Undergrowth Coffee closes for good in Uptown New Orleans | Where NOLA Eats

When Alyssa Johnson and Zack Rescoe opened Undergrowth Coffee on Magazine Street, Johnson said they hoped to leave “the planet, our customers and our co-workers better than we found them.”

Five years later, the queer-owned coffee shop between Ms. Mae’s and Casamento’s Restaurant closed Friday, citing rising costs and a slowing hospitality market. The owners announced the decision to shutter Thursday. The reason for closing on short notice, Johnson said, was to uphold a commitment to pay workers severance.

That promise was among the reasons they opened Undergrowth Coffee in 2021. Before becoming a business owner, Johnson worked at another local café that she said operated with “unethical practices.” Rescoe was a regular there, and the relationship between the two evolved as they began discussing a shared vision: to open their own coffee shop, shaped by their values.

When Johnson was laid off during the COVID-19 pandemic, they took it as a sign to make a move. Undergrowth Coffee joined the growing mix of local cafés as coffee drinkers increasingly opted to support independent businesses over corporate chains. It also became part of the city’s small but developing vegan and vegetarian food scene, offering meatless breakfast burritos and plant-based milks and syrups made in house.

Beyond its menu, the decor inside and outside reflected the owners’ emphasis on sustainability: string lights lined the spacious outdoor seating area, tropical plants sprouted from terracotta pots near the bar and clover-green walls framed checkered floors dotted with tiny daisy-like designs.

The Uptown shop gained recognition for its food and atmosphere, winning “Best Burrito” in New Orleans Vegan Chef Challenge one year and “Best Coffee Shop” another year.

“It was a home for a lot of people,” Johnson said. “It was special.”

Now Johnson and her wife are moving back to their hometown of Rochester, New York, where they plan to host “holistic and health-based” pop-ups at farmer’s markets, with breakfast burritos and plant-based milks on the menu.

Johnson said she does not plan to open another business. Yet, in a sense, she is still carrying forward Undergrowth Coffee’s mission more than a thousand miles away.

“We were a well-kept secret, and I loved that in a way,” Johnson said. “I think the people that knew us will know exactly what we are talking about.”