The Philly area is filling up with coffee shops during the pandemic

The pandemic has prompted some restaurateurs to think small — maybe to open a cafe that serves its neighborhood, rather than a larger and potentially riskier restaurant with a larger staff and overhead.

Coffee shops fit that bill.

Even though most are not open for indoor seating, they are still serving as community hubs, offering small-business-style friendly faces (and caffeine) to locals.

Some of these newcomers, like Endgrain Coffee Roasters, go the extra step by roasting their own product. Others, like Fitler Square’s Rowhome Coffee, offer more ambitious fare than mere pastries. Still others, like Ambler’s Backyard Beans, do both.

Here are more than a dozen that opened in the last year:

Opened: November

Matt and Laura Adams — he was a consultant and she a nurse — started roasting their own beans on a Weber grill in their backyard as a hobby, which they converted into their first Backyard Beans location in Lansdale in 2017. They signed a lease in downtown Ambler in fall 2019. Matt Adams said the pandemic made them mindful about design, as they created the interior for takeout service until they would feel comfortable about indoor seating. Lansdale, where the roaster is set up, has the advantage of a drive-through.

Backyard’s coffee line includes responsibly sourced single-origins (love the Ethiopia Basa), nitro coffee on tap and in cans, and flash-brewed cold coffee. There’s a real kitchen here, too, with food including parfaits, sandwiches, toasts, and baked goods.

Ambler, incidentally, is seeing a coffee boomlet. It’s home to Abyss, which succeeded a short-lived Saxbys location. Longtime roaster Wake Coffee opened its coffee shop on Main Street in January and the upstart Retrofuture Coffee Co. is preparing to open in several weeks down the block from Backyard.

Backyard Beans Coffee Co., Address: 22 E. Butler Ave., Ambler, and 408 W. Main St., Lansdale, Website: backyardbeans.com, Instagram: @backyardbeanscoffee, Hours: 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; kitchen closes at 2 p.m. Takeout only, Lansdale has a drive-through. Local delivery for beans on certain days.

Opened: December

Donny Pierce IV pulls shots from a baby blue La Marzocco at his rustic newcomer in the Sixteen Hundred apartments at 16th and Callowhill Streets in Franklintown. There’s a second location, in Washington Township, Gloucester County, on tap for later in 2021. (The Pierces live on the family farm in Cumberland County, N.J.)

“I’ve always admired how a small, little bean could come from so far away, and it’s up for us to serve it correctly,” said Donny, 27. When he decided to open his own coffee shop with the backing of his father, Donald Pierce III, he looked up Evan Inatome at Elixr Coffee, and went to work at the shop in Center City to learn the trade.

Now, Pierce is a customer. Elixr provides Bison’s coffee, and the food menu is expanding from parfaits and pastries to include soups, sandwiches, and salads with vegetables from the farm.

Bison Coffee Co., Address: 1600 Callowhill St., Website: bisoncoffeecompany.com, Instagram: @bison.coffee, Hours: 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Takeout only.

Opened: August

Why did Kelly and Delesa Claiborne get into the coffee biz? “We weren’t liking what we were getting from other coffee shops,” said Kelly Claiborne, who is in real estate while her wife’s background is management.

They took over a new but never-occupied storefront in Francisville, pouring local Vibrant Coffee for drip and drinks and offering teas, pastries, and the obligatory egg and cheese sandwich.

Francisville was the Philly natives’ choice because “there are lots of different people coming together there,” Kelly Claiborne said.

Bold Coffee Bar, Address: 1623 Ridge Ave., Website: boldcoffeebar.com, Instagram: @boldcoffeebar, Hours: 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Saturday. Takeout only.

Opened: December

LeLe Tran’s pandemic pivot involved transforming her Old City clothing boutique, LeLe Designs, into a cozy, artsy cafe serving La Colombe coffee and a simple Vietnamese menu from her partner, Pete Nguyen. By “simple”: banh mi, spaghetti squash salad, and hot broth, plus Pete’s “special coffee,” which has turmeric, dates, and ginger. And by “cozy”: Under the city’s 25% occupancy, there’s indoor seating for four people.

