In the past several months, I have been taking photos of chalkboard signs outside of coffee shops. Very specifically: Sweet Farm and El Beit in Williamsburg. These two shops started out being next to each other, and I wasn’t sure how each one would do, competition-wise.

After a while, each shop ended up claiming a firm position in my mind because of the stuff on the ever-changing chalkboard signs outside each store. El Beit tended to focus a lot on dreamy imagery like tiled teddy bears, coffee mugs with wings, clouds, etc. Endearingly cute but not in a cloying way. Sweet Farm liked to use puns and a little bit of absurdity that made me laugh. I for some reason can’t find any of the El Beit photos and I can’t imagine why, but here are some from Sweet Farm:

Much to my dismay, I noticed a few months ago that Sweet Farm was gone and had been converted into something called Penny Licks. I don’t know if they have really figured out who they are yet, but for now they tend to focus on pretty writing that makes me want dessert. I guess that’s a good strategy for a place that has sweets.

Yesterday, I wondered if maybe El Beit decided to take some of the silliness that Sweet Farm used to use. This is what I saw over the weekend:

I assure you that I am making this whole thing out to be more than it really is (the personality of coffee shops and such). I bet it’s just the same guy who does the board each day and he has a fun personality. Ditto the other shops. Oh well, nice to daydream.