Rochester, New York · aiming for spring 2027
The Lantern
A coffeehouse in the daytime and a listening room at night, staying open from one to the other.
In the East End, near East and Alexander
Open every day from eleven. Until midnight Monday to Saturday, until eight on Sunday
What it is
From eleven until five it is a coffeehouse and a workroom, with power at every seat, wifi that works, a cup of coffee priced so it is enough reason to stay, and nobody asking whether you want anything else. At five the lights come down and the bar opens. Early in the week a film goes up on the screen at six. Thursday and Friday are performance nights, short sets you can still talk over, with the performers paid from a basket. Saturday is the weekend, with something on that doesn't take over. On Sunday the lounge runs until eight, with the game on in season. Every other night the doors close at midnight.
The person writing a dissertation chapter at two in the afternoon and the person on a second cocktail at eleven at night are sitting in the same chair, and the place is built so that both of them are comfortable there.
11 AM to 5 PM
Coffee, tea, pastries, soup and sandwiches, and you can stay as long as you like. All ages are welcome in the daytime.
5 PM to midnight
A full bar, light fare from the kitchen, and a small stage set back from the street, at a volume you can talk over. No cover, any night.
| Mon–Wed | Lounge, with a film running |
| Thursday | Performance night, basket house |
| Friday | Performance night, basket house |
| Saturday | The weekend, with something on that doesn't take it over |
| Sunday | Coffeehouse until five, then the lounge until eight. The game is on in season |
Why there isn't one already
Rochester has good coffee shops and good bars, and they keep different hours. The coffee shops that stay open late don't pour a drink. The places with a bar and a stage open at five, and some of them open only four or five nights a week. Very few are anywhere you could spend a Tuesday afternoon and a Friday night.
The reason is money rather than imagination. A café needs its tables back to pay its rent, so it cannot let you sit for four hours on a drip coffee. A bar pays rent all day on a space that is empty until the evening. The Lantern runs both under one roof on one lease, so the evening pays for the afternoon, and that is what lets the afternoon be unhurried.
Nothing stops anyone else from doing the same thing, and we don't assume otherwise. What we are counting on is being the place people come back to.
Founding memberships
Before we open, we will sell a limited number of founding memberships for the people who want to be regulars from the first day. What they include is still being worked out, and the question in the form below helps decide it.
Nothing is for sale yet, and this page takes no payment. If you want to hear when memberships open, leave your email.
Bands and questions
Artists who want a night, roasters and brewers who want to be poured here, and anyone with a question: founder@thelanternroc.com.