A new café in Berkeley Heights wants you to put the phone away. Café Exchange, a two-story social hub emphasizing books, board games and conversation over screens, is holding its grand opening on Nov. 15 at The Park, the sprawling mixed-use development taking shape off District Drive.
The address has been reported with some inconsistency — the café's grand-opening coverage places it at 550 District Drive, while Café Exchange's own website lists 500 District Dr., Suite F, and The Park's website lists a third address, 300 Connell Drive, all in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey. As reported by mycentraljersey.com, the concept is designed explicitly as a break from AI, smartphones and screens, with century-old European lounge seating in its café space.
Through Nov. 14, the café is open 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekends. Beginning Nov. 15, hours expand to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, according to the same report.
A Library You Can't Check Books Out Of
The centerpiece is a 1,200-book library stocked with classics, poetry and short stories — but there's a catch. Visitors can read on-site, but they cannot check the books out, per mycentraljersey.com's reporting. Surrounding the library is a five-piece art installation by artist Alexandra Marie, which incorporates pages from Alice in Wonderland morphed into the shape of a towering tree.
For those looking to take something home, there's a separate book exchange with a rotating collection of 500 books, where visitors can take one and leave one. The café also includes a craft room with a typewriter and a greeting-card workshop, along with a game nook for tabletop play.
A Second Floor Built for Reading and Performance
Café Exchange's second floor features reading-centered spaces that overlook the first floor from a mezzanine. Downstairs, a stage is set up to host private events, board game nights, comedy nights, writing workshops, open mics, author readings, singles mixers and local performances, the outlet reports.
The idea of making games part of a café’s draw already has a New Jersey example: pdk. NINE in Mount Laurel operates as a board-game café with a library of more than 800 games, paid play blocks and group events. Its model is more explicitly game-centered than Café Exchange’s broader mix of books, food, crafts and performances, but it shows how cafés can build an experience around shared activities as well as food and drink.
The menu spans espresso drinks, teas, and breakfast, lunch and evening bites — including cinnamon French toast, croque madame, tomato soup, sardine toast, smoked onion dip, arancini and French pastries. By evening, the café is set to add espresso cocktails and organic and natural wines to the lineup.
Why Now: A Response to Screen Fatigue
Café Exchange's director of operations, Justin Connell, said coffee shops have always been a safe place for him and a way to enjoy being around people, according to mycentraljersey.com's reporting. His father, Shane Connell, executive vice president of the Connell Company, framed the concept as a reaction to shifting habits around technology, saying there has been a huge change in generational reaction to technology — and that the company is building concepts people will want to socialize around.
Café Exchange’s emphasis on in-person gathering echoes a broader public-health concern, though it does not establish that screen use causes loneliness. A 2023 U.S. Surgeon General’s advisory said about half of U.S. adults reported experiencing loneliness, with some of the highest rates among young adults. The advisory also calls for communities and institutions to help strengthen social connection, putting the café’s programming in a wider conversation about creating places where people can meet and spend time together.
An Anchor for a Bigger Redevelopment
Café Exchange is described as one of the first concepts to open at District at The Park and as an anchor of that new development, a walkable main street under construction with a planned 160,000 square feet of retail, dining and entertainment space. The café is expected to expand its offerings as more businesses move in nearby.
The Park currently includes an Embassy Suites hotel, two residential buildings, a Life Time fitness center, a Starbucks, Grain & Cane, Fieldhouse and five office buildings. Under construction at District at The Park are Four Spoons Ice Cream Company, Doner Shack, a bathhouse, Prime IV Hydration & Wellness, Dogtopia, Emberside Brewery, Rosa Azul Mexican Restaurant and Bar, and an entertainment venue called Bash, which is set to include 14 duckpin bowling lanes billed by the outlet as New Jersey's first of their kind, plus a gaming area with pool tables, dartboards and shuffleboard.
The Connell Company owns The Park and is in the middle of a $500 million redevelopment aimed at transforming what was once a traditional office campus into a 185-acre mixed-use destination. Shane Connell said The Park has evolved from primarily office space toward what he described as a resort-office experience and walkable neighborhood — a shift Café Exchange's book-lined, anti-tech design is meant to embody as the broader project takes shape.
The café is part of a longer shift at The Park: the Connell Company began acquiring the Berkeley Heights property in 1981, and the site developed into a 185-acre office campus before the current mixed-use transformation. The township’s planning history describes zoning changes that raised the project’s allowable retail space from 85,000 to 185,000 square feet and added as much as 60,000 square feet for entertainment. The town says some planned public recreation features, including a greenway, depend on zoning changes.
