By Kathy Chouteau
If there’s one thing you can always rely on in Richmond, it’s that the city’s coffee purveyors will always find a way to serve their caffeine-loving public.
During the coronavirus (COVID-19) shelter-at-home order, coffee enthusiasts will take heart in learning that Richmond’s Kaleidoscope Coffee, Catahoula Coffee and the Point Richmond Social Club are open for business—albeit under abridged operations.
At Kaleidoscope, 109 Park Place in Point Richmond, owner Cassie Cushing said the coffee house is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day for to-go orders and “has extra gloves and is using lots of extra care and precaution” while serving customers.
Cushing said Kaleidoscope has been open all week and that “today has been better than the last couple of days” re: number of customers as “people discover we’re open.” When picking up their to-go orders, customers have been practicing social distancing, said Cushing.
Over at the Point Richmond Social Club (PRSC), 401 S. Garrard Ave. in Point Richmond—as well as at their sister business Catahoula Coffee, 12472 San Pablo Ave. in Richmond—both establishments are open for to-go orders from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily.
A PRSC staffer said as of this morning, the establishment had a small number of customers mostly ordering lattes. At Catahoula, a staffer reported that business has been slow and mostly orders of bags of coffee.
On both PRSC and Catahoula’s Instagram pages, they issued a collective statement Wednesday: “After careful review of the public health directives, we have decided to reopen beginning tomorrow, March 19, 2020. This decision does not come lightly and we will be monitoring and assessing the situation daily.”
The statement also offered some additional guidelines to keep in mind:
- We are open as a to-go only establishment. This means you may come in, place your order, collect your order and then you must leave.
- You must respect other people’s space in line and adhere to proper social distancing etiquette (6 ft. between people).
- If you are sick—sore throat, congestion, fever, headaches—please do not enter our cafes at this time. You are putting yourself, our employees and our other customers at risk.
- We have pulled coffee condiments from the public counter and our employees will add milk-sugar to your coffee as you specify. Please be patient with them.
“Although we are open, we do encourage everyone to stay home to the best of their ability and to take care of themselves and their loved ones. If you feel like doing some online shopping, please support us by ordering coffee & merchandise online.”
For more info about Kaleidoscope Coffee click here. To learn more about the Point Richmond Social Club click here; for Catahoula Coffee, click here.
