Stone Soupe enters Break Room Café era under new owners in E. Setauket

A longtime favorite inside the Stony Brook Technology Park has entered a new chapter.

The space formerly home to Stone Soupe at 232 N. Belle Mead Rd. — a lunch staple for doctors, nurses, office workers and visitors for well more than a decade — has officially been reimagined as The Break Room Café, a modernized breakfast-and-lunch spot focused on upgraded coffee, fresh-made food and fast service.

When Stone Soupe’s previous owner retired in 2024, business partners Quadir Russell and Carlos Perez stepped in to keep the operation going. Rather than immediately overhaul the beloved café, the pair spent about a year preserving the menu and learning the rhythms of the busy medical park.

“We spent the better part of a year talking to the doctors’ offices, getting to know the accounts and understanding what people really wanted,” Russell told Greater Long Island. “There was a strong demand for specialty coffee drinks, better café options and a more contemporary food selection.”

Now the partners officially launched The Break Room Café, unveiling a revamped menu and a complete interior renovation designed to give the longtime local favorite a fresh identity while preserving many of the items customers already loved.

“We wanted it to feel classy, modern and comfortable,” Russell said. “A place where people could actually take a break during a hectic workday.”

The café was fully gutted and redesigned during a three-week renovation. The updated space now features a café-style atmosphere centered around espresso drinks, flavored lattes, matcha beverages and grab-and-go breakfast and lunch offerings.

The M.V.P. remains

Fan favorites from the Stone Soupe days — including the Toasted Almond panini and the M.V.P., made with chicken cutlet, lettuce, tomato, cheddar, bacon and Russian dressing — remain on the menu. But customers will also find a wave of new additions, including specialty paninis, a B.L.A.T. sandwich with bacon, lettuce, avocado and tomato, chopped chicken Caesar wraps and expanded breakfast options.

The café continues Stone Soupe’s tradition of house-made soups, with rotating selections like Chicken Vegetable Orzo and seasonal Maple Butternut Squash. Three soups are offered during the summer months, with additional varieties planned for colder weather.

But Russell said the biggest response so far has come from the new coffee program.

“We really went all in on the café concept,” he said.

The Break Room now serves lattes, cappuccinos, matcha drinks and signature beverages like the Vanilla Cloud Iced Latte — all with an emphasis on speed for customers squeezing lunch into short breaks between appointments and shifts.

Catering, which was a major part of Stone Soupe’s business, has also been expanded with refreshed menu offerings for nearby medical offices and businesses.

“Our focus is hospitality,” Perez said. “We want people to walk in and have a great experience every single time.”

The Break Room Café is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The café is closed Sundays.

Photos courtesy of The Break Room Café