A LGBTQ+-friendly and Latinx-owned café will close its doors on Jefferson Street in Hoboken at the end of July. Uncle Milton’s Café, a shop with a specific dedication to being LGBTQ+-friendly, according to its owner, has been proudly serving the Hoboken community since its opening in April of 2022 — but the shop recently announced the closure of its storefront at the end of the month while it looks for a new Mile Square location to open up in. In the meantime, Uncle Milton’s will continue to provide its catering services to locals. The breakfast and lunch locale is located at 1119 Jefferson Street, serving up coffee, breakfast, sandwiches, and desserts, along with catering services. Read on to learn more about Uncle Milton’s in Hoboken and the closure of its storefront.
The Closure of the Storefront + Transition to Catering-Only
Over the weekend, Uncle Milton’s Cafe announced via Instagram that its storefront will be closing on July 30th, mentioning that the team was looking for a new Hoboken location, and that the business will still continue to provide catering services in the meantime. See the full post below.
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Owner Milton Canales shared the following statement with The Hoboken Girl following the news:
“Yes it’s sad but I’m happy to of been here for 2 full years I learned a lot unfortunately this location didn’t work for me somehow people don’t come to this part of town even with this new park and sport field still a ghost town I’ve been very lucky to have all my neighbors to come and support me this whole time but is just hasn’t been enough for me to stay open.
I really tried to make it work by doing a lot of different stuff here but is just the location is hidden from everything and everyone.
I’m still doing business in the area as a caterer till I find the right storefront.
We will be also doing the Main Street pop-up monthly event under the viaduct people can always find me there and get your delicious pupusas, empanadas, and Cuban sandwiches .
Like I said I will still be around working with the Hoboken community if people wanna support my business by working with any catering until we have our own store front!”
About Uncle Milton’s
After immigrating to Long Island from El Salvador at age 10, Milton soon got his first job as a dishwasher at a restaurant. Having been a lover of food from a young age, his early work experience led him to various delis and coffee shops before he knew he wanted to pursue this passion on his own — so he began a catering company. He built up a list of loyal clients, cooking meals in their homes since he didn’t yet have a storefront or designated kitchen. After nearly 20 years doing catering, he decided to follow his dream of opening his own café — and Hoboken seemed to be the perfect home for this.
“This place in Hoboken, I was like wow, this is perfect, this is what I need,” Milton told The Hoboken Girl in 2022. “I love Hoboken, it’s a very nice town, people are friendly, a lot of young people from NYC live in Hoboken, it’s very LGBTQ friendly.”
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Read More: LGBTQ-Owned Businesses to Support in Hudson County
Of course, an LGBTQ+-friendly spot was essential to Milton, as this was a pillar of his new business. He wanted to create a space where absolutely everyone would be welcome. His vision was to bring a small café to Hoboken as a way of fostering community, particularly for LGBTQ+ diners. Identifying as a gay man himself and having experienced adversity, Milton wanted to create a safe and welcoming space where LGBTQ diners would never have to feel uncomfortable or ashamed.
“Coming from Central America, especially El Salvador, and being gay… it’s been really, really hard for me,” Milton told HG. “I would love to have my LGBTQ community come into the shop, relax, have their coffee, not be afraid of anything or be ashamed, it will feel like their home.”
Milton added that the café is, of course, open to everyone, but he particularly wanted it to be a safe space for his fellow LGBTQ+ community members. The shop’s black and pink awning proudly displays a rainbow pride flag to symbolize its inclusive and welcoming atmosphere.
The name of the business — Uncle Milton’s Café — comes from one of Milton’s loyal catering clients, who said his children grew up loving Milton and felt he was an uncle to them. This persona of being everyone’s ‘uncle’ was exactly the vibe Milton wanted for his business — thus, Uncle Milton’s Café was born.
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Milton hopes his story will uplift and inspire young LGBTQ+ members in the Hoboken community.
“I always knew that I wanted to have something of my own and encourage people,” Milton said. “A small café owned by a gay guy who came to this country when I was 10 years old as an immigrant and made it from the bottom to the top.”
Milton continued, “[I want to] encourage the young LGBTQ people that, you know, if they have goals, they can do it. All you have to do is work hard.”
The café serves a variety of light eats including breakfast sandwiches; specialty coffee drinks such as espressos, cappuccinos, and lattes; and cold-cut sandwiches with grilled chicken and roasted vegetables. Uncle Milton’s also serves up plenty of homemade desserts: banana pudding, chocolate chip pudding, homemade brownies, and homemade cookies, to name a few. Milton does not serve any fried food — everything is either baked or grilled.
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See More: This Glen Ridge Bakery + Cafe Makes Its Baked Goods In-House
Based on the café’s Instagram page, the catering menu has previously included pastries, shrimp, burgers, pasta salad, quesadillas, and other hors d’oeuvres.
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There’s a Chicken Wing Contest for Charity Coming to Hoboken on 2/1
After a five-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Hoboken's chicken wing contest is making a return in 2025. Hosted by St. Francis Church and benefitting Fr. Michael Food Pantry, 11 restaurants from around the Mile Square (and one in Jersey City) will compete for the title of "King of Wings." The event will take place on Saturday, February 1st from 6PM-10PM at the Hoboken Elks Club, located at 1005 Washington Street. Read on for more details about Hoboken's A Wing + A Prayer event happening this February.
Event Details
A Wing + A Prayer — a popular Hoboken event that was last held in February of 2020 — will make its return to the Mile Square on Saturday, February 1st, 2025, with proceeds benefiting the Fr. Michael Food Pantry at St. Francis Church. Per a press release, the event will be held from 6PM to 10PM at the Hoboken Elks Club, located at 1005 Washington Street.
Read More: New Bagel Shop, B Bagels, Soft Opens in Downtown Jersey City
So, how does the event work? Eleven restaurants from around Hoboken and Jersey City will be showcasing their chicken wings in a people's choice competition to crown the "best wings in Hoboken." The participating restaurants are as follows:
- Anthony David’s | 953 Bloomfield Street
- Bin 14 | 1314 Washington Street
- Carpe Diem | 1406 Grand Street
- Dark Side of the Moo | 52 Bowers Street, Jersey City
- Farside Tavern | 531 Washington Street
- Ferryman on First | 94 Bloomfield Street
- GTK | 1014 Washington Street
- Johnny Pepperoni | 219 11th Street
- Madd Hatter | 221 Washington Street
- Madison Bar + Grill | 1316 Washington Street
- Tony Boloney’s | 263 1st Street
Those in attendance will vote for their favorite wings, and the winning restaurant gets to take home the trophy to be held at their restaurant until the next event.
The organizers shared with The Hoboken Girl that the pantry provides monthly groceries to families in need, and that the proceeds from this event will help bring back the daily sandwich program.
Anyone with questions about the event can email [email protected] or call 201-970-8796.
See More: Where to Get the Best Wings in the Montclair Area
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