NORTH RIDGEVILLE — There’s nothing much like settling in with a hot cup of joe on a cold winter day. And, as of last Wednesday, North Ridgeville has added a new player to the coffee mix.

Café Ah-Roma —  34173 Center Ridge Road, behind the GetGo — wants to satisfy North Ridgeville’s daily coffee fix.

It doesn’t plan to stop there. Bagels, smoothies and sandwiches are also on the colorful menu board behind the counter.

“We’re kind of a hybrid between Starbucks and Panera,” said Mike Hostutler, who, along with Mary Wright-Ally and her husband, Rob Bennett, owns Ah-Roma.

“We focus more on coffee than Panera, and more on sandwiches than Starbucks,” Hostutler said.

The North Ridgeville outpost is the company’s third. The first store opened in Berea in 2000, followed by one on Euclid Avenue in Cleveland in 2004.

The two other stores, Hostutler said, have been doing knock-out business and have captured a devoted following.

The food — much of which is made in the central kitchen in the Berea location — has had customers coming back day after day, Hostutler said.

But you can’t neglect the coffee — after all, it is a café.

The coffee at Ah-Roma comes from Panache, headquartered in Portland, Ore. The store picks from about 115 varieties and usually carries 25 at any time and rotates its selections daily.

Hostutler, who lives in Strongsville, said he would pit his coffee toe-to-toe with any coffee in the country.

“People absolutely love it,” he said.

But the success of the business is more than just the sum of its ingredients, according to Hostutler. “It comes down to our service and atmosphere.”

The location in North Ridgeville is an airy, well-lit space filled with soothing colors and has local art hanging on the walls. Walk in on any given day, Hostutler said, and you will likely find one of the three owners.

“It’s a family business,” said Wright-Ally. Indeed, she and Bennett got married at their Berea store in 2001.

And although Hostutler said the owners are entertaining the possibility of setting up franchises around the state, Ah-Roma will not lose its homey feel.

“We might franchise, but we will not manage more than five stores ourselves,” he said. “We have plans for the future, but right now it’s North Ridgeville, North Ridgeville, North Ridgeville.”

Contact Michael Baker at 329-7128 or mbaker@chroniclet.com.

 

---

Print this story
Report an inappropriate comment

---

In order to comment, you must agree to our user agreement and discussion guidelines.

Need help? Email Us.

---