Walked into my old book club hangout and didn't recognize the place

I stopped by The Cozy Nook downtown last Saturday, the cafe where my book club met for 6 years straight. They replaced all the worn leather chairs with metal stools that look like they came from a dentist office. The owner said they switched because the old chairs were "unsanitary" but I swear we never had a problem. Our whole group used to camp out there every Wednesday night from 7 to 10, sometimes buying just one coffee each. Now the place is bright white with no personality and I bet nobody stays longer than 45 minutes. Has anyone else seen a favorite reading spot get ruined by a redesign like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

carter.casey1mo ago

Remember when they tried to turn the old diner on 3rd Street into a juice bar? Same energy. They ripped out the torn vinyl booths where I'd nurse a bottomless cup for three hours reading Bukowski. Replaced them with these white plastic stick chairs. The whole menu changed too, no more greasy hash browns at 2am. I walked in, ordered a kale smoothie just to see what happened. Tasted like lawn clippings. Never went back. Some places just don't know what they had.

thompson.reese1mo ago

Wait, but isn't there something kinda nice about places trying to evolve? I mean, yeah, I get the nostalgia for the vinyl booths and the 2am hash browns, that's real. But that diner was straight up falling apart for years before they shut it down. The grease smell never came out of your clothes, and the owner just seemed checked out. Maybe a juice bar wasn't the perfect answer, but at least someone tried to put some life back into that corner. Idk, maybe it's just me but letting a place rot for the sake of "what it used to be" feels a little sad too.