Grove Surf & Coffee Shop is a popular surf shop and specialty cafe offering St. Pete Beach “an inviting space for you to meet with friends, shop and enjoy a fine cup of coffee.” Launched nearly four years ago, Grove is now planning to expand with a new location in Indian Rocks Beach, at 1309 Gulf Blvd.
The new location represents a kind of homecoming, owner Peter Gottschling told What Now on Tuesday.
“In the same building is a surf shop,” Gottschling said, referring to Nekton Surf Shop. “I worked there for about 11 years, helped manage, and only really left when we started up in St. Pete Beach. They own that building, and they’re friends of ours, and so this opportunity opened up.”
Grove Surf Cafe will occupy about 1200 square feet of space, with 20-25 seats indoors plus additional seating outdoors, including roll-up garage-style doors to bring the outside in. The new space will also feature a full kitchen, allowing the location to serve a variety of cafe eats, including pastries baked in-house, breakfast sandwiches, and other breakfast/lunch options, like avocado toast and a Crispy Hash Brown Bowl.
“We’re hoping to eventually add an evening menu with tapas,” Gottschling said.
And how does it feel to be coming full circle to a place where Gottschling spent those years working?
“It’s a little bit surreal, and it feels really good. We’re super excited. In my decade there, the space was three different beach bars, so there was quite a bit of turnover. We felt like there was a need for something more like a contemporary cafe.”
The Indian Rocks Beach location is working toward an opening this spring. In the meantime, be sure to check out the St. Pete Beach location and follow @grovesurfandcoffee on Instagram.
