Blank Street Coffee is set to open its first Philadelphia location this summer at 3603 Walnut St.
The cafe will be located near the Penn Bookstore and the Inn at Penn, occupying the space previously held by Bluemercury. At approximately 3,500 square feet, the University City storefront is expected to be one of the brand’s largest cafés in the United States.
“We’re thrilled to have Blank Street join the SHOP PENN retail district, creating a destination for students, faculty, staff, and our surrounding neighbors,” Ed Datz, Penn’s executive director of real estate, wrote in the March 3 press release.
Founded in New York in 2020 by Vinay Menda, Issam Freiha, and Ignacio Llado, the company began as a single battery-powered coffee cart in Brooklyn before expanding rapidly across major cities. Today, Blank Street operates locations across the United States and the United Kingdom, with American storefronts in New York, Boston, and Washington.
“We’re excited to be getting closer than ever to the UPenn community,” Menda wrote in the press release.
He added that the size of the University City café will allow the company to “invest deeply in design and bring an elevated, hospitality-forward experience to the neighborhood.”
The chain has gained popularity for its specialty coffee and matcha drinks.
“Their dedication to high-quality coffee fit seamlessly with our vision of offering goods and spaces that inspire, energize, and bring people together across the retail district,” Datz wrote.
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The new café will join several other coffee options on and around Penn’s campus — including Paris Baguette, Haraz Coffee House, ELIXR Coffee, and Pret A Manger in Huntsman Hall.
Blank Street is the latest dining concept to join Penn’s retail district. Late last year, Insomnia Cookies opened a new location on Penn’s campus, and Taco Bell opened a new storefront in University City.
The Daily Pennsylvanian analyzed cafes on and around Penn’s campus in December 2025, and found that shops in the area range from independent businesses to large chains. The 1920 Commons Starbucks location is the largest of the surveyed locations by far, with 150 seats available — nearly double the next-largest location.
Blank Street is arriving in University City after a slate of cafe closures. United By Blue at 34th and Walnut streets closed abruptly in 2023, and Saxbys at 40th and Locust streets closed in May after the School of Dental Medicine ended the coffee shop’s lease. Williams Cafe’s new Houston Hall location was short-lived and closed in November — just two months after opening — due to financial strain.
