Inside the new Menagerie Coffee bar in Philadephia’s North Liberties neighborhood. All images courtesy of Menagerie Coffee.
After 11 years of satisfying customers with a range of roasts in Philadelphia’s Old City, Menagerie Coffee recently headed north for a second brick-and-mortar cafe, in the Northern Liberties neighborhood.
In a space formerly occupied by a video game retailer and e-sports venue, the new shop features design touches that were inspired by the owner’s recent trip to Albania, with rustic white oak wooden beams under high ceilings, abundant windows and intimate seating arrangements. The curvature of the bar is reflected in curvilinear shapes throughout the shop.
Current owner April Nett and co-founder Elysa DiMauro first established Menagerie in 2013 in Old City. They then expanded with a coffee bar at The Bourse Food Hall. That location closed in 2022 after a successful five-year run.
“When our lease ended… we knew we had another shop in us,” Nett recently told Daily Coffee News. “We spent the lead-up years thoroughly surveying different commercial spaces across the city before selecting the new space in Northern Liberties to build out a cafe and bakery and roastery.”
Menagerie re-enlisted the services of Kole Made, a design/build firm that helped bring the first two coffee shops to life. This time, they also collaborated with architecture and design firm Shiftspace to repurpose equipment and materials from The Bourse shop.
The familiarity doesn’t stop there: 90% of the staff from The Bourse agreed to come on board for the opening of the new shop. Although DiMauro is no longer part of the organization as of 2022, she remains close with Nett to this day.
“I’d say that the top two most valuable aspects we’ve learned and continue to bring with us are to be true to ourselves and who we are as a collective business identity,” Nett said. “Menagerie is and has always been made up of its people: the staff, the guests, the vendor-partners, the Old City and, now, Northern Liberties communities.”
As it settles into its new digs, Menagerie is also forming plans to start roasting its own coffees.
“Coffee people are some of the kindest, most wonderful folx you’ll have the pleasure of meeting in the service industry,” Nett said. “The most bittersweet part will be when we transition to roasting for ourselves, the byproduct of which will be a reduced relationship with our amazing roaster partners who are aware of our ambitions and have fully supported our goal.”
Menagerie’s current menu showcases coffees by Philly’s own Elixr Coffee and Minneapolis-based Dogwood Coffee for preparations as pourovers, cold brew and a full espresso bar.
Breakfast sandwiches are served all day and lunch sandwiches change seasonally. The pastries are locally sourced from Mighty Bread Company whereas the cookies, granola, muffins, scones, and smoothies are all made in-house.
“It’s important we know who we are each day,” Nett said. “From there, understanding how everyone comes together to inform our spaces, to use our spaces, to work within our spaces is truly at the crux of what makes us unique in our neighborhoods and allows for the Menagerie shops to embrace sustainable change and forward momentum.”
Menagerie Coffee’s new cafe is located at 908 N 3rd St Unit A in Philadelphia. Tell DCN’s editors about your new coffee shop or roastery here.
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Daria Toptygina
Daria Toptygina is a freelance writer, avid coffee lover and social media manager of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine.
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