Meet the Business Owner

Adam Bunce

The Beginning: 2015-2019

Adam has spent over 15 years in the restaurant industry. His first job was at a Mcdonalds in his hometown while in High School. He gained insight into Front of House experience while working there as well as Friendly's, and a locally owned restaurant, Little Italy. It wasn't until later in life when he worked at chain restaurants like Ruby Tuesday and Buffalo Wild Wings that he decided to look into owning something of his own. When he was approached by the original owner of Turtle Leaf Cafe to be the manager of her restaurant he was very quick to accept the role. After working as the manager of Turtle Leaf Cafe for 18 months he was then offered the opportunity to take on ownership of the cafe. When deciding to keep the restaurant in the current location or move to Elmira it was Adam's choice to bring their unique menu to the heart of his hometown in hopes that the downtown area will eventually turn around.

Fast Forward To Today:

Since Turtle Leaf Cafe has moved to Elmira a lot has changed. The City has a new Comprehensive Masterplan in place and a Downtown Revitalization Initiative was awarded by the state of NY, which helped spark revitalization. Brand new construction as well as rehabilitation to historic buildings can be seen throughout the downtown. Not only are new businesses sprouting in Downtown Elmira, but we also have people on waiting lists to live in the downtown corridor. We are very encouraged by the growth and leadership that we have seen over our time in Elmira. We are very optimistic that the best is still yet to come, not just for TLC but for our city in general.

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