Team behind popular Bushwick club Ornithology opens sister location next door

By Max Kalnitz

Since opening in July 2021, Bushwick’s Ornithology Jazz Club has maintained its position as one of the hottest destinations for live music in the city. Anyone who’s visited knows that the small space and its roof-deck are packed seven nights a week and a line down the block to get in isn’t uncommon. 

Patrons hoping to get a seat are in luck: Today, the team behind the venue is opening a sister location, Cafe Ornithology, right next door. The new venue, located at 1037 Broadway (formerly the restaurant Brooklyn Whiskers), will be open from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. daily and will offer coffee, tea (starting at $2) and vegan desserts during the day, and vegan Mediterranean fare ($6 to $15) at night. 

From 6:30 p.m. onward, there will be a $5 cover fee to listen to jazz in the space — if you ask for a stamp it’ll cover your entry into Ornithology too. Table reservations are available via email for $10 with a $20 minimum per person. Following each night’s scheduled sets of music, there will be a jam session around midnight for any musician interested in hopping on stage. 

The plan to expand Ornithology has been a long time coming. 

In a 2022 interview with Brooklyn Magazine, Ornithology co-founder Mitch Borden said he envisioned Bushwick becoming a hotspot for live jazz music due to there being a high concentration of musicians and fans of the genre living in the neighborhood. 

“Four gas stations on every corner makes it a destination spot—’Oh, this is where the gas stations are.’ And they’re all full,’” Borden said. “The same thing would happen if we can get more clubs in Bushwick, they’ll all be full. Bushwick will become a hotspot for jazz. And I’m all in into that, because I know the listeners are here.”