By Rachel Leigh Mays
Like everything else it does, Fair Grinds Coffeehouse, Mid-City’s fair trade coffeehouse/community center, has avenged Katrina on its own terms and with the gentle principles that guide it. Although the storm dealt them an unfair hand, owners Robert and Elizabeth Thompson can reel off countless stories of what they consider their real success long before the Ponce de Leon establishment was ever officially reopened in June of this year.
As two of the handful of people who returned immediately after the storm, the Thompsons recall the dark, still, calm-after-the-storm days as those that mean the most to them. Upon returning to the Big Easy from Houston in the fall of 2005, the Thompsons found their former haven transformed into what seemed would be a never-ending nightmare of reconstruction and starting over.
It wasn’t long however, before the waterlogged space once again began to form the backdrop for one fascinating story after another of goodwill and generosity. Robert gave up on keeping a list of all of the people who volunteered their services from carpentry to clean-up crews after it surpassed 4 typed pages of names.
Today, Fair Grinds has a revolving door of loyal customers and newcomers alike who can’t help but want to be a regular. Lawrence Gobble, one of the fortunate few who has worked at Fair Grinds since Katrina, stated, “I love working here; the people are always different, always, changing, and always the same.”
Fair Grinds Coffeehouse
3133 Ponce de Leon
New Orleans, LA 70119
Open 6:30AM to 10PM daily
(504) 913-9072
E-mail
