They have landed in Brooklyn! For cappuccino, a bagel and vegetable pot pie in an atmosphere and decor that will make visitors feel at home.
The Flying Saucer Coffee and Tea Bar landed on 494 Atlantic Avenue, in Boreum Hill, in February 2000.
Inside on two pillars are pages from "Weird Tales," reproductions of a popular 1950's comic book which illustrated famous UFO sightings, such as over Washinton, DC in 1952, the Captain Mantell crash of 1948, the Kenneth Arnold sighting over Mt. Rainier in 1947, and more.
There is also an alien clock (no missing time here!), some alien figures, and a reproduction of a tin toy Rocket Carousel. The backyard is being prepared for an outdoor eating yard called Area 51. On a tree is the head of a hooded alien starring into the cafe's rear windows.
"I grew up on science fiction movies like Star Wars and Close Encounters," said Julie Ipcar, the Brooklyn-born co-owner of the place with her husband, John Brien, who moved from Dublin, Ireland 12 years ago. "My father influenced my interest. I've always been fascinated with anything about space and now we have a place that reflects that interest, with great bagels, coffees and food."
Like millions of other people since 1947, the couple saw a possible UFO buzzing in the skies one night, "a maybe," Ipcar said.
Ipcar and Brien are also owners of the Last Exit, a popular public house opened two years ago. They felt that the neighborhood, near the Brooklyn Academy of Music, downtown Brooklyn and Cobble Hill, needed a coffee and tea bar with "good bagels and coffee."
The cafe is probably the first place of business in New York City, as far as we know, that has the name "Flying Saucer" since the old "Flying Saucer Book Store" in the theatre district on West 45th Street, between Eighth aand Ninth Avenues, which closed down around 1976. The kind gentleman who ran the store, who looked like "My Favorite Martian" without the antennae, published "The Flying Saucer News."
The coffee, tea, and food are out-of-this-world, with a house brew, espresso, cappucino, latte, moche, black and herbal teas. Breakfast features bagels, muffins and bowls of granula. Lunch and dinner includes a galaxy of goodies such as Sheperd's, chicken and vegetable pot pies, lasagna, baked macroni and cheese, doubled stuff potatoes, quiche, soup, salad, and a solar system of delicious desserts.
Live music plays on some nights, and the cafe has shown science fiction movies and has programs by close encounter researchers from SPACE. During the Summers of 2000 the cafe had MONDAY NITE MOVIE MADNESS In The Area 51 Garden, with free movies such as Plan Nine From Outer Space. Alien, The Stepford Wives, Flash Gordon (1980), Barbarella-Queen of the Galaxy, Army of Darkness, The Blob (1956), Blade Runner, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), and Communion, reported to be THE FAVORITE of viewers at the cafe.
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The cafe's phone number is 1-718-522-1383
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SPACE RECOMMENDED COFFEE SHOPS:
When visiting New York City, the Flyng Saucer Coffee and Tea Bar should be your prime landing site. In Manhattan there are many affordable coffee shops which we frequent which we give a four saucer rating, where you can relax and enjoy good talk and food. Most are open 24 hours, excluding episodes of missing time. Here are some of our recommendations:
(List Updated January 2004)
****Galaxy. There are two, one in Chelsea on 8th Avenue below West 19th Street (look for Budd Hopkins in the street, as he lives nearby), the other in the theatre district, on 9th Avenue at West 46th Street.
****Cosmic, at East 23rd Street and Third Avenue.
****Moonstruck, across town in Chelsea at West 23rd Street at Ninth Avenue, where the "Moonstruck Group" holds its monthly gatherings; there are also Moonstrucks at Second Avenue & East 5th Street, on Third Avenue around East 30th Street, and a new one on Madison Avenue at 37th Street.
****Scotty's Diner, near Grand Central Station in Turtle Bay, on Lexington Avenue just north of East 39th Street.
****Tramway, at the corner of 60th Street and Second Avenue, with a view of the Roosevelt Island Tram.
****Odessa, long in the East Village, on Avenue A between St. Mark's Place and East 7th Street, across from Tompkins Square Park.
****Christine's, also long in the East Village, on First Avenue near East 12th Street, featuring Polish dishes.
****Morning Star Restaurant, on First Avenue between East 51st and 52nd Streets.
****Cheyenne Diner, 8th Avenue and West 33rd Street.
****Skylight, on 9th Avenue at West 34th Street.
****Venus Restaurant, 8th Avenue just below West 23rd Street.
****Malibu Diner, West 23rd Street, just east of 7th Avenue.
****Tiffany Restaurant, West 4th Street between 7th Avenue and West 10th Street, Greenwich Village.
****Peter's Place, corner of East 67th Street and First Avenue; has balsamic vinegar on tables.
****Gemini, corner of Second Avenue and East 36th Street, 24 hours.
****Odyssey, 8th Avenue just below West 49th Street, theater district.
****Frontier Restaurant, corner of Third Avenue and East 39th Street.
****Olympic Coffee Shop, corner of Delancy Street and First Avenue, Lower East Side.
****Chelsea Diner, 7th Avenue between West 14th and 15th Streets.
****Waverly Coffee Shop, corner of Sixth Avenue and Waverly Place, Greenwich Village.
****Viand Coffee Shops, Lexington Avenue, between East 78th and 79th Streets; Second Avenue and East 86th Street.
****Mars Club 2112, on Broadway across from the Wintergarden Theatre (where "Cats" is took its last meow bow). Not a coffee shop but an experience that combines a rocky ride to Mars, a Martian decore, and a selection of delicious food (more than coffee shop price, but affordable). Watch for those aliens walking up to your table and enjoy the shop. It's a great, spacious place for groups and parties, with caverous tunnels. A book signing reception for "From Elsewhere: Being ET in America" by Scott Mandelker was held there.
A Fond Farewell to Homer's Coffee Shop which closed down suddenly in Spring 2001 on West 10th Street in Greenwich Village near the Jefferson Market. Harold Egeln went there since it opened in 1975, and starting in 1992 when SPACE was started, met many people for initial interviews and great, affordable meals with the best coffee anywhere on Planet Earth. Rating: 5 Saucers.
Below is a list of links to S.P.A.C.E. with organizations doing similar research in the field of close encounters and cosmic ecology, some with a specific focus, such as abductions or dreams, others pursuing the edges of science, some the intuitive regions of consciousness. There may be different approaches and conclusions, but by researching together, knowledge grows. Many have kindly included SPACE on their Links Lists, for which we are grateful. Listing links here should not be considered endorsements. WEB-TV allows us to use a maximum of 25 links. Please feel free to explore!