Caffe Oggi Closes After 23 Years in Mill Valley – Smashburger to Open There in June

Many of the same customers have been going to Caffe Oggi for breakfast every morning for the past 23 years.

Today, March 28, they’ll have to find someplace new to do so.

The Mediterranean-style café at 745 E. Blithedale Ave in the Alto Center closed Wednesday afternoon. Owner Antonio Caruso and his staff packed up all their pastries, cleaned out the glass display case and have already sold much of the furniture and equipment. Officially, they have to be completely out by April 1.

“It’s like someone dying,” Caruso said about the end of his business. Caffe Oggi has been open for 23 years, and the Mill Valley resident has owned it for 17. But he said he can't afford to remain in the space.

“My rent is way too much,” he said. Since First Washington Realty purchased a section of the plaza in 2011, prices have soared, Caruso said. He tried to sell the business but the high rent was a deterrent. So although he still has three years left on his lease, Caruso said he was looking to close.

“I told them I wanted to move out, and asked if they could find someone else,” he said. “And they did.”

Smashburger, a fast-growing franchise with a healthy approach to fast food similar to that of Panera Bread or Chipotle, plans to open in late June, according spokesperson Stacie Lange. The restaurant is also opening a location in Novato in mid-May, along with another in San Francisco and two in San Jose by the end of the year.

The restaurant uses 100 percent certified Angus beef that's hand-rolled into a meatball, and then smashed onto a grill – hence the name. The process is designed to keep the juices of the burger in, and produces a thin patty, Lange said. Smash Burger is also known for producing a special burger unique to each region, and plans to launch the Bay Area Burger, Lange said.

"Mill Valley is one of the places in the Bay area we really focused in on," Lange said. The community is one of "foodies" that like to "live, work, and play," and fit well with Smashburger's target demographic.

Being in close proximity to Whole Foods Market also creates good synergy for the business, Lange said, something that Caruso acknowledged was lacking at Caffe Oggi.

Although high rent was the driving force behind his decision to close, Caruso said the competition with Whole Foods has been hurting his business, and the grocery store chain contributes to a congested parking lot that makes it difficult for customers who wanted to go to his cafe.

The majority of his customers are also an aging population over 50 years old, which may also be a factor.

“I’ve survived all these years with them,” Caruso said. But he believes there’s been an emergence of a new, younger generation that doesn’t have the same appreciation for the Mediterranean cuisine as some of his older patrons.

“They look at the food and they run away,” he said.

But then there's that loyal base that knows and loves Caffe Oggi.

"A lot of customers, they're very sad," he said.

Caruso hasn’t decided if he plans to open another restaurant, and isn't sure what his next step is.

“At this moment,” he said, “I really want to take time off.”

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