1682 French Louisiana (formerly Cranky’s)
March 18, 2014 By Christian Murray
The owner of a one-time Vernon Blvd coffee shop has transformed her establishment into a New Orleans restaurant.
Last month, Cranky’s Café, which was established in 2009 at 48-19 Vernon Blvd, was renamed “1682 French Louisiana,” with a focus on creating a New Orleans vibe and offering Cajun food .
The name–1682–represents the year when the French claimed Louisiana.
The owner of the restaurant, Mina Jons, who is from Paris, said that when she opened Cranky’s 4 ½ years ago her goal was to establish a coffee shop that was essentially “an extension of your living room—with games, movies and wifi.”
Initially, the cafe served coffee, salads, panini, sandwiches and pastries. Over time, however, the establishment started to take on more of a French/New Orleans flavor and started to offer a comprehensive breakfast and brunch menu.
Jons said that as her cafe’s cuisine grew in popularity, Cranky’s was slowly beginning to morph into a restaurant. This prompted her to get a wine and beer license.
The establishment quickly developed a casual New Orleans feel to it, and Jons said she began offering a greater mix of Cajun and local food specials. Such items included: seafood gumbo soup, shrimp and andouille jambalaya, and blacken Cajun tilapia.
“We were doing a great day time business, but with the name Cranky’s some people didn’t think of us as a dinner venue,” Jons said.
The decision, she said, was made at the beginning of the year to change the name for that reason. So far, she has no regrets.
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20 Comments
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This place is just plain bad!! Don go here for breakfast. The food is just bad
1682 (or Cranky’s) was and is great and the owner is wonderful. I had the food many times and loved it. I cannot vouch for the originality but I can and will vouch for the quality, taste and freshness!
Thank you so much LIC Post for sharing our story. 1682 continues to evolve as we receive feedback from our customers. If anyone has any questions about 1682 you can reach out to us at info at 1682frenchlouisiananyc.com.
As for the B rating, we are working hard to get that up. Our kitchen and restaurant is very clean. We would be happy to give any of you a tour.
All of our food is made fresh daily. It is never canned or pre-purchased. We invite all of you to come by to try it for yourselves. We have a 10% locals discount and every Tuesday we share a code on our social media @1682nyc for 10% off dinner. Please come by and reference you heard about us in this article.
Thanks!
The 1682 Team
Honestly the problem they have is they don’t have chefs with knowledge of the cuisine they’re cooking. They have cooks. Mediocre cooks.
It’s hard to get any sort of authentic cuisine in LIC besides Tournesol and Manducatis, which is a shame.
Cranky’s is basically a New Orleans version of Spice, Tuk Tuk, Casa Enrique and Cyclo. One step above Olive Garden but 10 steps below Thai, Mexican and Viet in other areas of Queens.
“To all of the hipsters crying about a restaurant getting a B it’s because your new mayor has silently told all department heads to generate more money ”
At first, I thought you and Mike Novak were being ironic or sarcastic with the “hipster” comments.
But no, upon further reflection, it seems both of you are so fucking dumb that you’d post a comment about a non-existent group of people in reference to an article about a restaurant’s image change. And the best part is that you don’t see the irony; you’re intellectually incapable of even grasping why those comments are so dumb. Indeed, your visceral response to this comment is to probably accuse me of being a member of this elusive group.
And by the way genius, if our new mayor “silently” told these Department heads to generate more money, how do you know? Are you the Commissioner of a city agency? Or were you just pulling nonsense out of your ass, as you were with the “hipster” reference.
They should try prototyping the new food and feel at one of the flea&foods before overhauling their brick and mortar.
The changes etc just confuse people.
But then again this neighborhood is a dorm, and the exchanging of old families for new, well everything is new again.
Cranky’s was a great and memorable name. I will always refer to this place as “the old Cranky’s”. It is enjoyable for brunch when you’re not in a hurry. Certain things are great, but others I would stay away from. The service and food are not sustainable for dinner and I would never go here for that. If they’re trying to get the dinner crowd by changing the name I think they will be in for a big surprise. As long as the “B” rating isn’t a consistent one (i.e., Masso), it won’t deter me.
Per Se couldn’t manage to keep an A rating. Many great spots in the outer boroughs hardly make a C. Who cares.
Well.
A is for ambience.
I like the changes, like the menu, like the food, like the beer and wine, like the music, like the staff. The new name might be a little long…
To all of the hipsters crying about a restaurant getting a B it’s because your new mayor has silently told all department heads to generate more money for the city including busting on all the places that always get an A. In case you don’t know and it looks obvious you don’t when a place gets an A, it doesn’t mean they didn’t get any violations they do not have to pay anything and that’s what the city hates right now. Give people a chance in this business or go open up your own and see how long you last .
The food was disappointing. Beer on draft was great. Maybe they should shift menu to simple bar fare until they can do a better job on more complex dishes.
HIPSTER HEAVEN!!!!
the problem here is not the B. its the food. its really bad and seems to be getting worse. great location just bad menu, bad chefs, bad service and just a waste. i was looking forward to new management, owners and menu.
I actually was born and in raised in queens. I also use to manage a restaurant, so I do understand the grading system and you can get a breakdown of what the violations are for. I will not go on to list them here myself, but it you are that disheartened at my “unfair” comment you look at why they got a B.
I don’t mind the B rating. I don’t mind the slow (euro style) service. What I DO mind is that every time my husband and I try the food, specifically the “authentic” New Orleans dishes, they all taste like they’ve been dumped out of a can and microwaved. Great beer on draft though AND the people are quite nice!
I am from Louisiana and I wish i liked this restaurant better. I also wish their recipes were more authentic to what you can actually get in New Orleans. I also wish they allowed you to make small changes to the menu. Also don’t understand why they use to serve decaf coffee and now don’t.
Overall i feel like this restaurant is too pretentious than they need to be- it has great potential and every time I go I am disappointed. Also the b rating that they try to hide doesn’t help.
If you let a “B” rating scare you away you must not be from around here.
http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2014/03/06/opinion-the-dirty-truth-behind-new-yorks-restaurant-grading-system/
Danielle,
I don’t know the people who own this nor have I dined in their restaurant.
However, I think you are being unfair.
Most New York City restaurants have received a “B” grade (or something other than an “A”) at some time since the new rating system came in.
Very harsh criticism, indeed.
Maybe it wasn’t that it was called “Cranky’s” that drove people away. I for one know it was because of the “B” you received is why I never stopped in. Maybe the name change was to get re-graded.