James Beard-Nominated Càphê Roasters Is Opening a New Location in South Philly in Spring 2027

James Beard-Nominated Càphê Roasters Is Opening a New Location in South Philly in Spring 2027

Càphê Roasters, the Kensington coffee roaster and café nominated for a James Beard Award, has announced plans to open a second location at 2501 Oakford Street in South Philly. The café will occupy the ground floor of the Herringbone Lofts in the Grays Ferry/Point Breeze neighborhood, with an opening targeted for spring 2027.

The announcement comes as the café approaches its fifth anniversary. Thu Pham and Raymond John, the husband-and-wife team behind Càphê Roasters, opened the first café on October 16, 2021, after three years of roasting coffee out of MaKen Studios in Kensington, just down the street from the café’s current location at 3400 J Street. The couple and business partner Abraham Kwon are leading the expansion.

The South Philadelphia café, unofficially called Càphê Roasters South, will follow a layout nearly identical to the Kensington café but at more than double the size. It will span 5,685 square feet and seat 80 to 90 guests, including a larger lounge area. The Kensington café has roughly 40 seats in 2,345 square feet.

Pham said the new location will be “more loungey” and built to accommodate more public events and private buyouts. The space will have a much larger kitchen and dining area, and third-party delivery will be available. It will not include a roastery, as beans will continue to be roasted in Kensington and delivered to South Philadelphia weekly.

The café plans to open six days a week from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with the goal of eventually opening seven days a week.

“We’re so excited to expand our offerings to South Philly,” Pham said. “It was always part of the growth plan for us, as we want to serve multiple sections of the city, and South Philly is home to a lot of Asian-Americans. We knew we wanted to expand to a neighborhood that would embrace us as much as we’re embracing the community, and South Philadelphia sounds like the perfect fit.”

Minh Tran, who has been with the brand for five years, will become Head Chef of the new location. Phat Tang will move from the Kensington café to serve as general manager of Càphê Roasters South. Zoe DeLay, who became Head Pastry Chef at Càphê Roasters in May, is leading a standardized pastry program she created from the ground up.

Brittany Ewing and Telsa Love of CosciaMoos Architecture designed the space. “The design builds on Càphê’s utilitarian identity with a refined material palette,” Ewing said. “A central coffee bar anchors the space, with low seating that brings guests closer to the coffee making experience. Its plywood-inspired finish reflects an industrial, wabi sabi sensibility, elevating a simple material through clean detailing.”

According to Ewing, the café will offer a mix of communal tables, banquettes, café seating and lounge areas, with color in the lighting, furniture, tile and accent walls. At the entrance, a flexible metal-grid community wall will let guests and local organizations share flyers, photos and announcements. “Ultimately, the goal was to create a space that feels distinctly Càphê: welcoming, energetic, community-focused, and reflective of the brand as it continues to grow,” Ewing said.

Herringbone Lofts was built in the 1920s as a men’s suit factory. A redevelopment was completed in late 2022, and the building opened in 2023. It has 54 units and is near full occupancy. Herringbone’s ownership, represented by Matt Ryan, Chris Mrozinski and Ed Glickman, approached Pham about the ground-floor space two years ago.

In a statement, the owners said, “We’re excited to welcome Càphê Roasters to their new location. Ray, Thu, and Abe are an incredible team, and their brand perfectly complements what we’ve been building at Herringbone Lofts.”

Pham said, “Matt and Chris have been so welcoming to us and we couldn’t ask for better partners in our next venture. The space is going to be beautiful, and the neighborhood is definitely growing, and we’re just grateful to be a part of that growth. Next spring can’t come soon enough for all of us.”

Càphê Roasters began as a two-person operation working out of its studio, hosting pop-ups and selling coffee through e-commerce and retailers. It averaged about 300 pounds of roasted coffee per week for roughly 25 clients. It now describes itself as Philadelphia’s first and only Vietnamese specialty coffee roastery, producing more than 1,000 pounds of coffee per week.

In 2025, Càphê Roasters was nominated for a James Beard Award in the Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program category, which was renamed and expanded in 2023 after focusing only on wine since 1991. The café has also appeared on The New York Times’ list of the best restaurants in Philadelphia since 2024.

In July 2025, the company announced plans to open a new Vietnamese restaurant in the former Harrowgate Theatre, slated for late 2027. Pham said she and her partners plan to open additional Càphê Roasters locations but are not actively seeking other sites at the moment.