After closing their doors in November, Yonah Coffee and Cafe’s owners and staff are ready to open their doors for the first time in four months.
Back in November, co-owners Ben Lucas and Joey Keeler were shocked to find four inches of standing water in the Demorest cafe after a pipe burst in the kitchen. At that time, they thought they would have the beloved local spot open in two weeks— but they were just as shocked by the water as how long it took their insurance company to get back with them.
“The insurance company decided they wanted to take two and a half months before they approved the claim and talked about numbers,” Lucas said. “They took forever to get back [with us] and say what they were going to pay for, so we just kept waiting.”
But after those two and a half months of waiting, Lucas and Keeler got to work, bringing in updates to more than just the floors and walls that sustained water damage. Upgrades-wise, they say their brand-new patio steals the show.
“I’m pretty excited about that,” Lucas said. “That’s going to add 45 more seats for us.”
They’ve also added tablets to their seating areas to display daily specials and other menu items— as well as their expanded alcohol menu.
“A lot of people never knew that we had alcohol,” Lucas said. “So our nice, big new sign up front that says that we have booze— it’s funny because a lot of people are like, ‘there’s a new restaurant called Breakfast, Brunch and Booze next to Yonah Coffee,’ [but] it’s just a new sign for the same business.”
He says he’s hopeful their new alcohol menu, from craft beer and mimosas made with fresh-squeezed-in-house orange juice, to spiked cold brew coffees, will be a hit.
Keeler says he’s most excited about their new and improved menu. They’ve added some of Yonah customers’ favorite seasonal dishes to the menu year-round, like their eggs benedict and shrimp and grits.
“I’m excited about the new food on the menu,” Keeler said. “I think the people are going to really like that and the new alcohol, all of the new stuff.”
Serving again
It isn’t just showing off their upgrades and a new menu that have the owners and staff buzzing with excitement. They all agree that they’re ready for the opportunity to start serving the community again.
Yonah continued to pay their staff during their unexpected closing, but Lucas says the staff is just as ready as he and Keeler are to get the show back on the road.
“Even though they’re getting paid not to work right now, most of them are just itching to get back to work because they miss it,” Lucas said. “They miss the environment that we have. We’re a pretty tight-knit group of people, so I know a lot of them are excited to get back to it.”
He says he’s looking forward to seeing the faces of their customers again, who he says he’s missed catching up with.
“Being able to see are our regular customers— we’ve missed a lot of them,” Lucas said. “We have such a loyal [customer] base that I can think of tons of people that when they walk in, I already know what they’re going to eat, and it’s been kind of sad, not seeing these people you’re used to talking to, three, four or five times a week.”
The coffee shop will open its doors to the public for the first time in months at 6:30 a.m. Thursday, resuming their usual hours.
“We’re just happy to be able to serve them again,” Lucas said. “We’re excited for them to try some of the new things we’re going to be doing, and get back to business.”
Yonah Coffee and Cafe is located at 691 Old Historic Hwy 441 just north of Habersham Medical Center in Demorest.
