Gathered Grounds plans to open its first permanent cafe at 4 W. Camelback Road in Uptown Phoenix, co-founder and owner Jared Olesen told What Now Phoenix. The team hopes to hold a two-week soft opening in January 2027 before announcing a grand opening date.
Olesen entered the coffee industry in 2013 and spent the next six years managing stores and helping open new locations for corporate coffee companies. In 2019, he and his wife, Jackeline Olesen, decided to start a business of their own and launched Gathered Grounds as a mobile coffee trailer serving events and pop-ups.
“The vision for Gathered Grounds was built around quality,” Olesen said. “We wanted to use fresh, locally roasted coffee and natural flavors. We make a lot of our own syrups and sauces in-house.”
Their original plan changed after the COVID-19 pandemic canceled farmers markets and events in 2020. The owners leased an empty parking lot and began operating the trailer there daily, turning it into a regular neighborhood coffee stop.
“Just showing up every day, giving a great experience and great customer service—people really responded well to that, and our trailer became a very busy, unique, local hotspot,” Olesen said.
The couple began searching for a brick-and-mortar space in 2021.
“For years, we’ve always had people travel all over to visit us in our trailer out in the West Valley,” Olesen said. “So to have something more central, I’m very excited about that.”
The upcoming cafe will occupy a former Dutch Bros stand at Central Avenue and Camelback Road. The approximately 420-square-foot building will have no indoor seating. Instead, a 1,000-square-foot covered patio will offer year-round seating, with misters for summer and heating for winter.
The property owner is also adding 20 parking spaces. Gathered Grounds will reserve some of them for mobile orders and provide a separate pickup window for customers who order through the company’s app.
The permanent cafe will also bring menu changes.
“We’re really trying to elevate the menu to focus on what we know works best: limited options, but higher quality,” Olesen said.
Gathered Grounds will focus on seasonal drinks made with house-made syrups and sauces while continuing to offer locally roasted coffee, ceremonial matcha, and plant-based energy drinks. Customers can still request customized lattes, mochas, and other drinks.
“We do plan to expand the food menu to add more breakfast sandwiches and lunchtime sandwich options,” Olesen said.
The locally made breakfast burritos and pastries currently sold from the trailer will remain available. Plans also include soft-serve ice cream, root beer floats, and affogatos.
The expansion follows a milestone for the mobile coffee business. Gathered Grounds received national recognition in 2025, ranking No. 52 on Yelp’s Top 100 Coffee Shops list.
“We just focus on good customer service and good quality, and the results speak for themselves,” Olesen said.
With the permanent cafe now taking shape, Olesen said the couple is ready for the next stage of the business.
“We’re a family-owned local business, and we’re very excited to bring something very unique that everyone will love to the community,” he said.
In the meantime, follow Gathered Grounds on Instagram for construction and opening updates.
