Town’s End Coffee, 9133 Rock Riffle Road, is a fairly new coffee shop that sits peacefully along the Hocking River on the outskirts of Athens. The quaint shop is run and managed by husband and wife Dave and Charlotte Norris, who both strive to make exceptional coffee.
Just a few minutes’ walk from Ohio University’s campus, the location has served as many landmarks before the couple claimed it as a cafe. The building was Athens County’s first post office with Ohio’s first dam directly behind it. The site additionally served as as a mill, a milk processing place and, eventually, a barber shop.
Dave, an avid coffee drinker, spotted the location when taking his daughter to school in the mornings and thought it would be perfect for a cafe. He began working on the concept until the café’s opening in March.
With many coffee businesses closer to campus, Town’s End Coffee uses traditional styles to set itself apart.
“We don’t have Wi-Fi, and we don’t have indoor seating. It’s a traditional Italian stand-up bar on the inside,” Charlotte said.
However, Town’s End Coffee is open to potential changes in the future.
“I feel like eventually we could go that way if we could expand,” Dave said. “If we end up making enough or we’re able to do some kind of fundraiser to expand into the back of the building or outside where there’s a deck. Maybe even add outdoor heating.”
The Norrises’ main goal for Town’s End Coffee is for the cafe to become a space for customers to escape their screens, interact with one another and, ultimately, enjoy the nature and beauty of Athens.
“Since we’re next to the highway and just outside campus, we would be a place to get you where you’re going but not necessarily be your destination,” Dave said. “We’re a good place to meet up with someone but as far as hanging out on a couch, Donkey Coffee is there for that.”
The unique stylings of Town’s End Coffee make it an enjoyable place for people to spend time.
“A lot of the places uptown are packed and have a lot going on, like music, people doing schoolwork, people hanging out, playing games and, somewhere in between all of that, the calm environment — and the quality of the coffee gets lost,” Mia Darnell, a freshman studying communication science and disorders, said. “Town’s End is harder to get to, but its setting is much more relaxing, and the coffee is the best, so the distance is worth it.”
Town’s End Coffee focuses on its vision for customers rather than competing with the nearby cafés.
“The uptown places ... we didn’t want to take those customers necessarily. We were looking more for the customers who walk in, know the exact change, sets it up there, asks for a cup, grabs the coffee and leaves,” Dave said. “That is more like what we envisioned here, that there’d be certain moments where we’d walk people through a cupping or all the different ways we make coffee and not be encumbered by other people who just want to be in and out.”
According to Dave, many people he’s met are glad Town’s End Coffee is there because of experiences with difficulty finding parking uptown.
As a business that isn’t as easily accessible compared to the cafés within walking distance from OU’s campus, Town’s End Coffee takes advantage of its isolated and nature-oriented site to target customers in their own ways.
The cafe is near the Hockhocking Adena Bikeway. Charlotte makes note of the shop’s presence along the bike path with attention drawn in from hikers passing to and from Bong Hill.
In efforts to additionally reach out to customers and build a following, the business can be found on Instagram.
“Town’s End is mostly a to-go place” Charlotte said.
Town’s End Coffee caters to everyone: adults, students, kids, professors and retirees.
“Parents see us a lot for some reason. Maybe they’re just more in tune with wanting coffee,” Charlotte said.
The cafe uniquely makes their coffee using Kyoto coffee, Kyoto coffee towers and siphon coffee.
“I don’t think anyone here has Kyoto coffee,” Charlotte said. “We have siphon coffee too, and I’m not sure if anyone has that around here either.”
The specialty coffee comes from coffee lab roasters out of Tarrytown, New York, Charlotte said. Town’s End Coffee serves oat milk to make its specialty drink, the White Chocolate Thunder, a white chocolate drink with oat milk and a double shot of espresso.
Town’s End’s espresso is an award-winning espresso. None of the espressos are dark roasted, but primarily a traditionally northern Italian espresso with crema on it.
“We’re pretty happy with our coffee,” Dave said. “The one people seem to like the most is the Witch’s Brew, and it’s a really nice, smooth and hearty blend.”
Many people still aren’t aware of the business, Charlotte said.
The Norrises are struggling to create signage because of restrictions with putting things on or around the building’s property.
“We have to be careful with that,” Charlotte said.
Town’s End Coffee has been open to the public for the past eight months, but the Norrises plan to work with the Athens Chamber of Commerce for an official grand opening one day.
“We haven’t gotten a hold of them yet because we’ve been trying to get our feet on the ground and really get a feel of what we are going for,” Charlotte said. “I think with Dave’s direction we have a pretty good idea.”
