Passaic's beloved coffee shop known by the wrong name will close its doors for good
PASSAIC — Locals know them as Dave and Benny and their coffee shop as "Te-Amo."
Unfortunately, none of the names are correct.
The brothers, who own the soon-to-be-closed Pur International, a coffee shop and convenience store that dates back to when egg creams were the rage, are actually Virendra Dave (Dave) and Bakulesh Dave (Benny).
The brothers don't mind the nicknames, though.
Virendra Dave's easygoing nature and his desire not to make waves have earned him lots of fans and friends. His personality and calming, supportive presence have been a staple at Pur International.
It's easy to understand why customers think the name of the store is "Te-Amo." The sign above the door says so in large letters.
The sign is old and was created at a time when the shop sold Te-Amo cigars. The sign also advertises lots of other items available at the store, including magazines, coffee, soda, milk and lottery tickets. Under all that writing is the real name of the store. Easy to miss.
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Longtime customers, including Myron Timinsky, who has been stopping in for the last 20 years, like the calm vibe at the shop and will miss it and the brothers when it closes for good on May 16.
Dave will sell the building that houses Pur International at the corner of Brook and Main avenues, and he and his brother will be retiring.
When he talked about leaving, he became emotional and had to fight back tears. He said it has been his whole life and he will miss it terribly.
The go-to coffee spot
For almost 40 years, Dave and the shop have been an institution in Passaic.
He arrives at 5 a.m. and for many years remained open until 8 p.m. selling coffee, newspapers, lottery tickets, buttered rolls, cigars and frankly anything else that he thought customers would need. The shop helped keep food on his family's table and paid for his daughters' tuition at Columbia University.
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Virendra Dave, pronounced "da-vee," arrived in America 40 years ago on May 11, 1983. He left India to find a new home and be with his future wife, Harsha, who was working for Federal Express. A dozen years later he become an American citizen.
Shortly after he arrived, Dave found work in the old-fashioned coffee shop, the kind of place where there once was a soda fountain and ice cream counter.
About a year after he arrived in the U.S., and with the help of his family, he bought the coffee shop.
Bakulesh joined him in 1990, and the brothers, with help from family, Harsha, his daughters, Purvi and Puja, and even guys like Timinski, who occasionally delivered coffee to construction sites, made the coffee shop a go-to spot.
"There would be no space at the counter," Timinski said.
"If he was five minutes late, at 5 a.m. there would be a line waiting," Harsha added. "He had better have the coffee ready."
Dave said part of the popularity is that his shop was an easy stop for coffee for people going to the Lincoln Tunnel. Still, he had quite the clientele, including all the city's mayors for the last 40 years.
When then-Mayor Joe Lipari heard that someone was stealing Dave's newspapers, he had a police sergeant stake it out and the thief was caught quickly.
"Everyone from City Hall was here," Dave said.
He recalled that a former police chief would boast about flying a private jet, yet Dave was the one who had to reset his watch when he returned from a different time zone. He also helped the Shirelles'Beverly Lee, who was from Passaic, learn to work a video camera.
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If someone needed a public notary, Dave was available. He said Pur International was always there for its customers.
It wasn't always smooth sailing, though.
"After 2000, the economy changed," he said.
He used to sell 700 newspapers every Sunday. Now he barely sells any, as many of his longstanding customers are no longer around. They mostly have died or moved on, he said. There are also lots more places to buy a cup of coffee now, he said. He remembers customers coming in and standing around drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes. That part, he said, he doesn't miss.
In any case, it all ends next Tuesday, when Dave will sell the building.
Pat Immersi, who works with the city's Department of Public Works, said he's going to miss the shop. So is Mayor Hector Lora, who also has stopped in quite often. Lora's first apartment was a few doors down, and that's when he got to know the entire Dave family.
"This family has been part of our lives," Timinsky said. He remembers buying Dave's daughter Purvi her first baseball glove. "Where will I go to see everyone?" Timinsky said.
It is bittersweet for Dave as well. While he will get more time to spend with his grandchildren, he said he'll miss his customers. He also expects that after the sale of the building is finalized, the new owner will knock it down for something better.
The buyer isn't saying what the future plans for the building are.
In the meantime, Dave is slowly saying goodbye to his customers.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Passaic's go-to coffee shop for 40 years will close for good
