Cafe Concerto Plans Move, New Format
Cafe Concerto, a popular Costa Mesa coffeehouse that features Christian bands, is moving to a larger venue and plans to present established gospel artists in a dinner house environment.
Owner Julian Nafal said the new venue will open by early May in a former Mexican restaurant in an unincorporated area near Newport Beach.
He plans to offer gospel concerts up to four nights a month, charging $20 a ticket for a show, dinner and coffee. Free entertainment by Christian bands and secular jazz artists will continue as well.
The new space, at 2675 Irvine Ave., Suite 1A, is 5,800 square feet, about four times the size of the cafe’s current digs, and has seating for roughly 400, Nafal said.
“We want to book recording gospel artists from Texas, Nashville and Atlanta,” he said. “We were able to get them after they played a church gig out here, but now we’ll be their primary venue.”
Cafe Concerto regularly draws capacity crowds with nightly entertainment. Its rent will jump from $3,200 to $7,200 with the move, Nafal said.
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