Michael Tabb | Student Life

Boosters Cafe, located by the corner of Melvile Ave. and Delmar Blvd., closed Monday. The popular brunch destination opened its doors in 2007.

Boosters Cafe, the popular breakfast spot by the corner of Melville Avenue and Delmar Boulevard, closed Monday following ongoing financial difficulties. Pending the completion of final lease paperwork, the space will be home to an Indian restaurant that should open around November.

Boosters owner Manish “Manny” Dhaba said the decision to close the cafe was made last month after years of financial difficulty. He said the restaurant particularly struggled during the summer and over winter break, when there were not students in the area, as well as on weekdays.

“When the business is not that good, I have to have a living, too,” Dhaba said.

He said the business struggles were likely because the cafe had the same menu for the entire time he was there. Dhaba and his wife bought the restaurant in 2010, three years after it first opened.

“Nobody wants to come every week and come and eat the same food,” Dhaba said. “I was not really creative to come up with new ideas. Maybe that’s why we were not doing that good.”

Dhaba plans to transfer the lease to his friends at the end of the month so they can open an Indian restaurant there. The new owners said the restaurant should feature a lunch buffet and a dinner menu with popular Indian cuisine.

Unlike Gokul, the only Indian restaurant currently on the Delmar Loop, the new restaurant plans to serve meat dishes. But the prospective owners declined further comment until the paperwork is finalized.

Many students were disappointed by Boosters’ closure.

“I’m actually crushed that [Boosters] closed. The owners were all so friendly to all the students that came in, and the food was amazing. I’ll miss those pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes as long as I live,” junior Jasper Maniates-Selvin said.

Senior Alyssa Mendoza was likewise upset by the loss.

“This is devastating,” she said. “It seemed like they were getting a lot of business, so it’s surprising, too. I’m definitely going to miss the pumpkin pancakes.”

Joe Edwards, who owns a number of businesses on the Loop, said that while he was sorry to see Boosters go, he hopes its closure will make way for further development on Delmar. He cited the tough competition from other restaurants on the Loop as a possible cause for the restaurant being closed.

“There have been an incredible number of really well-run and well-conceived restaurants that have opened recently over the last six to 12 months, and I think that makes it tougher on the ones that are OK,” Edwards said. “It’s hard to make it with that tiny of a restaurant. You really have to kind of be there yourself all the time.”

With additional reporting by Divya Kumar and Manvitha Marni.