New coffee shops percolating around Central Virginia

Shenandoah Joe Coffee has opened its second coffee shop, marking the latest shake-up in the Charlottesville area’s rapidly shifting java landscape.
Shenandoah Joe’s second shop is located in the former Java Java spot at the Townside Shopping Center on Ivy Road alongside Zazus Fresh Grille and Arch’s Frozen Yogurt.

When Java Java closed its Ivy Road shop, Shenandoah Joe owner Dave Fafara decided to fill the void.
“There wasn’t a true coffee shop on that side of town,” he said. “It was too good of an opportunity for us to pass up.”
Unlike the existing Shenandoah Joe shop on Preston Avenue, the new location emphasizes cups of coffee brewed to order. Dispensers filled with 10 varieties of coffee beans — two dark roasts, seven single-origin types and one decaf — line the wall behind the counter. When a customer orders a cup, a barista grinds the selected beans and brews a single cup of coffee as the customer waits.
“It’s like going to South Street [Brewery],” Fafara said. “You can pick from five or six different beers. If you don’t like the lager, you can get a pale ale. It’s a lot like that here. You can have a choice.”

Fafara said he hopes to host coffee cuppings — tastings — at the new shop. “It’s going to be kind of like a wine tasting, except with coffee,” he said.
While Shenandoah Joe is the latest company to open a new local coffee shop, several more are on the way. And most of the activity is happening in Crozet.
Crozet resident Marcia McGee has been running a coffee cart in the clubhouse of the Old Trail golf course since August. McGee’s company, Trailside Coffee, will open up a coffee shop in the Old Trail village center, most likely in June.
“Living in Crozet, I definitely realized that there was a need for a coffee shop,” McGee said. “After months and months of complaining that we didn’t have a coffee shop in Crozet, my friends told me that if I thought it was such a great idea that I should do it. So I did.”
McGee envisions her shop as a “comfortable, nonjudgmental place” where the emphasis will be on the coffee. “It will all be individually brewed, fresh-ground coffee,” she said. McGee’s shop, she said, also will host coffee cupping events.
In nearby downtown Crozet, meanwhile, two other coffee shops are in the works.
Mudhouse, which has operated its Downtown Mall coffee shop since 1995, is busy converting the former Uncle Charlie’s restaurant in Crozet into its second true coffee shop. The company also has espresso bars in several Charlottesville-area Tiger Fuel stores.

Mudhouse co-owner John Lawrence said his company has been working day and night to get the shop ready for its planned June opening.
“We’ve been working hard,” he said. “Our vision is to create a great living room for Crozet. It’s right in the heart of downtown Crozet. It’s a great building with great bones. It’s got a great tradition of live music. It’s going to be great.”
Lawrence said Mudhouse had been looking at the growing Crozet area for several years and jumped at the chance once it became clear that Uncle Charlie’s was closing.
The Crozet Mudhouse, Lawrence said, will eventually host live music events, fundraisers and more.
Down the hill from the new Mudhouse shop, White Hall resident Camille Phillips is working to open a third coffee shop in the area. Phillips’ Green House Coffee will be located in a house next to the Crozet BP gas station and Dairy Queen.

“For a long time, I’ve been waiting for someone to open a community gathering place in Crozet,” Phillips said. “Eventually I decided to it myself.”
Green House Coffee will offer garden seating on its patio and will serve breakfast and lunch.
“It’ll be the best of the way things used to be,” she said. “A vintage house with a vintage feel.”
Phillips, a registered nurse with the University of Virginia Health System, hopes to open her shop over the summer. It took around two years for the rezoning to work its way through Albemarle County, she said. Her site plan has been under review by the county for seven months.
With three coffee shops coming to Crozet, competition may prove fierce. Yet Phillips thinks that may prove to be a blessing.
“Competition can be good,” she said. “It’s clear that it’s a good idea that people think is worthy to do. There’s three of us now.”

Opening a business or expanding during the economic downturn may also prove risky. But Fafara said he thinks good local coffee is somewhat recession proof.
“A good cup of coffee is a simple luxury that you can still enjoy, no matter what’s happening in the economy,” he said.