Downtown coffee, wine shop opens Friday

A downtown Dayton coffee shop and wine bar will host its grand opening today, Friday, July 10, with free coffee samples, door prizes and other specials.

A ribbon-cutting is scheduled for noon today at Third Perk Coffeehouse & Wine Bar, 46 W. Fifth St., and door prizes will be given away every hour from 12:30 to 6:30 p.m., according to Third Perk founder Juanita Darden-Jones. Free samples of brewed coffee and special prices on flights of wine will be offered as part of the grand opening.

The space, at the corner of West Fifth and South Ludlow streets, previously housed The Ohio Coffee Co. and Seattle East coffee shops.

Third Perk seats about 50 inside, and a patio that is scheduled for completion perhaps as early as next week will seat another 20, Darden-Jones said.

The shop’s breakfast menu includes quiche, muffins, granola bars and fresh fruit; the lunch menu features a signature chicken salad, sandwiches and soups; and an evening menu includes small-plate options such as a hummus tray, cheese-and-grapes tray, chips and salsa, and soon, flatbread pizzas.

Darden-Jones, who also serves as an assistant professor of developmental mathematics at nearby Sinclair Community College, said the opening of the shop is the culmination of two-and-a-half years of planning.

“I decided to quit postponing my dream,” she said of her decision to open Third Perk.

She received assistance from the Entrepreneurs Center to make the new shop a reality, she said.

The shop will showcase the work of a local artist each quarter.

The coffee shop and wine bar’s hours are Monday through Wednesday, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Thursday through Saturday 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.; closed Sunday. For more information about Third Perk Coffeehouse & Wine Bar, call (937) 223-7375 or check out its Facebook page or its web site, www.thirdperk.com.

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