Loss of Iris Cafe Sidewalk Seating Lamented

By on July 30, 2011 11:53 am in Food

Willowtown’s Iris Cafe has dismantled its outdoor seating, reportedly after neighbors complained about noise. Our man with a cam Karl “this upsets my routine greatly” Junkersfeld documents the simple joys of alfresco dining, and decries their demise. Video after the jump.Note: Mr. Junkersfeld’s cat apparently deleted the YouTube vid by accident. Hey, it happens. But Karl is still upset about the outdoor seating.

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  • Buddy Holly

    Shanny, there is a nice shady area directly across the street from Iris where the school yard is. It has a nice wooden wall that is the perfect height for sitting on. Enjoy your coffee there out of the hot sun. Bring a book to read if you like. Bring a folding chair.

    Or, there is also a public park at the end of Columbia Place. It is less than 100-yards from the Iris Cafe. They have a sprinkler running seven-days a week to help you chill-out, when you feel a hot-flash coming.

    It is my understanding that Iris applied for a liquor license this Spring. (They will probably extend their hours.) But you can’t drink booze outside. Will this violation hurt their chances for the liquor license? Who knows. Probably not.

    As for the laundromat benches, they are next to the building not next to the curb. They do not block the sidewalk’s pedestrian access in anyway.

    Here is a little song I made, just for you.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q80vPeejm7k&feature=related

  • xochi

    i love sitting outside a cafe as much as the next person, however, in this city, they are not free.

    not only are the owners of iris IRRESPONSIBLE, they are cashing in on what responsible outdoor cafe lease holders pay for. and continue to pay increasing charges partly due to those that don’t.

    not only the cost of the lease of the outside, there is insurance necessary to cover the public. but i am confident that you will all find something wrong with that; why can’t i? what do you have against? i want to meet with my neighbors?

    you’re just enjoying a cup of coffee al fresco. what could possibly go wrong? how can anyone get hurt? it’s only a bench.

    too bad iris. you want it; PAY FOR IT.

    take a look at the cost of running one; then you’ll also understand why STARBUCKS on MONTAGUE has YET TO REPLACE THE ILLEGAL ONE THEY RAN FOR YEARS. (doesn’t that make anyone angry? a huge corporate institution fooled us and ripped us off? right here in our own neighborhood! (again))

    wouldn’t it be a great thing if they and all others that don’t follow the rules have to pay for their illegal gain and loyal following? perhaps it would fairly balance out the cost to all those that do.

    the incessant nonsense that goes on with the public, the customer, is so tiring. they are businesses…they are not your kitchen/living room. if they have something you like; fantastic, frequent it. if they don’t, move on. the constant badgering is really ridiculous. open a food establishment, or just research the cost of doing so to YOUR LIKING, offer what you want to all that you want. then do the math.

    running back to your corporate environment by now or what? or just be quiet and move on.

  • Mickey

    Sounds like someone’s off their meds again.