Cafe Couleur, Address: 323 Arch St., Website: facebook.com/cafecouleurphilly, Instagram: @cafecouleurphilly, Hours: 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Takeout plus limited seating.

Opened: December

Sarah Qi and Trista Tang met in high school near Beijing. Seven thousand miles and more than a decade later, they now live in the Philly area after attending college in the United States and went into business together. Tang put her pastry skills to use at their Pennsport cafe, whose specialties — as the name says — are artfully stylized, single-serve cakes and La Colombe coffee.

There also are sandwiches and other brunch foods. It recently opened for indoor dining.

Cake & Joe, Address: 1401 E. Moyamensing Ave., Website: cakeandjoe.com, Instagram: @cakeandjoephilly, Hours: 7 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. Takeout and indoor seating.

Opened: July

Alex MacPhail had just retired from the Air Force as a pilot, and he and his wife, Beth, moved to Gloucester County, where she grew up. Wenonah lacked a community hub, he thought. In March 2020, he signed a lease for a cafe, and the very next day, New Jersey restaurants were shut down.

Back out? “It’s not like the airlines were hiring,” MacPhail said.

He pushed forward and opened this cafe, naming it after the family Shih Tzu-bichon frisé mix. Chompsky’s is more than a coffee shop, serving Working Class coffee. Food is made from scratch, including quiche, baked mac and cheese, avocado toast, and bacon, egg, and cheese on Texas toast.

There is indoor seating now for fewer than a dozen, as well as outside tables.

Chompsky’s, Address: 1 E. Mantua Ave., Wenonah, Website: chompskys.cafe, Instagram: @chompskys_cafe, Hours: 7 a.m.-4 p.m. daily. Takeout, plus limited seating. Local delivery ($5 minimum).

Opened: September (Collingswood location)

Joe Fultano had a sweet gig working remotely for Airbnb. Then the company decided that his job was moving permanently to San Francisco, and you might say he had reservations. Fultano got to thinking about his future. He had enjoyed the Bay Area coffee scene, and decided to replicate it in small-town Pitman. Endgrain opened on a side street in 2015, roasting its own beans. Fultano later bought his building.

By early 2020, Revolution Coffee Roasters outgrew its spot in The Factory, a coworking space in Collingswood, and planned a move nearby. Factory owner Tom Marchetty offered Fultano that space for a second cafe. “It’s the ideal space,” Fultano said. Despite any apprehensions about opening during the pandemic, he said, “I had no way of knowing if an opportunity like this would come up again.” The Factory’s woodworking motif played perfectly with Endgrain’s aesthetic.

Endgrain’s products including single-origin coffees (in bags, drips, and shots) and pastries. There are a few tables indoors.

Endgrain Coffee Roasters, Address: 13 Fern Ave., Collingswood, and 10 Pitman Ave., Pitman,, Website: endgrain.coffee, Instagram: @endgraincoffee, Hours: 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday and Monday, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday (Pitman), and 7 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. (Collingswood). Takeout plus limited seating.

Opened: August

Three sisters opening a cafe together? How about three sisters and their brother? That’s the lineup behind this roomy, welcoming corner spot in a former pizzeria (and before that, a funeral home) in Port Richmond. Oldest sib Sam, who is also in corporate sales, says she and sister Gina, a chef, had wanted a restaurant “forever” — in effect, following their now-retired parents, Rick and Elizabeth, into the biz. The youngest sister, Karmen, then signed on, as did brother Rick Jr., at least for the short term.

The Ranallis grew up at the Jersey Shore, working at their parents’ restaurants, including the Beach House Bar & Grill and Sixth Street Seafood in North Wildwood. Now they’re slinging homemade breakfast, lunch, and pastry, including scones, danish, butter cakes, and “smashed” bagels (which are filled and then grilled, like Cubans). Coffee/espresso is La Colombe, and there are 12 tables of four indoors.

Her Daughters Cafe, Address: 2533 E. Clearfield St., Website: facebook.com/herdaughterscafe, Instagram: @herdaughterscafe, Hours: 7 a.m.-3 p.m. daily. Takeout plus limited seating.

