Broad Porch Coffee Swings Into Flagship Bakery and Cafe in VA

Inside the new Broad Porch Coffee location in Harrisonburg, Virginia. All images courtesy of Broad Porch Coffee.

A former dive bar has transformed into a Broad Porch in Harrisonburg, Virginia, with the opening of the flagship cafe of Broad Porch Coffee.

Featuring a full commercial kitchen and bakery, plus seating for as many as 100 guests, the new Broad Porch location follows two years of renovation of a space that previously had dark walls and little natural light.

The cafe broadens Broad Porch’s retail footprint to three Shenandoah Valley locations, including a bar at the Agora market in Harrisonburg, and the roasting company’s original cafe in Luray.

The new shop in Harrisonburg has “as many windows as possible,” according to Broad Porch Coffee Co-Owner Ryanne Hodson, including floor-to-ceiling windows in the front and a 50-foot skylight.

“We are always trying to make our spaces feel as cozy and homelike as possible,” said Hodson, who led the redesign along with co-founder Jill McMullan. Hodson noted that the two “obsessed” over many of the design details, including the green and teal “marzipan terrazzo” stone paired with vintage-style olive-green Kohler sinks in the bathrooms.

“All colors originated from our coffee bag labels,” Hodson said. “The ceiling is painted with our Mr. Motivator Espresso bag label. Our quartzite counters reflect our Southern Split blend bag label. The patio and front of the building are painted to reflect some of our limited-edition blend labels.”

Dimmable zones of electric lights maintain the desired vibes as the sun goes down, while casting light on the ash wood surfaces on the shop’s bar front, benches and tables.

Within the light-filled space, guests can choose any number of fresh pastries created by head baker Kat Martin in the 500-square-foot kitchen, while a separate food menu led by McMullan includes items such as biscuits, egg dishes and grain bowls in the morning, followed by midday options such as salads and topped toasts.

Beer and wine is designed to play nicely with other menu items such as beet carpaccio, arancini, cheese plates and more, while kitchen manager Maria Cooper keeps the operations flowing throughout the day.

“They took what worked at our Luray cafe — baking biscuits from scratch, unique open faced toasts, fresh baked pastries, made to order parfaits — and expanded on that,” Hodson said. “We wanted to continue our mantra of elevated but accessible food and coffee.”

On the latter front, beans destined for all Broad Porch locations continue to be roasted on a 15-kilo Renegade machine in Luray that has been increasingly busy with wholesale requests.

“After renovating the new cafe for the last year, we are in the process of upping our wholesale game at the roastery, hoping to more than double our roasting volume this year alone,” said Hodson. “We have the capacity and the space to do it.”

The new Broad Porch Coffee is located at 47 Court Square in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Tell DCN’s editors about your new coffee shop or roastery here.