Elitist Coffee didn’t set out to be just another neighborhood café. For founders Shauna and Sharon Arnett, the mother-daughter duo behind the rapidly growing Black-owned roastery, the mission has always been bigger: craft the perfect roast, build community, and create a space where people feel seen, supported, and at ease.
That vision is now taking up three times more room—literally.
Their newly expanded shop, highlighted recently in a CBS Channel 2 feature, offers an atmosphere that feels less like a coffee run and more like stepping into a warm, intentional gathering place. Plush seating, curated art, and the aroma of small-batch beans make the space feel worlds away from big-brand caffeine chains.
“We’re roasters first,” Shauna said during the broadcast. “We try to get fresh beans every week for our customers… We want you to sit back, melt into our chairs, sip your coffee, and just feel good.”
It’s a philosophy rooted in both craft and care. Elitist Coffee sources high-quality beans, then roasts them in small batches to control flavor, freshness, and character. But quality, the Arnetts insist, means little without community.
That’s where the multipurpose magic comes in.
Sharon explained that listening to customers has shaped nearly every evolution of the business—from expanding the drink menu beyond coffee to adding teas, pastries, and now food.
“Our community needs a comfortable place to live, to hang out, to work,” she said. “We wanted to build that hub.”
Today, Elitist Coffee doubles as a neighborhood cultural center. Local artists mount their work on the walls for rotating exhibitions; book clubs meet in the corners; remote workers claim tables for Zoom calls; and film screenings bring people together around shared issues—from opioid addiction to upcoming documentaries.
It’s rare to find a business so deliberately personal. Many cafés market themselves as “third places.” Elitist Coffee actually functions as one.
What stands out most is the continuity between the brand’s mission—“sharing love one roast at a time”—and its lived reality. In an era when small businesses struggle to survive, the Arnetts’ commitment to community-first growth presents a practical lesson: people will show up for the places that show up for them.
And the crowd forming inside Elitist Coffee each morning is proof.
As one CBS anchor quipped during the broadcast, eyeing the pastries lined up behind the counter, “Bring me back an apple turnover—and make it two.” A fitting metaphor for a business that keeps giving people reasons to return.
