I knew that the owner/manager cares about this place, that is obvious with the food quality. However, I only come on the weekends so my issue with the bread has been a weekend problem.
Thank you…yes, the rolling pins will be fixed.
I go here a lot for breakfast. The food is quite good. My biggest problem with this place is that I get the American breakfast. It is scrambled eggs, bacon and a basket of bread with jam and cream cheese. Extremely expensive for bacon and eggs, but the food is very good and the bread basket makes it almost worth the price. The problem is that the second time I went, my breadbasket was two pieces of whole wheat toast. So for $15 I got what costs $5 at a good diner. The 3rd time I came in I asked about the bread basket and was told I would get whole wheat toast so I complained. The waitress looked at me like I was a jerk. She said I will get whatever they happen to have. I said for $15 I want to get the sesame bagel bread, the raisin roll and the fresh white bread that I got the first time. She said they don’t have anything except toast. I have now been there probably 12 times and I was satisfied with my order maybe 4 times. THE PLACE IS CALLED THE BREADBOX! Why is it that they offer a bread basket and give you toast? Then they appear to get annoyed when you ask for the stuff you got last time. The waiters are a mix of very nice and helpful to arrogant and rude. The food is quite good and I am glad I have it as an option but they need to start worrying about customer satisfaction. I have left there too many times feeling like I got ripped off.
Glad to hear they’re expanding.
Bring back the breakfast burritos please!!!