Happy Medium is finally opening a new location

Happy Medium, the beloved cafe and creative space that has become a hub for artists in the Lower East Side, just announced that they’re opening a new location in Brooklyn.

If you’ve tried to book a spot at the Manhattan location and haven’t had any luck, you’re not alone. The space’s popularity means that the limited slots tend to run out fast, and this new location is part of an effort by Happy Medium’s owners to alleviate some of the incessant demand.

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In a recent Instagram post, the cafe confirmed that they are, indeed, opening a new location in Greenpoint. “Believe it or not, we actually don’t like being sold out for weeks on end,” they wrote on Instagram post that includes a video of a gutted space where they will open the new cafe. “The inside is beautiful but the truly amazing thing is the enormous backyard! As our new landlord said ‘you can do lots of artsy fartsy stuff out there’ and that’s exactly what we intend to do.”

Happy Medium is a unique space because it’s not just another coffee shop. They intentionally curate activities for creative people to meet, and they offer unique activities like figure drawing classes, chair building workshops, canvas painting sessions, and pottery classes that you can book here. When you walk in, you’re handed a menu that lists creative activities instead of food items, and it's pretty affordable, too, with prices ranging from $15-$28. 

The cafe’s immense success is in part thanks to TikTok, where the cafe dubs itself “an arts club for casual artists,” and encourage people to be “brave enough to be terrible.” They’re adamant about making art for art’s sake, as opposed to making art for the purpose of making it look good or extraordinary, which is pretty refreshing in such a competitive city like New York.

Another part of the cafe’s philosophy was to create a space where people could meet up their friends without having to drink—which, admittedly, is something a lot of us desperately need.

The Instagram page Greenpointers noted that the new location, which will have a backyard, seems to be at the former location of The Springs Bar on 224 Franklin Street, which abruptly closed last month. The owners picked the Greenpoint location after they put out a survey asking customers which neighborhood they should open a new location at and Greenpoint received the most votes, followed by Williamsburg, Park Slope and Fort Greene. 

Although the cafe hasn't announced an official opening date for the Brooklyn location, they're anticipating for the space to be ready by spring.