Cafe et Lait, the coffee shop that built a following on Fort Lee's Main Street, has expanded with a second location at 817 Abbott Boulevard, giving the borough's East Asian-influenced cafe scene another gathering spot. The new shop occupies a newly renovated modern space that the business describes as providing a second home in Fort Lee, according to Boozy Burbs.
The Abbott Boulevard address carries an unusual backstory for a coffee shop. Commercial property records from the New Jersey Multiple Listing Service show the retail space was listed for lease in March 2025 and ultimately leased in August 2025 for $4,500 a month, situating the business in a commercial-residential stretch of the borough near Palisade Avenue. Long before it housed espresso machines and pastry cases, the building served as the headquarters and branch of Fort Lee Federal Savings Bank, FSB, a thrift institution that federal regulators shut down in April 2012 due to undercapitalization, with its branch operations later sold to Alma Bank, as reported by Patch.
From Main Street Favorite to Second Storefront
Cafe et Lait's original location at 486 Main Street opened in 2024 and quickly became known for its coffee, tea, matcha, pastries, sandwiches, and a full rotation of hot and cold drinks, per Boozy Burbs. The Main Street shop built its customer base in part through amenities that set it apart on a crowded commercial strip — a dedicated second-floor quiet workspace with outlets and free Wi-Fi, plus a small cushioned lounge area on the ground floor, according to venue listings aggregated on Atly.
The flagship location also offers two hours of complimentary rear-lot parking, a notable perk along a congested suburban corridor, per directory profiles on Joe Coffee. That same directory lists the Main Street store's hours as seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., catering to both early commuters and late-afternoon regulars. Among the menu items that have built a loyal following are lavender cloud matcha, specialty pour-over coffees, monkey bread, and butter scones, the listings note.
Tapping Into Fort Lee's Cafe Culture
The expansion lands in a borough where cafe culture runs deep. More than 40% of Fort Lee's roughly 40,000 residents identify as Asian, with Korean Americans making up about a third of the population, according to demographic data published by Blip. Regional dining studies compiled on Wikipedia describe Korean-influenced cafes as integral social hubs across Fort Lee, offering coffee, bingsu, matcha, and pastries in modern gathering spaces that double as community meeting spots.
Fort Lee sits within a broader regional cluster, too: U.S. Census data analysis cited on Reddit shows that the 11 American municipalities with the highest concentration of Korean-American residents are all located in Bergen County, led by neighboring Palisades Park at 47%. That density has helped fuel a thriving independent coffee shop scene throughout the area.
Cafe et Lait now competes with an already dense lineup of independent cafes along Main Street, including Roast'd Coffee, Mokafé, and Caffè AND, according to local dining guides from The Bergen County Girl. By opening a second storefront on Abbott Boulevard rather than crowding further into Main Street, the business appears to be staking out its own corner of the borough's expanding food and beverage landscape — a landscape Hoodline has tracked closely in recent weeks as new storefronts continue to fill in around town.