Opened: January

You probably didn’t see this one coming: The psychic at 10th and Pine is gone, and several weeks ago, Jonathan Lee, a former barista at Old City Coffee, and his wife, Jacalyn Shou, moved in with a snug coffee shop. The counter, behind Plexiglass, is just inside the front door for now.

Jiggy is the culmination of a dream for the Philly-born Lee. ”I envisioned having a small shop on my own to do quality coffee in a friendly space,” he said. They serve Small Planes Coffee out of Washington, D.C. — which he chose because it’s also a small business — and some pastries.

Jiggy Coffee, Address: 1000 Pine St., Website: jiggycoffee.com, Instagram: @jiggy.coffee, Hours: 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday. Takeout only.

Opened: October (in this location)

Auto mechanic Stephen McFadden and friends Joe Demarest and Justin Ettore started roasting coffee in 2013 at The Factory, a mixed-use space on a side street in Collingswood. Business boomed and they added a cafe. In fall 2020, Revolution moved into a prime spot on the town’s main drag, allowing Endgrain Coffee Roasters to take over the space.

Revolution, open only for takeout, does a lot of single-origin coffees and offers a small bakery menu.

Revolution Coffee Roasters, Address: 809 Haddon Ave., Collingswood, Website: revolutioncoffeeroasters.com, Instagram: @revolution_coffee, Hours: 7 a.m.-1 p.m. daily. Takeout only.

Opened: January

We’re always seeking a twist in our coffee shops, and longtime Delco-bred friends Eli Shaika and Hugh Morretta are doing just that in the long-ago barroom in Fitler Square that last housed Jezabel’s Cafe. There’s a literal twist: Rowhouse offers its sandwiches — breakfast and lunch-style deli — on pretzel rolls.

Moretta has an advantage on the coffee side: His “other job” is managing the single-origin coffee line for La Colombe, which provides the shop’s coffee. He also won second place in the U.S. Roaster’s Championship in 2019. Shaika’s background is in the music industry.

Rowhome Coffee, Address: 2536 Pine St., Website: rowhomecoffee.com, Instagram: @rowhomecoffee, Hours: 7 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Takeout only.

Opened: April

When her daughters attended the Meredith School in Queen Village, Yulee Park, an attorney, saw a building across Fifth Street and thought a coffee shop would work well there. So she did just that.

The pandemic, whose business restrictions went into effect a month before her opening, has created what she calls “a longer soft opening.” The sunny shop is open for takeout only.

For now, Park roasts the coffee she grinds for beverages. She likes the traditional, bolder medium-to-dark roasts, opposed to so-called third-wave coffees. The shop name? Park’s older two daughters took a trip to Paris with her sister-in-law, and a tour guide called them “the three graces” — a friendly reference to the daughters of Zeus and Hera.

Three Graces, Address: 730 S. Fifth St., Website: threegracescoffee.com, Instagram: @threegracescoffee, Hours: 7 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Takeout only.

Opened: January

Joshua Dew and Jared Cate’s mobile coffee operation and roastery, founded in Baltimore in 2017, led to three brick-and-mortar shops there. They’ve branched north, taking over the former Milk & Honey at 45th Street and Baltimore Avenue.

Their coffees are backed by a food menu including in-house baked goods (notably banana bread), smoothies, and sandwiches.

Vagrant Coffee, Address: 4435 Baltimore Ave., Website: vagrantcoffee.com, Instagram: @vagrantcoffee, Hours: 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Indoor seating available.

Opened: February 2020

Elle Romano and her mother, Melissa, saw a need for espresso in Woodbury, Gloucester County. And when Fiore’s Bagel Nook was going out, they took it over and renovated in early 2020, bringing in coffee from Square One in Lancaster to prepare in a restored La Marzocco.

The pandemic shutdowns were particularly cruel to county seats like Woodbury. Offices and courts shut down. So was the high school a block away. As soon as Whole & Grounded opened, they closed indoors until June.

Their menu includes bagels from Bellmawr’s Redhouse and sandwiches, wraps, panini, salads, and baked goods.

Whole & Grounded Cafe, Address: 5 Delaware St., Woodbury, Website: wholeandgroundedcafe.com, Instagram: @wholeandgrounded, Hours: 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday. Indoor seating available.