A Savannah-based coffee shop is brewing up its second location in Hilton Head this summer, What Now Charleston previously reported and more details have emerged.
Origin Coffee Bar, a specialty coffee roaster and café owned by Matt and Elise Higgins, is opening at 35 North Main St., Suite 100, in the former TJ’s Take and Bake Pizza space.
Higgins told What Now Charleston the couple started Origin Coffee in 2020 after being inspired by the café culture in California. They had moved west to pursue their dream jobs but soon discovered a shared passion for coffee.
“Elise was like, ‘Ditch the dream jobs, let’s sell everything we have, move back to Savannah and start a mobile coffee shop.’ I said, ‘You’re crazy, absolutely not.’ But, after a three hour drive and a gas station slice of pizza, I said yes and it was the best move we ever made,” Higgins said.
Their mobile shop gained traction during the pandemic, as they were able to serve customers outdoors. Within three months, they set up as a pop-up at a downtown event venue and quickly built a following. A year and a half later, they opened their first brick-and-mortar location in Savannah. Now, they’re preparing to expand.
After being approached with opportunities from states ranging from Nebraska to Maine, the two ultimately felt most comfortable opening across state lines in Hilton Head.
They held what Higgins described as “heart to heart conversations” with J. Banks Design, which brought them the opportunity. The couple decided it was the right fit.
“It used to be T.J. ‘s Take and Bake on the island, which was a local staple. The more people we’ve met and talked to about it, the more they mourn the loss of T.J.’s, but are excited for us to come in,” Higgins said. “And so they offered to design up the whole space for us, and all we had to do was bring in our equipment and our people and open up shop.”
The Hilton Head café will feature a similar menu to the Savannah location while establishing its own identity.
“The one thing we really want to make sure is that we feel like one house with different rooms,” Higgins said.
Origin Coffee sources all of its beans from producers across the globe.
“We work with some importers and some direct trade. That means working with the farmers and getting to know them and having calls with the farmers that are growing the coffee cherries that you’re later sipping in your latte,” Higgins said. “We roast everything in house and I create all the roasts.”
The café serves coffee staples such as lattes, macchiatos, cappuccinos and cold brew. It also offers seasonal drinks like the Dubai Chocolate Matcha, which includes pistachio, matcha, milk of choice and salted Ghirardelli chocolate cold foam, and the Golden Hour, a cold brew topped with orange and vanilla cold foam and garnished with an orange peel.
In addition to coffee, Origin Coffee Bar offers a casual brunch-style menu with loaded toasts, breakfast burritos and sandwiches, Turkish eggs and overnight oats. A full brunch menu is expected to debut in the months following the opening.
The shop will host a soft launch and ribbon-cutting ceremony on July 30 alongside J. Banks Design’s new retail space, In Residence. The café officially opens to the public Aug. 1.
“There’s just something so sweet and so wholesome and wonderful about being a part of a small town—whether that’s just meeting the neighbors that are coming in for their morning coffee or reading the paper or to see the kids that are growing up and going to school down the street—we’re just really excited to be a part of people’s story and a part of people’s narrative,” Higgins said.
