Jack's Corner Café has packed up its espresso machines and breakfast burritos and moved directly across the street, swapping its original Genesee Street storefront for a bigger space with room for the lunch rush it had outgrown. The downtown Buffalo café, known for its all-day breakfast menu and European-style espresso, relocated from 111 Genesee Street to 130 Genesee Street, taking over the former home of the gift boutique Realm at the corner of Genesee and Oak.
The move was detailed by Buffalo Rising, which described it as a strategic step supporting the café's continued investment in downtown Buffalo. Owners Leah Alles and Joseph Diaz-Aleman kept the original Jack's Corner Café name intact even as they settled into the new address, according to the same report. The café first opened at 111 Genesee Street on February 17, 2022, in a storefront that had previously housed Gateway City Deli and Marco's Italian Deli, as reported by The Business Journals.
More Room for a Loyal Lunch Crowd
The new location adds roughly 15 to 20 seated spaces, with window seating, couches, and tables built to handle larger parties, The Business Journals reported in February. That extra room addresses a layout that had grown congested during peak hours at the original spot. The café's kitchen footprint has also doubled at 130 Genesee Street, a change that lets the team expand into a grab-and-go section featuring cold-pressed juices, new breakfast dishes, and expanded salad options, per the same report.
On the menu, customers can still find breakfast burritos, churro toast, steel-cut oats, bean burgers, tuna melts, and chicken salad, alongside cold-pressed red and orange juices and mimosas, according to Buffalo Rising. The café specializes in espresso drinks, and co-owner Joseph Diaz-Aleman handles the coffee.
Staying Close to Catholic Health and the Passport Office
The owners found another corner close to the original location, a move Buffalo Rising said should please the café's fanbase.
Before Jack's Corner Café moved in, 130 Genesee Street had been slated to house Realm, a gift and lifestyle boutique founded by Buffalo entrepreneur Keelin Burke. Buffalo Rising reported in 2021 that Realm was expected to open there in time for the holiday shopping season. The corner sits within the Genesee Gateway Preservation District at Oak and Genesee Streets.
A Family Story Rooted in Puerto Rico
Alles and Diaz-Aleman returned to Buffalo after having their son, Jack, and named the café after him, The Business Journals reported. Alles grew up in Buffalo, and the couple ran a café in Puerto Rico. They opened Rising Roost, a café and side cart, on Vieques, an island off Puerto Rico's eastern coast, per a 2022 account of the business.
Rising Roost served an island population of about 7,000 people and relied heavily on tourism, but a hurricane and the pandemic disrupted that tourist-driven business, according to the same 2022 reporting. That earlier chapter set the stage for the couple's pivot to Buffalo, where they've since built Jack's Corner Café into a fixture of the Genesee Street corridor.
Expansion at Jack's Corner Café
Jack's Corner Café can be reached at 716-783-8285 for those looking to check out the new space at 130 Genesee Street.
