Joey Bats Cafe at 50 Avenue B has officially transferred ownership to a new group, according to corporate change paperwork filed this month.
Joey Batista started the local cafe chain to bring Portuguese cuisine to New York City. The chain currently has three open locations at Essex Market, Chelsea Market and Grand Central Terminal. Signage for Joey Bats Cafe was removed from the 50 Avenue B spot in June, according to reporting by EV Grieve.
The space for Joey Bats Cafe — as well as the basement-level Gama Lounge — has now been rebranded to Housewatch and is under the ownership of Omar Barriga, Richard Varela, Harry Antonopoulos and Bexhet Rexha.
Barriga was originally an investor in the Joey Bats Cafe at the location. He also owns a bar in Brooklyn called Yours Sincerely with one of the other partners.
Barriga told What Now New York that the new ownership team bought out Batista when he expressed interest in focusing on his other cafe locations.
Housewatch is a firefighter-owned spot that offers live music and events. It also offers private event space.
“Every firehouse has a housewatch and it’s the person who is on duty taking care of the house,” Barriga said. “Our main goal is to cater to first responders. We cater to all, but we wanted to focus on first responders.”
