Second Stop should be your first stop / Meet Craig Kafton

When you go to the bathroom at Second Stop café in Williamsburg, the owner is watching you. This may sound creepy, and you may be alarmed when you first notice it, but it’s just a photograph of Owner Craig Kafton, looking particularly enthused, on the door facing the toilet. I laughed.

He is quite a character, too. He’s unmistakable in his Buddy Holly-ish glasses, with a gray ponytail hiding coyly behind his head. He busies himself with making coffee and working the register at the café, located on Lorimer and Ainslie streets, which he opened two years ago.

Kafton working behind the register at Second Stop.

Kafton is from Howard Beach in Queens, but he hasn’t always lived in New York. He lived in Holland, Berlin before the Wall came down, and he still has a house in France. But he settled down in Williamsburg, and he lives directly above the café. When he and his partner, who owned the building, finally got a rid of a bad tenant, they decided to open up a café.

“Boy, this neighborhood needs a café,” Kafton had thought.

Forming the café was the main project. “I think we saw it more as an art project, building it,” Kafton said. This is because the inspiration for the building’s restoration came from the original photos of the building at the turn of the century to the 1940s. The façade of the building, which was a grocery store owned by Kafton’s partner’s grandfather, is rebuilt from a 1929 tax photo.

“There’s a bit of every period represented in there,” Kafton said. They got that old-timey effect because the two owners are collectors of stuff. There’s a wooden carving of Abraham Lincoln (wearing an Obama pin) in the front window, many different dangling lamps, a white rusty chandelier, old wooden box speakers and a ceiling fan.

Then, during the building, Kafton became a sort of coffee aficionado, without any other café experience. Now, Second Stop features Stumptown Coffee and in-house baking. They have assorted muffins, from plain to blueberry glaze to the "donut muffin," all of which are delicious because of their home-baked goodness. The café also serves special bagel sandwiches, in which you can get avocado, turkey, cheese, and other great fillings. These items don't come cheap, as a simple iced coffee can cost you over three bucks, but the quality justifies the prices.

Kafton loves the neighborhood, and in between his busy shifts, he manages to say hello to prominent locals, like the woman who owns Hotel Delmano and Union Pool, two notable Williamsburg establishments and popular bars.


As welcoming as he is, he knows who his good customers are.

“Are you a regular?” he asked me. When I said that I’m not, he replied, “Right, I didn’t think I recognized you.”

Kafton imbues the cafe with a warmth that a lot of cafés lack. And the customers are like a community, leaving bags at tables knowing that others wouldn’t steal, and would watch out for them. And even if the customers don’t watch out, Kafton will. He’s always got his eyes out for his customers – even in the bathroom.

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Hanne Hukkelberg – Cheater's Armoury