  • Shanny

    Well thanks, I guess? Buddy Holly. BTW I have lived in the neighborhood for MANY years and am aware of the park, the school and my own lovely stoop. My point is they were not running an illegal outdoor cafe. They were not serving outdoors, taking orders and the like, al fresco. A very few, are making this a MUCH LARGER issue than necessary. It was simply a nice spot to sit a spell and drink my coffee and meet some of my neighbors new and old. It’s better I should linger on a school’s property? Xochi….I don’t agree that the “owners were irresponsible” in any way. You clearly assume the worst in people….I feel sorry for you. People would hang around outside Iris and chat on a nice day, long before there was a place to sit. They had a bench which was also directly against the building (just as the laundromat does). I suppose no one could trip over their bench? There were No tables, just a picnic bench, a chair or two at the curb. My pedestrian “access” was NEVER impeded in any way???? Do you typically walk through trees? By the way, you’re more likely to trip on the broken down, uneven, cracked, sidewalk on Columbia….than to trip on a bench around a tree. Give me a break. What have we lost vs. what have we gained? I can only speak for myself when I say I did not go to Iris any more or less due to a bench or two. The whole thing is just idiotic. Permits, leases, $$$$…..Starbucks??? Seriously??? That’s a multi- million dollar company!!! Ridiculous to compare the two!!!! In this day and age we should applaud and support small business owners making a go of it in a disastrous economy, while also bringing together neighbors who may have otherwise never met. Honestly… who was being harmed? Was Iris taking money out of your pocket? Why must every blessed thing be about the almighty dollar these days. In conclusion Xochi you seem like a pompous know it all and a generally ugly on the inside kind of person. Who made you Cafe Cop? Oh and….Run back to my corporate environment??…hahaha. Try again. You don’t know Jack! Why don’t you be quiet… or maybe go to Tazza to balance out all of this “illegal gain”. You clearly have nothing better to do. I’ve said all I wanted to say on the matter….I’m done…if only to spare the lovely, kind, owner, your further, unnecessarily, harsh, undue, criticism and badgering. I’m off to Iris….with my own chair, for a coffee, some sun and lovely conversation. Maybe you’d like to come by and give me a ticket? Naah…Just move along now…..you are clearly in the minority.

  • Buddy Holly

    No, Shanny. Iris was delivering food outside for the people who placed orders at the counter. I’ve seen it with my own dead eyes. The wooden wall across the street from Iris is outside the fence of the school. You are not trespassing by sitting there in the shade. Sit in the hot sunshine if you want too. Nobody cares. Like my song says, “It doesn’t matter anymore”. Call 311 about the broken sidewalks. Then sue the City.

  • Buggs Bunny

    Not for nothing, but the big square tree bench next to the curb is still there on August 1st. Maybe Iris should cover it with invisible paint. Only the portable seating is removed.

  • xochi

    @mickey, funny but not I, although think shanny may, aside from missing all points.
    @shanny, get help, you should start with reading comprehension. rude, nasty & unnecessary.

  • Buggs Bunny

    Isn’t it time to close-out this post? Hasn’t the time limit run out yet?

  • http://gmail mary hicks

    Cathy, I’ll ask the Manager of the Iris Cafe if she would kindly put up a poster of BeeBop!!!

  • Amanda Tree

    This whole thing is very sad. One night I went out with my dog and thought I was seeing a mirage-in-reverse, no tree there! The bench was still there, the people had thoughtfully made the opening around the tree wider, to enable the tree to have flexibility, as a local gardener had pointed out. The bench was lovely, and the tree was doing just fine. The next day I looked and the bench was gone! Nobody seemed to understand WHY!

    The people sitting outside were very peaceful and happy, no problems that I knew of. I don’t live above or adjacent to the cafe but still find it hard to see how quiet conversation and coffee, sandwiches could create such a stir.

    It’s nice to see a small business making a go of it. These are tough times, and Iris has always been an agreeable and intelligent neighbor to us. They care, they listen when we bring up topics related to things in the neighborhood.

    Summer is very short, and it was charming to see people gently enjoying this street sitting on a bench or picnic chair.

    Now there’s no tree and no bench. When the trees first came here, the whole tone of our block began to “magically” evolve into the eclectic individual it is now. A wonderful variety of trees were planted due to the determined efforts of Cathy Fitzsimons of Willowtown Gardens, who enlisted the help of many local fellows who devotedly dug the tree pits and planted each tree.

    A whole new era began to arise here, which eventually drew businesses and new interest in these historic Riverside Buildings, built in 1889, by Alfred T. White.

    Most of these trees survived, but the two nearest Iris are gone, and we’re hopeful they will be replaced with similar trees.

    We like the Iris here, and appreciate the owners and their care in what they do here, and in working with us as neighbors.

    I think this is what Alfred T. White hoped for when he first designed the buildings. That they offered people a chance to make a go of things even if they weren’t rich and didn’t have big resources. Riverside Buildings were created with this philosophy – that you could provide an opportunity to make dreams come true.

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