The Otherside Cafe to close Dec. 23

By Johanna Kaiser, Town Correspondent

Hungry cyclists, students, and shoppers will soon have to find a new place to dine on fresh sandwiches and sip cold beer as the Newbury Street staple, The Otherside Cafe, prepares to close next month.

An employee for the vegan friendly restaurant confirmed Thursday it will close on Dec. 23. The reason was not immediately clear.

Owners of the cafe, which is now situated across from the top of Newbury Street on Massachusetts Ave., are in the process of looking for a new location, the employee said.

The news of the closing comes as the popular Midwest furniture chain Room & Board looks to open its first Massachusetts store on the prominent corner where The Otherside Cafe is located. The Island Hopper restaurant, and mattress seller Sleep-A-Rama are also located on that corner.

Room & Board has told the Globe it is considering multiple urban and suburban locations and has not finalized any plans.

The restaurant’s closing is likely to be hard felt by vegetarians and vegans, but also the city’s bicycling community that frequents the small cafe.

The Otherside Cafe was applauded by the cycling community in 2009 when it became the first business to trade in a metered parking spot in front of its building for an on-street bike rack with room for 12 bicycles.