The Honeymoon is over: Popular downtown cafe transforms with new look and awesome breakfast tacos

Changes are coming to The Honeymoon Café & Bar. The downtown restaurant and coffee shop has new ownership for the first time in its four-year history.

After maintaining a partial ownership stake in the business since day one, Boomtown Coffee purchased the interests of Brad Moore and Ryan Rouse to assume full control of the restaurant. It will operate as The Honeymoon until Sunday, March 18, when it will close for one week for some mild renovations. On March 24, it will reopen with a new name: Boomtown Coffee Main St. Café & Bar.

“That space being what it is, it requires a good amount of attention. I think they’re moving their attention elsewhere,” Boomtown CEO Andrew Loreman tells CultureMap. “We felt like it was a good point to volunteer to take over and try to turn it into something new. They were totally open to it.”

Changing the name and converting the restaurant to a casual cafe will help the new owners establishment a direct relationship with Boomtown Coffee Heights Café, its sibling on 19th Street, Boomtown owner Matthew Toomey tells CultureMap. It will also allow some of The Heights location’s most popular food options to be served downtown, although they’ll only be available through lunch (a happy hour menu with light bites will come soon).

That means Boomtown’s signature breakfast tacos and quiche will be available. Key sandwiches from The Honeymoon’s menu, including the turkey-avocado and the ham and brie, will soon be available in The Heights.

The restaurant’s full bar will remain, but the cocktail menu will focus on drinks made with coffee. While it will continue to stay open until 2 am on Friday and Saturday, it will close at 10 pm during the week.

Physical changes to the space will include shortening the bar to allow more room for people to order at the counter. The change will have also have benefits in terms of the staff’s culture.

“We think we’ll see more consistency in coffee preparation and [the staff’s] mood,” Toomey says. “That to me is important. Honeymoon has always felt a little detached and not fully included in the Boomtown aisle. I think the staff is really excited about that. It opens up some opportunities for them.”

When The Honeymoon opened, Boomtown roasted coffee onsite, but that operation is now housed at a dedicated space on Hempstead Highway. That facility will also soon be home to a barista training area that will utilize the Slayer espresso machine that had been at The Honeymoon.