The coffee wars are filtering down to Ramona mom-and-pop shops that are finding their own ways to stay competitive with Starbucks and other big retailers.
The new Gathering Grounds coffee hut that opened March 8 is looking to create a new identity from the previous businesses that occupied the space, said owner Danica Strand.
In earlier years, the cozy hut at 23658 San Vicente Road has been home to Java Hut, That Good Stuff and the Hummingbird Coffee Hut.
“Now our biggest challenge is being our own business and not being compared to Hummingbird,” Strand said. “Hopefully, people will learn to love us as Gathering Grounds. So far, so good.”
Strand said rumors have been floating around that a new Starbucks outlet will open at the former Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen fast-food restaurant at 1801 Main St. A Starbucks spokesperson confirmed in a March 17 email the chain is planning to open a new outlet at the location later this year.
But Strand said she’s not too concerned because she caters mostly to customers who live in the other side of town in San Diego Country Estates.
“This community wants to keep things local and s mom-and-pops,” said the Estates resident. “I think that’s what Ramona is all about, a small town ing locals. That’s where we have the advantage over another Starbucks.”
Strand said she wants to contribute to ing small businesses by bringing in local products to sell.
For now, Gathering Grounds’ menu includes a variety of lattes, including three signature house lattes; energy drinks, teas, horchata cold brew in addition to breakfast sandwiches, acai bowls and muffins. One of the most popular items is the Honey Grams Latte named after her late grandmother, Sharon Strand, who had always wanted to own a coffee shop.
But in the future as her business gets up-and-running, Strand said she hopes to sell baked goods such as cake pops from local bakeries.
“My whole vision for the coffee shop is to bring in local products, a small business ing other small businesses and keeping everything local,” she said.
Strand is working toward acquiring a cottage license so she can bake products at home. She also dreams of expanding the little hut, which is stocked with games and books on the outdoor patio shelves, with Sip ‘n’ Paint nights, Bunco nights and maybe even movie nights.
The entertainment would reflect Gathering Grounds’ slogan – “Where community and coffee come together,” she said.
The shop is open every day from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m.
“It’s a play on words with coffee grounds, but it’s also a place where people can come together to chit-chat and play games,” she said.
Gena Haidar, owner of Cedar Rose Cafe, which opened as a pop-up called “Pita Diva” in 2021, said she’s keeping an eye on having a second Starbucks in town.
But, she said, it’s not always bad news that a big coffee shop is opening. Smaller coffee shops can offer specialty coffees without the long lines.
“Not everyone wants to wait in line at a drive-thru when they can get a coffee at a local coffee shop quickly,” she said.
Haidar said her business sets itself apart from the big retailers by selling items made with specialty coffee beans and foods linked to her Lebanese roots.
The business was rebranded from Pita Diva as Cedar Rose Cafe when it opened three years ago at 1130 D St., Suite 10, to create a cozy, artful cafe atmosphere, she said.
But the shop had limited exposure to customers, so in 2022, she closed it and invested in a mobile trailer. The business has since been reimagined as a cottage bakery with a coffee trailer set up at the Santa Ysabel Art Gallery at state Route 78 in Santa Ysabel.
Haidar’s trailer is typically open near the art gallery on weekends from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and during events hosted by the gallery. She also takes the trailer to special events in Ramona.
A behavioral interventionist at Poway High School, Haidar has the flexibility to run the cottage bakery side of the business from her home. The micro business is a self-serve model where customers order items shown on the CedarRoseCafe.com website during weekdays and pick the food up at a location in the Estates on the weekends.
At the trailer, she serves lattes, espressos, sodas and lemonade, and through the home-based cottage she offers chai concentrates and teas, confections and cookies. Some of her specialties are Dubai chocolate bars, strawberry Dubai cups, and Lebanese desserts such as Baklava and Knafeh.
“Essentially, my goal is to have a brick-and-mortar shop and sell savory Lebanese items,” Haidar said. “I’m limited on what I can do with the current model.”
