Downtown Jersey City's Newest Openings Are Betting on Your Morning

At 6 a.m. on a weekday, the lights are on at 200 Greene Street. Forum Coffee opened there at the base of Sable on September 1, a short walk from the Harborside light rail stop. Its 3-group La Marzocco is pulling shots of house-roasted organic beans an hour before most of the block is open.

Forum fits a pattern. Since early August, the confirmed new food openings Downtown have been coffee-and-pastry places, all-day cafés and bakeries. The biggest pending move, Buddy's leaving its longtime corner, is built the same way: it's coming back with weekday coffee and Italian pastries first and the rest of the day after that.

The opening hours tell the story

Here are the three places that have opened and confirmed their hours:

All three start the day by 8 a.m. Feliz Deliz also splits its day in two, closing between 1 and 4 p.m. and reopening for the evening. That schedule is built around two crowds: morning coffee and after-dinner cake and soft serve. Jersey Digs didn't print the bakery's exact first day, so "open by September 18" is as precise as the record gets.

They're spread out, too. Forum is on the Harborside end near the river, Gemini is on Jersey Avenue and Feliz Deliz is on Second Street. That puts at least one new early-opening option within walking distance of several different parts of Downtown.

Who is behind each counter

What these openings have in common goes beyond the hours. Each is run by operators who already had a following somewhere else and chose Downtown for their next step.

Forum Coffee. Courtney Foti and Phelan McGreal, a married couple who grew up in New Jersey and spent a decade in law and finance in New York, started Forum in 2024. They describe it as a response to a shortage of non-chain coffee shops outside the city. They opened first in East Hanover with no outside investors. Jersey Digs counted 11 locations across New Jersey as of late September, including two that opened in Hoboken last year, and plans for up to 10 more. The name comes from the Roman forum, the center of everyday civic life, which suits a shop that opens at 6. On the menu: a crème brûlée latte, a French toast latte with maple and cinnamon, a cannoli latte and an espresso milkshake, along with smoothies and fresh-squeezed juice.

Feliz Deliz. Diana Valenzuela and Victor Johnson started the brand in 2022, and 336 Second Street is their first permanent shop. Valenzuela has worked in pastry since 2011, mostly in Manhattan kitchens including Riverpark, Del Posto and élan. In 2020 she helped build out the pastry menu at Bread & Salt in the Heights. The carrot cake that built the brand's reputation is still on the menu. So are pistachio brownies, cardamom buns, everything pretzels and espresso chocolate cookies, plus Capacity Coffee drinks and homemade chai. Made-to-order cakes now come in flavors like tiramisu and berries and cream.

Gemini. Paloma Mejia worked at Liberty Prime for years. Her partner, Warren Ren, owns East Hana JC on Montgomery Street. Mayor James Solomon came to their ribbon cutting in August. Mejia explained the name to TAPinto this way:

"The name Gemini, the concept of it, came from the idea of duality. I wanted it to be very fluid. I didn't want just a restaurant or just a coffee shop."

The menu pairs modern Latin American dishes with classics, and Mejia said she wants the space to host concerts, exhibits, art shows and poetry. At the opening, Councilwoman At-Large Mamta Singh said parents want places where they can go out to lunch with their kids. Gemini's schedule follows from that. It's a café at 8 a.m., a family lunch spot at midday and a restaurant until 9:30 on weekends.

Buddy's is moving one block and rebuilding around the morning

Buddy's spent about a decade at 247 Washington before it closed in mid-August. NorthJersey.com confirmed the closure on August 21. Owner George Makrogiannis told The Hoboken Girl in July that rising rent at the old location, and the chance to get a bigger space, led him to move one block to 187 Warren Street.

The new restaurant won't be the brunch-and-burger bar people remember. Makrogiannis described an Italian-inspired version of the Buddy's all-day café. On weekdays it will offer a smaller breakfast menu of coffee, Italian pastries and a few breakfast items. Weekend brunch will be more modern than before. Lunch will include classic Italian sandwiches, pizza and pasta, and dinner will continue. He said breakfast service will end earlier than it used to. He said the new space will have a bigger bar with cocktails, a dedicated wine program and a downstairs party room that fits around 60 people.

"I don't want it to be too high end… I want it to be a place you can hang out, cocktails, a lot of shareable plates."

The opening date is still open. In that July interview, Makrogiannis said he was aiming for "late fall," and no later report has confirmed a date. On August 31, The Hoboken Girl reported that Magnolia Bakery may take over the old address. That report relies on an unnamed source, and Magnolia hadn't responded to the outlet, so it should be treated as a rumor. If it does happen, the corner would go from one daytime brand to another.

What's still on the way

The places still in the pipeline follow the same daytime pattern, though none has a confirmed opening date yet.

• Dutch's Express, 270 Grand St. The team behind Dutch's Sandwich Shop, which started in Montclair in 2023 and later opened in Hoboken, announced this Downtown concept in May. Owner Amir Kamal said it will serve Dutch's best sellers plus items you can only get at this location. Dutch's is known for its signature sandwiches and breakfast sandwiches. Neither the Express menu nor its hours have been published, and New Jersey Digest reported no opening date had been set.
• Dubu Hana, 8 Erie St. This one comes from the team behind Mökbar, Chef Esther Choi's Korean ramen concept, which already has a New Jersey location at Newark's Gateway Center. Its Instagram bio says fall 2026.
• Barchino, 502 Washington Blvd. A pizza-focused restaurant going in next to its sister restaurant, Battello, on the waterfront.

Dubu Hana and Barchino are lunch-and-dinner restaurants, and they'll make Downtown's evening options deeper. The two concepts with breakfast or pastry at their core, Buddy's on Warren and Dutch's Express on Grand, are the ones closest to opening on the morning side.

Putting the new spots to use this month

October has a few dates that pair well with the new places:

1. Wednesday, October 7, 4–7 p.m. The Hamilton Park Farmers Market at 9 McWilliams Place has Stony Hill Farm produce, Pickles and Olives, Scale Fish Market, prepared foods and on-site knife sharpening. Feliz Deliz is closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so a Thursday-through-Monday trip works better for cake.
2. October 16–22. New Jersey Restaurant Week. NJBIZ lists Blue Anchor and Just Friends Café among the Jersey City participants.
3. Saturday, October 31, noon–8 p.m. The Historic Downtown Special Improvement District's Halloween Family Bash takes over the Newark Avenue Pedestrian Mall and Plaza with a corn maze, face painting, pumpkins, a bouncy house and candy. For adults, there's a Terror Tavern hosted by Grace O'Malley's Whiskey Chapel.

For a Halloween Saturday, you can start at Forum, which opens at 7 a.m. on weekends, head to Newark Avenue when the bash starts at noon, and end at Gemini, which serves until 9:30 p.m. on Saturdays.

Brenda follows Downtown's openings, closings and moves block by block, and she can tell you how they change the parts of the neighborhood you're considering. If you're thinking about a home near Greene Street, Warren Street or Hamilton Park, Brenda Wolfe is glad to walk the area with you, coffee included. Let's talk about your next move. Schedule a consultation.