Piety Market at Hotel Peter & Paul

Piety Market in full swing. Come get you some!

Today kids! Come get you some!

Piety vendors: please tell shoppers and fellow vendors to patronize the Who Dat cafe tomorrow, which is on the verge of closing after this year's slow summer slog.

From Craig J. Nero – Owner of Who Dat Coffee Cafe

Fifteen years on this amazing corner… thirty years in this incredible community. I’ve been blessed beyond words to call this place home, surrounded by some of the most amazing people I’ve ever known.

But I have to be real with y’all—this summer has been brutal, and the challenges we’re facing feel heavier than ever. Back in 2014, when Airbnb arrived, we were a tight-knit neighborhood. We begged the city to monitor and regulate them, but nothing was done. Over the past 11 years, we’ve had to adjust our business model more times than I can count—surviving shifts in tourism, the pandemic, and everything in between.

Since, the city’s decision to finally regulate them it has pulled the rug out from under a huge part of our business plan—something they allowed us to grow but now they cut off more than 50% of them—without regard for the small businesses that fought years ago to avoid exactly this. And the truth is, we can’t fully recover from the impact.

I have employees who’ve dedicated over a decade of their lives to this cafe, and I’ve always made sure they could rely on me. But right now, I’m at a crossroads. I’m trying to decide—do I risk it all to keep going, or do I step away proud of the time we’ve had?

I don’t want to close. This cafe is my child, my life, my passion. But I can’t ignore the reality in front of me. I’m sharing this because I believe in being honest with my community, and because I need your help to make it through this summer and into the next chapter—whatever it may be.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for 15 years of Who Dat Coffee Cafe, and for the love I’ve felt in 30 years of living here. This place has been my home, my heart, and my family.

— Craig