The new Simpl Coffee shop in Midtown Manhattan. All images courtesy of Simpl Coffee.
A pair of Ukrainian coffee chain veterans recently launched a new cafe brand in the United States called Simpl Coffee, with a second location now open in Midtown Manhattan.
Inside, clean lines and right angles come through black wooden tables, white cabinetry and a stone-topped bar. A palette of mostly whites, grays and black is softened by flowers and green plants, keeping the room calm and uncluttered so drinks and pastries can pop.
“Nothing screams for attention, but a lot of small details quietly tell you, ‘We really care,’” Simpl Coffee Co-Founder Oleksandr Chernyshov told Daily Coffee News. “No fake finishes, no decorative ‘pretend.’ That’s a value for us, not just an aesthetic. The goal for the spaces and for the brand is the same: Make everything as simple as possible for the guest, and as honest as possible in how it feels.”
Among the shop’s interior details are vertical strips of Ukrainian folk patterns painted in white on light gray walls, surrounding a cloud-shaped, backlit, borderless mirror. While Simpl’s owners embrace their roots, the connection comes through execution more than ornament.
“I’m not sure how to quantify ‘Ukrainian style’ in design, but I can definitely describe our mentality,” Chernyshov said. “Where we come from, nothing is guaranteed. So if you decide to do something – a coffee shop, a sandwich, a guest interaction – you do it as well as you possibly can, or you don’t do it at all. And then you keep tightening the screws, making it a little better every month, every year.”
A Fetco batch brewer and a La Marzocco Linea espresso machine paired with Mahlkönig grinders anchor the bar in the roughly 600-square-foot Midtown East shop.
“For us, the story is not about exotic equipment. It’s about stability,” Chernyshov said. “We don’t just need great shots today — we need great shots every day, for years. We want guests to know that when they fall in love with a flat white at Simpl, they can come back next week, next month, next season — and it will still taste like ‘that’ flat white.”
Simpl Coffee Midtown
Simpl’s 300-square-foot first New York location opened in the Financial District near the end of 2023 with a compact, high-efficiency bar. The Midtown East shop, open since October 2025, keeps the same tight focus while offering a little more room to linger.
“We like smaller, very intentional footprints where every square foot has a job,” Chernyshov said.
Before coming to the U.S., Chernyshov built his career in Ukraine as CEO of Aroma Kava, scaling from one location to more than 350 while also launching a wholesale bakery. Co-founder Oleksandr Voievodin said he previously founded My Coffee in Ukraine, growing it from one location into a franchised business with more than 150 shops.
Simpl Coffee in the Financial District.
Both founders sold their stakes and moved to the U.S. in 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“When the full-scale war started in Ukraine, safety became the first priority for our families, our team, our lives,” said Chernyshov. “For us, the U.S. is the most attractive market in the world for many industries, and for coffee shops it’s almost a dream stage: strong coffee culture, high standards, demanding guests and room for new brands with a very high bar for service and consistency.”
Simpl’s custom blends and single-origin coffees for both locations are roasted by a third-party partner in Brooklyn, while a small daily pastry lineup is delivered from Balthazar.
With the first two shops serving as a stress test for systems, training and the guest experience, the founders said the next stage is acceleration. Chernyshov said the goal is roughly 50 corporate locations in concentrated markets over the next few years before moving into franchising and partnerships, with a long-range aim of 3,000 shops in 10 years.
Co‑founders Oleksandr Chernyshov (left) and Oleksandr Voievodin
“It won’t be a straight line, of course, but that’s the scale we’re aiming at,” said Chernyshov. “We’ve done hundreds before. Now we want to see if we can do thousands — with a better product, a stronger brand and a healthier foundation.”
Simpl Coffee is located at 927 2nd Ave, New York City.
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Howard Bryman
Howard Bryman is the associate editor of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine. He is based in Portland, Oregon.
