Palm Coast, FL – Not your typical serial entrepreneur, Chrissy Kraus has kept her dream business in the back of her mind, waiting for the perfect moment.
There’s always been something appealing to the Palm Coast business woman about owning a coffee shop, and with the opening of The Copper Lotus Café & Bistro three weeks ago, she’s finally been able to put a check mark beside that dream on her wish list.
Flipping the fresh spinach, ham and cheese as they sizzle on the flattop grill, her concentration is on getting the cheese just oozy enough to cover the ham and spinach before sliding them inside a large, soft croissant roll.
It’s ain’t too fancy, but it sure is good.
Equally delicious are the made-to-order bacon, egg and cheese bagel and the chicken, bacon, ranch wrap. Paired with the café’s signature Kookaburra coffee straight out of St. Augustine or the world-renowned Joffrey’s served by Disney brands, it’s the perfect place to pop in for a hot and tasty meal or relax with a book at a quiet table where the natural light from the floor to ceiling windows on the second floor make you forget you’re inside of a busy medical office building.
Closed down during the pandemic, Kraus said she’d had her eye on the place after selling her Smoothie King location in Palm Coast several years ago.
Timing is everything and the adventurous entrepreneur and her family invested in ‘Rolling Games Flagler’, a tricked out mobile entertainment center with all the latest video game consoles and classic games like Laser Tag, in the summer of 2020, but her heart still longed for a coffee shop.
“My life dream was always to have a coffee shop,” shared Kraus. “Since I left my previous endeavor, Smoothie King, I’d been looking for a coffee shop or somewhere to put a coffee shop. With everything going on right now there was nowhere, and when this came up I saw it and I said, I can make this work. I just knew I could do it.”
Taking the leap and making her dream happen, she’s ready to get the word out about the hidden gem.
Aiming to put more focus on the coffee side of the café Kraus is also adding tasty weekly specials that she hopes The Copper Lotus will become known for, especially with busy professionals on time-limited lunch breaks.
“I’ve added, I’ve taken away. We’ve added iced coffees, and our coffee menu will get a lot better as we go,” she said in between orders on Wednesday, one day after her official ribbon cutting.
“We want to do fun stuff like Taco Tuesday and have a special every week like meatball subs or whatever, so like us on Facebook because that’s where everything that we’re doing for the week will be posted.”
Upscale remodeling has created spacious seating for 40, and Kraus is also making the trendy spot available for professional networking groups to meet, or as a place for people to host small venue intimate events.
“We are going to start renting out the space in the evenings and on the weekends for birthday parties, bridal parties,” said Kraus, who already has an after-hours business networking event on the books for early July.
“Traffic has been pretty good, but a lot of people don’t realize we’re back open,” she said.
The Copper Lotus Café and Bistro is open Monday through Friday 8 am to 3 pm. Located at 21 Hospital Drive, Palm Coast, it’s on the second floor just above Town Center Imaging in Suite 210.
Menu: Made-to-order breakfast and lunch sandwiches and wraps, gourmet muffins and cupcakes, hot/cold coffee, espresso and juices. The Kookaburra brand is sold in bean and grind form in the café, and is available by special order.
Featured Photo: Well-wishers watch in great anticipation for owner Chrissy Kraus to cut the ribbon at Copper Lotus Cafe & Bistro. Photo: HT Production Company
