BALTIMORE — Owls Corner Cafe, a local Puerto Rican cafe, was originally in Dundalk located on North Point Boulevard right near I-695.
After the Key Bridge collapsed business was never the same.
“It impacted my business very closely because I had the wife of one of the guys that passed away at the bridge working with me," says Lilly Ordoñez.
Ordoñez says not only was it painful to hear the news of José Mynor López’s passing alongside the other five men, it was also hard for a lot of her customers to stop by since the bridge is gone.
“We lost a lot of customers because their commute was very difficult for them. You know having to drive instead of 20 minutes having to drive an hour to get to this place to eat a quick lunch to go back to work it’s not doable," says Ordoñez.
She says that loss of traffic turned into a huge loss in revenue.
“I was only selling $50 a day, $100 a day you know, and I had three employees, and I have myself and the bills," she says.
So Ordoñez and her husband closed the Dundalk location for good, but in December they were given a chance to open again, this time in Baltimore City.
Ordoñez says at first her heart was broken having to close a cafe she says was her baby, but she is excited for the new cafe to open its doors on 842 North Calvert Street.
“It feels amazing, it feels unreal, but I also know that it was meant to be," says Ordoñez.
She says her biggest takeaway from the entire experience is resiliency.
“I’m glad to know that a year later you know people are not losing hope and they continue building back their lives so that’s the attitude and I’m grateful for that too," says Ordoñez.
The new Owls Corner Cafe is set to open in April.
