It is a boom time for specialty coffee in the American South.
While markets like Atlanta and Nashville continue to add to already robust coffee scenes, smaller enclaves throughout the Southeast are also, sometimes for the first time, finding high-quality specialty coffee options.
DCN’s coverage alone counted more than a dozen new roastery cafes in the South that opened in 2023 (many of which will be featured in a separate piece in our Year in Review series).
For now, here are 10 of the biggest coffee shop openings of 2023.
Atlanta’s Portrait Coffee Sharpens Its Focus with Cafe Opening
On the ground floor of the historic Lottie Watkins Building in Atlanta’s West End neighborhood sits the long-awaited retail cafe of Portrait Coffee… read more
Portrait Coffee. Courtesy photo.
Nashville’s Crema Coffee Roasters Rises to the Top in Brentwood
Crema Co-Founder Rachel Lehman told Daily Coffee News that the new location in the suburb south of Nashville allowed the brand to explore a new interior design approach inspired by the coffee roasting process… read more
Photo by Victoria Quirk, courtesy of Crema.
Volt Coffee is Leading a Specialty Coffee Charge in Northeast Alabama
Alabama roasting company Volt Coffee is helping to spark a small coffee revolution in the greater Gadsen area with the opening of its first brick-and-mortar cafe in Southside… read more
Photo by Jonathan Vo, courtesy of Volt Coffee.
Hex Coffee Roasters Conjures a World of Flavors in Charlotte
Hex Coffee Co-Founder Tanner Morita said the Hex team’s goal when working with Charlotte-based Southwick Architecture + Interiors for the design was to reimagine what a coffee shop can be… read more
Photo by Jono at Unify Visual @unifyjono, courtesy of Hex Coffee Roasters.
Elegy Coffee Opens a Couplet of New Bars in Nashville
Boasting the brand’s signature eye logo and a focus on clean, minimalist design, the new locations in Germantown and downtown Nashville follow Elegy’s original East Nashville location that opened in 2020… read more
Photo by Quinn Ballard, courtesy of Elegy Coffee.
Valor Coffee Extends Coffee Values to Second Metro Atlanta Cafe
The service and seating areas at the new 2,000-square-foot location are exponentially larger than those found at Valor’s original cafe in Alpharetta. The new shop also reflects some functional design decisions motivated by lessons learned at the smaller-footprint Alpharetta shop… read more
Valor Coffee. Courtesy photo.
Mudhouse Coffee Roasters Makes a New Home in Charleston
Mudhouse Coffee Roasters has opened a new shop in the heart of Charleston, South Carolina. The fifth retail outpost for the Roast magazine 2017 Micro Roaster of the Year winner is the first outside of Mudhouse’s home state of Virginia… read more
Mudhouse Coffee Roasters. Courtesy photo.
Five & Hoek Coffee Brings Fresh Roasts to Knoxville
Illinois-born Five & Hoek Coffee has drawn a line through the heart of the United States, opening a second roastery cafe in Knoxville, Tennessee. The handiwork of the owners and their family throughout the approximately 2,800-square-foot shop imbues minimalist design and natural materials with heartfelt vibes of creativity and craft… read more
Five and Hoek. Courtesy photo.
La Coop Coffee Opens a Second Home in Arlington, VA
Guatemala-connected La Coop Coffee has opened its second location in the Washington D.C. area, in Arlington, Virginia. Occupying approximately 1,200 square feet in the Arlington Forest neighborhood, the new La Coop includes subtle nods to the company’s original D.C. coffee shop, making fans of the brand feel right at home… read more
Photo by Amanda Archibald, @fotosynthesis, courtesy of La Coop Coffee.
Opo Coffee is All Positive Vibes in Decatur, Georgia
Taking its name from the Filipino word that translates to a formal, respectful “yes,” Opo Coffee has just opened the doors to a 3,165-square-foot space containing a coffee bar, a roastery and facilities for coffee training and consulting… read more