I noticed a few years ago on a trip to San Francisco a coffee shop open in the Financial District until 11 p.m. at night. Meanwhile, Starbucks was closing at 4 p.m. – earlier than ever before in Fisherman’s Wharf. Someone clearly noticed a need for third places for people living in the Bay Area and responded in fold.

The same trend has now reached across the country to Florida with shops inspired by Yemen, Turkey, and other countries popping up all over the state and becoming highly prevalent in the Orlando area and across the Tampa Bay area. These shops serve pastries, specialized coffee, and teas and are sleek in design with comfortable couches, inventive lighting, plenty of plugs and Wi-Fi. The espresso machines are expensive and serve thick concentrated pours.

While other coffee chains have become hostile to people looking for a place to converse or a place to use their laptop, these shops are inviting people in and consumers are responding by flooding these shops with businesses, sometimes well into the late night.

My favorite shop I have seen open so far is Jabal Coffee in Orlando off John Young Parkway. The coffee shop is massive and has a great rewards program and a wide-range of options depending on your mood. There is plenty of seating for groups large and small. They even have rentable spaces for meetings or if you need a quiet space. They really thought of it all.

After the pandemic, we don’t need more drive-thrus what we need is more reasons to be able to connect and enjoy a space with those that matter to us and I’m excited that the trend is now shifting in this direction. Starbucks should take note.