Coffee-wise, downtown Jerusalem is known for charming independent shops like Nocturno, Blaser, Gulindo and Shammai 12, as well as international franchises like Coffee Bean – although the nixed plans to open a Starbucks on Ben Yehuda St. might be one of the only happy outcomes of the intifada.

Despite making a mean espresso, Tel Aviv's Arcaffe never really belonged on Jerusalem's Hillel St., where it existed for about a year, and it seemed sometimes that even its employees were aware of this. Last week, the branch finally shut down operations, a statement from corporate headquarters attributing the closure to a dispute with the property's landlord.

The nationwide brand name is supposedly still searching for a suitable replacement Jerusalem location, and Jerusalemite wonders if perhaps our greater metro area might not have one.

Image of Arcaffe's formerly mean espresso courtesy of nicasaurusrex from Flickr under a Creative Commons license.