Rich Nieto, a Queens native, opened it on the corner of Jackson Avenue and 11th Street after a decade working in coffee shops. As of 2026 Sweetleaf has four shops, three in Long Island City and one in Greenpoint.
The Greenpoint cafe opened in August 2015 with a 15-kilo Joper roaster, visible through windows beside a sliding wooden door. Nieto does most of his green sourcing through Red Fox Coffee Merchants, and the roasters cup each roast and measure TDS with refractometers.
