If you’ve ever found yourself riding from the Castro to Dolores Park with a hankering for a great coffee, chances are Morning Due Cafe is your spot. Morning Due sits in between the Castro and the Mission District making it a breeze to get to by bike.
To make parking easier for all of their customers who ride bikes, folks at Morning Due requested sidewalk bicycle racks from the SF Municipal Transportation Agency. Just recently, two shiny new racks were installed and are now seeing lots of use. We caught up with Joel, a bike enthusiast and Morning Due’s owner of two decades.
SF Bicycle Coalition: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your business?
I came to San Francisco at the age of 17, from my home country Jordan, as an eager and motivated individual. After obtaining my degree in business, I opened my first business which was a small cafe in the Haight called “Love N’ Haight.” Soon after I got married to my wife Reham and after our first child Seja was born in 1996. We then opened Morning Due Cafe in that same year.
By opening Morning Due, we created a safe and loving community in the neighborhood. Morning Due was the only cafe in the neighborhood at that time, then, years after, more and more cafes opened in the area. Around eight years ago we transformed the cafe and opened a full kitchen turning it into a restaurant serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. Morning Due Cafe is a family-run business aiming to serve our customers with great service.
How long have you been in business at this location?
A little over 20 years.
How have you seen biking in San Francisco change during that time?
Twenty years ago we were one of the very first few businesses that encouraged bicycles in San Francisco, back when Leah was the Executive Director. In the past 20 years that I have been in this location, biking has become more and more popular. Biking is such a great alternative to getting around the city.
Do a lot of your customers ride bikes?
I would say the majority of our customers do ride bikes.
You’ve just had new racks installed out front, how have they been working out for you and your customers so far?
These new racks have been an advantage to our customers that bike. A lot of our customers who ride bikes here are so grateful and ecstatic about this new addition out front.
Want to request a rack in front of your business? Are you a customer at a local shop and wish it had bike racks? All are welcome to request a bike rack!
