PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Thursday, Sept. 29 is National Coffee Day and people in Oregon have plenty of small businesses to support as they celebrate.
In fact, Yelp recently released its list of the top coffee shops in the United States and Canada and five Oregon coffee shops made the list: Ovation Coffee and Tea in Portland, Burly and The Bean in Seaside, La Perlita in Portland, Jet Set Coffee in Tigard, and Tōv in Portland.
Of those, the highest ranked was Ovation Coffee and Tea, a Moroccan coffee shop, which came in third on the list.
KOIN 6 News spoke with owner Karter Elhabbassi about his business and what it takes to be successful.
“National Coffee Day is kind of every day for us and we hope to keep continue sharing the Moroccan spices and Moroccan drinks and Moroccan hospitality with everybody,” he said.
It’s that hospitality that he credits for the business’ success and its ability to open four new locations around Portland since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
“It’s kind of a testament of what we’re about. A lot of places were shutting down and struggling during COVID and we were able to expand,” Elhabbassi said. “It just goes back, like the Moroccan hospitality, right? People are coming in and it’s more than just a cup of coffee. It’s ‘Hey, how’s your Mom? How’s your dad? How’s your dog?’”
Since Ovation opened its first location in the Pearl District in December 2013, Elhabbassi said they’ve always taught their employees to treat customers this way.
Over time, he’s seen customers bond with the employees and come back repeatedly just to see them.
Another key to the business’ success is its ability to remain unique.
Elhabbassi recently returned from a trip to Morocco where he visited family and explored new products. He prides his coffee shop in offering coffee and other products that people can’t find anywhere else, except maybe in Morocco.
“What we’re about is kind of letting everyone experience our culture, our drinks, kind of giving them a sample of Morocco,” Elhabbassi said.
Yelp released the list of its top coffee shops in the U.S. and Canada on Sept. 2. When Elhabbassi saw his family’s business had come in third, he said he was speechless.
“Not even just top 100 on the list, but like, number three is like out of this world!” he said. “Very few people get to say they’ve done that, especially with the coffee culture in America.”
The coffee shop was a dream of his mom’s. The family decided to open it after running his father’s Moroccan restaurant in Wilsonville for seven years.
Now, he said his mom’s dream is paying off and only growing bigger. Eventually, Ehabbassi said the family would like to expand the company outside the Portland area and into other parts of the U.S.
“Obviously we’re doing something right right now,” he said. “So, just keep doing what we’re doing and go from there.”