The Daily Grind, Statesboro’s local coffee shop and café, has built a favorable reputation over the last 15 years, among latte aficionados, coffee connoisseurs, study warriors and brunch enthusiasts.

With its inviting setting and warm atmosphere, newcomers may find themselves already enwrapped in a rich, intimate familiarity when stepping inside the burgundy walls of this quaint and comfortable coffee shop.

Current co-owners Liz Anderson and Rebecca Wildi have retained loyal customers who have been attending for over a decade, along with a rising amount of new students, creating and cultivating a very broad, diverse customer base as a result. Students with their heads buried under piles of notes, married couples enjoying each other’s company on the beautiful patio outside, elderly gentlemen leisurely reading their books and even professors attentively grading papers and tests in a cozy location off in the corner of the room.

“I go pretty regularly, a couple times a week. I like to go do my homework and study there. I love the calm atmosphere. It’s very relaxing and it’s easy to focus. It’s just a good vibe there,” Kelsey Wertz, sophomore pre-business major, said.

“I’ve had people say before that the Daily Grind reminds them of that show, Cheers. Everyone kind of feels like family. I love the place,” Anderson said. “We’ve been very fortunate. Working up here is not really like a job. It’s more fun, it really is. And the future looks great. It’s been so busy here lately. Business has been wonderful, I see nowhere but up.”

Anderson and Wildi work hard to use local businesses and fresh ingredients from companies like L&D Farm Fresh Produce, Three Trees Coffee Roasters, Cotton Patch Bakery, and Honey Catering, in order to create memorable dishes and drinks.

“I usually do all the coffee part of it, and Liz does the food prep. We make everything fresh every day. We get most of our produce locally from L&D Produce,” Wildi said. “We tried to get a lot of local people. Stay local, stay small, help everybody.”

“I make everything fresh every morning, from the chicken salads to the soups. Nothing is prepackaged or anything like that,” Anderson said.

Customers can find homemade muffins and scones near the register, Free Trade coffee waiting to be brewed behind the counter and other sweet treats on display waiting to be joyfully devoured. People might find themselves walking in the front door, only to be stopped in their tracks, staring in awe over aesthetically pleasing cheesecakes that taste just as good as they look.

The Grind’s menu consists of several appealing sandwiches, such as the Roasted Turkey Focaccia, Triple Decker Turkey Apricot and the Pesto Turkey Wrap. Other choices include the Strawberry Salad, and the Spring Garden Salad. To keep things from being dull, The Grind has a rotating selection of different specialty ice coffees and soups every day.

Anderson and Wildi were employees of the coffee shop until 2013 when they decided to purchase The Daily Grind together from the previous owner.

“We been working together forever and we decided we wanted to buy it together,” Wildi said.

Anderson’s employment at the Daily Grind preceded Wildi, having worked at the Daily Grind from the beginning when they opened their doors for the first time in 2000. Wildi started working for The Daily Grind in 2001 when she started college at Georgia Southern University. After graduating in 2005 with a B.S. in Geography, Wildi elected to continue working at The Grind.

Despite the changes throughout the years, Anderson and Wildi have kept a token of the past through their menu, specifically the Rhonda Chicken Salad.

“The original owner was Rhonda Rodewolt. She owned the place so she wanted to name the chicken salad after herself. Me and Becca both worked with Rhonda for years, we still see her and love her to death, so just as a tribute to her, we left it as it was,” Anderson said. “Someone mentioned one time, ‘Well why don’t you call it Lizzy’s chicken salad?’ and I said, ‘No, we’re going to leave it Rhonda’s Chicken Salad. We got to leave a part of her in here somehow.”

Hours:

Monday-Friday: 7:00 a.m.- 9:00 p.m.

Saturday: 8:00 a.m.- 3:00 p.m.

Sunday: Closed

Location:

124 Savannah Ave