Coco’s is closing for good today
If you want one last cable knit latte, now is the time
The day we’ve been dreading has arrived: Coco’s, a beloved Little Italy bakery known for its cable knit lattes and whimsically ornate birthday cakes, will close for good this afternoon.
The bakery’s owners announced on Instagram last November that they hadn’t planned on closing. According to the announcement, their landlord informed them a week before their lease expired that he wouldn’t be renewing it, having previously assured them that Coco’s could stay in its College Street location. The owners continued to invest in the space, adding a new patio and paying for electrical upgrades. The landlord, meanwhile, said he’d decided to give it to his sister, who wants to open a homeopathy clinic.
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Since the announcement, Coco’s has seen lineups out the door as customers come to say goodbye. Many on social media have also posted their farewells, with one customer sharing a photo of an “emergency” Coco’s chocolate chip cookie they’d wrapped in foil and put it the freezer. Bakery staff have more than tripled their weekly production to meet the demand.
“People have been outrageously generous and kind, sharing so many nice words about what the space has meant to them, bringing gifts and mementoes to the staff and even getting us baby gifts, sharing second-hand things their own kids loved,” says Coco’s owner Nicole Bilyea, who is pregnant. “It’s sad to close this chapter not in the way we would have liked, but everyone has shown up for us.”
Coco’s opened in 2020 after taking over (the also great) Empire Espresso. It quickly became a city favourite, known for its friendly atmosphere, popular breakfast sandwiches and delightfully aesthetic baked goods—the limoncello elderflower tiramisu, princess cake and Easter lemon meringue lambs will always be in our hearts, and birthdays won’t be the same without the thrill of securing a Coco’s cake.
Bilyea says that, while the bakery’s equipment will soon go into storage, Coco’s could be back someday. “We feel super supported by the community for whatever comes next.”
Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
