West Street Cafe Aims To Be Beverly Farms Neighborhood Gathering Spot

BEVERLY, MA — About five years after the sale of his Middleton restaurant, Eduart Allushi was looking for a new venture that was a bit smaller in scale than his former 75-seat location and preferably was nestled right in the 21-year hometown of his family in Beverly.

In the fall, he firmed up plans to open an Albanian cafe, and following six months of renovations in April the doors of the 30-seat cafe offering specialty coffee, pastries, breakfast, lunch dinner, and brunch opened as the West Street Cafe in Beverly Farms.

The spot, which took over the former Half Baked location at 1 West Street, celebrated a ribbon-cutting with the Greater Beverly Chamber of Commerce in late June with the hopes that it will be a social center for the Beverly Farms neighborhood of the city.

"We just wanted to bring a European style since we are originally from Albania," Elona Allushi, Eduart's wife who works at the cafe part-time, told Patch on Thursday. "We always wanted to have a place near where we live where people could come to relax, have a nice cup of coffee, and have a nice conversation with friends and neighbors. Maybe come read a book or have coffee with a friend."

"We wanted it to be something the whole neighborhood would come to. And if someone has a bridal shower or baby shower they can rent the space and we can do the catering."

While Eduart had great success with Freddy's in Middleton, Elona said the place actually "become too large for us" as they raised a family. With the children a little older now, the goal was to open a slightly more manageable spot with a more intimate feel.

The West Street Cafe's Facebook page includes a delectable array of sandwiches, breakfast items, dinner specials, pastries and coffees that appear like they belong in the quaintest of European cafes.

"It's off to a good start," Elona said. "But we feel that a lot of the people in the neighborhood still don't know we are open yet so hopefully they have a chance to come to see us."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at [email protected]. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)