Merrick Coffee Shop 'Closer To Normal' As Mask Guidelines Ease

MERRICK, NY — It's all about the timing for the Vitale brothers, partners at Heavenly Coffee. Spurred on by the success at the first location in East Rockaway, opened in 2019, Jon and Joe Vitale looked for another place to brew.

In February, Heavenly Coffee added Merrick to the menu, and as the CDC and state agreed this week to loosen mask restrictions for those vaccinated against COVID-19, the shop is ready to go back to the future.

"Today [Wednesday] was day one without masks in the store," Joe Vitale told Patch. "It felt really good. It feels nice to be a little closer to normal than we've been since last March."

Vitale, who runs the shops with his brother, said the plexiglass, familiar in most stores and restaurants to form a protective barrier, was being removed this week.

Most of his staff has been vaccinated for many weeks, but, he estimated, the 15 percent who aren't will keep the mask on.

While the same goes for customers, the sign requiring masks to enter has been removed.

Vitale closed the East Rockaway location for a month last spring when his parents had COVID-19. The store returned in April 2020, but it was not business as usual for Heavenly Coffee.

"Truthfully, we've been on a pretty crazy upward trajectory," Joe Vitale said.

A pandemic and a cup of coffee would seem to make good companions, but Vitale took it to another level with the caffeine, giving customers 50 flavors to choose from for their iced coffee, with no sugars or syrups. That sets Heavenly Coffee apart from Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts and 7-Eleven, all within walking distance of his Merrick Road store.

"I don't view them as competition because we offer something that none of them have," he said. "If you get any of our iced coffee flavors black with just the ice, they're basically zero calories in that. That's a huge separator for us."

New options for having the treats, put in place during the pandemic, Vitale created curbside pickup at the East Rockaway store, while customers can order online and get the drinks at the counter.

Summing up the biggest difference since 2020, Joe Vitale said, "It's nice to see people smile again."

Heavenly Coffee is at 2330 Merrick Road, Merrick, while the other store is at 268A Atlantic Avenue, East Rockaway.