Editor’s note: This story was originally published in our March 2020 photo essay.
“Espresso culture” had not yet arrived in North Carolina when Matt Russ opened a coffee shop on Tate Street, the tight-knit business district that hugs the eastern edge of UNC Greensboro’s campus. Russ’s new landlord was concerned. “How are you going to make a living selling coffee?” he asked. But Russ was inspired by a romantic notion of the Beat Generation and coffeehouses of the 1950s: As a student at UNCG, he’d often hung out in the cafeteria, sipping coffee and doing homework. In 1993, Tate Street Coffee House opened in the space that had been the Friar’s Cellar, a gourmet convenience store. “What I liked about Friar’s and wanted to bring to Tate Street Coffee was that the students and professors would hang out there, but also artists and lawyers,” Russ says. “This is a window between the university and the town.”
Tate Street’s warmth and familiarity have made it a cultural institution in Greensboro. Early on, Russ organized an annual coffee-themed community art show — still going strong — that has produced some of the shop’s most memorable decor. And for students and professors in the music department at UNCG, Tate Street’s jazz jams are “almost like a lab,” says manager Austin Jeffries: an opportunity to play to a packed, lively house. For students, alumni, and townies alike, those long-standing traditions are a comfort.
Tate Street Coffee
334 Tate Street
Greensboro, NC 27403
(336) 275-2754
tatestreetcoffeehouse.com
Mark our words: Whether they nod to North Carolina or were penned by its residents, these notable, quotable passages remind us of the power of speech inspired by our state.
When one stream flows into another, the two chart a new course for the future — together.
When the weather outside is frightful, one chef serves loved ones dishes so delightful.
A historic Rose Bowl pitted Duke University against Oregon State in Durham. Then, in the dark days of World War II, those same football players — and a legendary coach — joined forces to fight for freedom.
