Right now, Church Street Coffee & Books exists mostly in our imaginations (and in the ledgers of accountants and realtors). But we’re going brick-and-mortar really soon. This June, we’ll be opening in Crestline Village (Mountain Brook), across the street from La Paz.
If you’ve ever had Primavera Coffee, you know why we’re thrilled to be brewing it, and why we’re building our whole menu around that standard of excellence. (If you haven’t tried it, grab a cup from Primavera or Urban Standard and you’ll know why we love it.) We’ll also have a great selection of books — we’ll carry the books everyone’s talking about, as well as bestsellers, classics, beach reads and, of course, our favorite staff picks. And we’re planning a menu of fresh-baked, delicious pastries that are so good you won’t even notice they’re totally HFCS and trans-fat free.
We’d love it if you’d keep in touch with us through this blog, our Facebook and our Twitter. We’ll be posting about the process of opening the shop, and giving you more specifics (like our opening date) as we have them. Until then, here are a few of the questions we’ve gotten a lot of so far. We invite you to be a part of this conversation. We can’t wait to open our doors and meet you!
What will your hours be?
We’ll be open seven days a week: 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends.
Who are you, and what business do you have opening a coffee shop and bookstore?
Cal Morris has worked in coffee in Birmingham for the past decade. He managed the Crestline Starbucks (in our exact location, actually) for eight years. Before that, he worked with Highland Coffee and O’Henry’s.
Carrie Rollwagen managed Jonathan Benton, Bookseller in Mountain Brook Village for two years before leaving to pursue freelance writing. She currently blogs about local business at Shop Small. She worked as a barista at Crestline Starbucks for two years.
Where are your pastries coming from?
Heather Morris is a fantastic pastry chef who also baked for Highland Coffee Company (if you ever had their Kahlua Cake, you have Heather to thank). For the past few years, she’s catered wedding cakes, so she understands the importance of presentation. Heather is serious about the food she serves. She insists on real, natural ingredients, and she refuses to compromise on quality — don’t even get her started on Yellow Number Five. Heather is also Cal’s wife.
Will you carry children’s books?
Yes!
What’s your exact opening date?
We’re trying to open as soon as possible to provide a convenient coffee shop for our neighborhood, so we don’t want to be locked into a specific date. We will be open by June 30 — or maybe before!
Where did your name come from?
Our address — we’re located at 81 Church Street in Crestline Village, Mountain Brook.
How do I apply for a job at Church Street?
Click the “jobs” link on this site for more information.