Lawrenceville operator working to bring new breakfast restaurant to former Coca Cafe space

PITTSBURGH — After five years of building up a clientele for his Geppetto Cafe, along with generating stays for his Airbnb apartments, Evren Karabacak is poised to bring a new breakfast restaurant to the former site of Coca Cafe, a Lawrenceville landmark that helped to spur the neighborhood’s revitalization and ended a nearly 18-year run when its owners put it up for sale last year in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Coca Cafe did not close because of a failure,” said Karabacak, noting the challenges all restaurants have faced amid the pandemic. “They had a solid business.”

He’s convinced enough of the potential that he has bought the business, which recently was approved for a liquor license, and is moving ahead with a new restaurant in the space at 3811 Butler Street.

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