Barrington is getting one of its neighborhood restaurants back.
Kaffee Korner, a former Barrington breakfast and lunch spot that closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, is making a comeback — and this time, owners Tina Leva and her son Eric Leva have bigger plans for the family-run restaurant.
The mother-and-son team is working to reopen Kaffee Korner at 109 Shreve Avenue in Barrington, inside the former VFW building.
For the Levas, this isn’t simply another restaurant opening. It’s an opportunity to revive something their family built together and thought they had lost for good.
“Kaffee Korner was previously located on Clements Bridge Road in Barrington, and unfortunately, like so many small businesses, we had to close during COVID,” the Levas shared with South Jersey Food Scene. “Ever since then, we’ve hoped that one day we would have the opportunity to bring Kaffee Korner back to the community. Now we’re finally getting that chance.”
A Bigger Kaffee Korner, With the Same Neighborhood Feel
The new location will give Kaffee Korner considerably more room than it had before, allowing Tina and Eric to expand on the original concept while holding onto the friendly, neighborhood atmosphere that defined the restaurant.
“We’re bringing back something our family built together, but this time we have the opportunity to make it bigger and better than before,” they said.
Plans call for breakfast and lunch seven days a week, along with dinner service on select nights.
The menu will lean heavily into fresh, house-made food. Kaffee Korner plans to bake its own breads and rolls while serving a mix of familiar breakfast favorites, sandwiches, cheesesteaks, burgers, coffee, and baked goods.
There will also be plenty of new dishes that weren’t part of the original Kaffee Korner experience.
While the expanded menu is certainly something to look forward to, Tina and Eric say their biggest goal is recreating the sense of community that made the original restaurant special.
They envision a place where families can gather for breakfast, friends can catch up over lunch, and neighbors can meet for dinner on select evenings.
“We want it to be the kind of place where you walk in, feel welcome, enjoy good food and good company, and want to come back,” they said.
A Family Business Returns Home
There is something particularly meaningful about seeing a small business return after being lost during the pandemic.
COVID permanently changed the restaurant landscape, and many independent restaurants that closed during that period never had an opportunity to return. For Tina and Eric, however, the idea of Kaffee Korner never completely went away.
Now, several years later, they’re getting a second chance doing it in the same town where the Kaffee Korner story began.
The former VFW building gives them a chance to create a larger restaurant that can serve more people and broaden what Kaffee Korner offers, without losing its identity as a locally owned mother-and-son operation.
The Levas aren’t announcing a firm opening date just yet. Work is underway to prepare the Shreve Avenue property, and they don’t want to promise a date until they’re confident the restaurant will be ready. Rest assured, things are moving forward. The signs are up on the building and along the curb.
“We’re incredibly excited to bring Kaffee Korner back to Barrington and become part of the community again,” they said.
For longtime customers, that means a familiar name is returning. For those who never had the opportunity to visit the original Kaffee Korner, there will soon be a chance to discover it for the first time.
Kaffee Korner
109 Shreve Avenue
Barrington, NJ
Are you excited for Kaffee Korner’s return?
SJFS is dedicated to food, dining, restaurants, and drinking in South Jersey. Got a news tip? Email southjerseyfoodscene@gmail.com.