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Business is brewing again at Jim & Patty’s Coffee.
The Portland coffee chain, founded in 2002 by Jim and Patty Roberts, closed down in November amid financial struggles. Jim & Patty’s often landed on Best Portland Coffee lists, including our own, and carried on the legacy of the Roberts’ Old Portland chain Coffee People.
But on Tuesday, Aug. 11, a Facebook post shared that Jim & Patty’s will reopen under new ownership on Thursday, Aug. 14. The post did not reveal the new owners’ identities, but public records list Paul Ceserani, owner of Spielman Bagels & Coffee, on filings for a business transfer. Ceserani’s LinkedIn profile lists him as the new Jim & Patty’s owner as of April, which is right before when records were filed with the Oregon Secretary of State’s office (Ceserani did not respond to WW’s requests for confirmation).
The Robertses founded Coffee People in 1983 and sold it in 1997 after plans to make it the next Starbucks failed (all surviving locations closed in 2016). Since Jim & Patty’s closed, its Facebook page has promoted tie-dye t-shirts and two self-published cookbooks of the cafe’s classic recipes, including the beloved Black Tiger Shake. (Jim & Patty’s Black Tiger Coffee Shop, a related but independently owned Portland cafe located west of Forest Park, remains open.)
“We can’t wait to see you!” said the statement posted to the Jim & Patty’s Facebook page in all-cap letters.
