Baton Rouge’s coffee shop boom continues with the opening of Café Verdino

The latest sign of Greater Baton Rouge’s caffeine fixation is Café Verdino, a new concept in a shopping center at the corner of Jones Creek and Tiger Bend roads.

Owner Ege Oral says he noticed a coffee house void in the immediate area and wanted to open a spot that featured hot and cold espresso drinks and teas, along with breakfast and lunch.

“I love coffee, and I’ve always wanted my own place,” says Oral, who moved to Baton Rouge from his native Turkey about a year ago to join family. “I found this place and thought that the neighborhood needed it.”

Café Verdino’s debut is part of a wave of recent coffee shop openings. The sector has long been robust in the Capital Region, but since last fall, java junkies have welcomed Las Brujas in Mid City, Le Rêve on Perkins Road, a downtown location for City Roots Coffee Bar alongside Les Amis Bake Shoppe, River & Roots Market inside the Main Street Market, STIR Coffee House, Dutch Bros near LSU, He’Brews My Cup in Denham Springs and a first-ever drive- thru-only location for CC’s Coffee House in Gonzales.

More are in the works, including House Brew’s move to a permanent location downtown, another City Roots in the former Var’s Pizza in the Perkins Road Overpass District, a second Dutch Bros in Juban Crossing and a new café in Livingston Parish for local coffee company French Settlement Roasting Co.

This is Oral’s first dining concept. The 27-year-old entrepreneur, who has a background in digital marketing, says his goal was to establish a coffee house with a Mediterranean-inspired vibe. He chose the well-known Italian brands Lavazza coffee, which he drinks at home, and Torani syrups. And he’s incorporated soft greens in the design, referenced in the name “verdino,” which is Italian for light green.

“Green is very peaceful,” he says. “That’s what we were going for—a peaceful, relaxing feeling.”

The roomy café has generous indoor seating and a front patio. Order espresso drinks, brewed coffee, hot and cold teas, scratch-made lemonades in flavors like mango and lavender and blackberry lemongrass, and a modestly-priced breakfast and lunch menu.

The idea to include food stemmed from Oral’s personal preference.

“When I go to a coffee shop, I always get hungry,” he says. “So I wanted to have a place where you can have a meal.”

The breakfast lineup features an egg-and-cheese biscuit, croissant sandwiches stuffed with either ham and Swiss or turkey, bacon and Swiss. The Verdino parfait combines vanilla yogurt with granola and fresh berries.

Diners looking for lunch or an afternoon nosh find open-faced tartines topped with smashed avocado, bacon and tomatoes; feta and fresh veggies; or chicken salad. There are also sandwiches in flavors like chicken pesto or roast beef. Salads include a Caesar and the Greek-style Verdino with sun-dried tomatoes, Kalamata olives, feta, cucumbers and red pepper on romaine. And, of course, there’s a case holding requisite muffins and baked goods.

Rather than feature complex, multi-flavored coffee conconctions, Oral says his focus is on traditional espresso drinks served well.

“I’m really into simple, classic drinks where you can really taste the coffee,” he says.

Response for the new café has been strong, Oral says.

“We’ve had a lot of comments from people about how they like the vibe,” he says. “There wasn’t really anywhere near here to get espresso drinks.”

Café Verdino is located at 6626 Jones Creek Rd. Ste. H, and is open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sundays.