Long Branch Gets A New Coffee Shop, Almost Home At The Inkwell Lofts

LONG BRANCH, NJ — There's a new coffee shop in Long Branch, and it's at the location of the former legendary Inkwell.

The new coffee shop is Almost Home, which started in Lincroft. Their Long Branch outpost opened last week and is located on the ground floor of Inkwell Lofts, a 22-unit condo building at Second Avenue and New Court, one block from the Ocean Avenue beach.

Starting from when it first opened in the 1960s, the original Inkwell Coffee House was a popular hangout spot in Long Branch, especially for teens and people looking for live music and friendship on endless summer nights.

"It was a cafe, a poetry house, a place where kids went after the bar to chill out," said Almost Home founder and CEO Robert "Robbie" Doran. "The Inkwell would be open until the wee hours of the morning, and they built a cult following. My parents went there in the '70s and '80s, and Bruce (Springsteen) wrote the 'Born to Run' album right around the corner. So it's really wild to be opening here today."

Doran said he hopes his coffeehouse becomes just as much of a community gathering place as the original Inkwell was.

"I envision it to be a European-style cafe, with good coffee, amazing French pastries and grab-and-go salads, wraps and prepared foods," he said. "I love exploring Paris and other European cities, and one of the things I love about those cities is the ability to get a great cup of coffee or cappuccino after 3 p.m. Most coffee shops in America close in the afternoon. I want the Inkwell to be a late-night coffee cafe ... I'm a people person. I love taking care of people. And I love the idea of building a place that has longevity and contributes to the community around it."

Hours for Almost Home Long Branch are 7 a.m. - 4 p.m. Sunday-Wednesday and 7 a.m. - 9 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Almost Home Long Branch will sell coffees, pastries, and prepared sandwiches and salads to go, prepared by The Blonde Shallot, another local small business Doran partners with.

Doran said he next plans to open an Almost Home somewhere in Ocean County; he did not reveal an exact town.

"Ocean County is a market I would love to enter," he said. "At this point, the location has to mean something to me. I really believe you find true success and passion when you believe in a place, and a place I'm willing to put my reputation up for."

Doran also called all the development that's happened in Long Branch in the past five years "phenomenal."

"With Netflix opening and so much happening in Monmouth County right now, I think Long Branch is going to be huge over the next 10 years," he said. "You're going to see a major, major investment in overall growth here."

Doran, 37, grew up in Highlands and Rumson. But he said home prices in those towns have priced out most young buyers.

"All my friends I grew up with would move back to Rumson tomorrow. But there's no availability in those towns," he said. "So they're looking elsewhere to buy. And Long Branch is only the natural next trajectory."

"It's going to be all high-rise condos with really nice amenities all along Ocean Avenue," he predicted. "And all those people don't want to get in their car and drive 30 minutes away for a good sandwich and good coffee."

Inkwell Lofts was built and is owned by Ralph Zucker, CEO of Somerset Development, and the owner of Bell Works in Holmdel.

Designed by Minno & Wasko Architects, condos have either one-bedroom-plus-den or two-bedroom floor plans, with select homes featuring additional dens. Each condo has private balconies, hardwood flooring, oversized windows and open-concept layouts filled with natural light. See inside units here.

There's a rooftop terrace with an outdoor kitchen and ocean views and an indoor parking garage next door with EV charging stations. They started selling this spring. There are six condos left still on the market, with prices ranging from $830,000 to $1,125,000. Louis Critelli of Critelli Realtors is the broker of record and exclusively doing the sales.

Starting At $830K, Inkwell Lofts Condos Now Selling In Long Branch (April 2026)