‘As local as we can.’ New coffee shop opens in Manatee with drinks and more
The idea of opening his own coffee shop started nearly a decade ago on the porch of his Ohio home.
Ryan Lose drank coffee there, inviting friends and neighbors over.
“That kind of grew into everyone knowing me as the coffee guy, and that Ryan’s House is the coffee house,” Lose said.
That idea followed Lose when he relocated his family to Parrish.
On Jan. 1, it became a reality with the grand opening of Ryan’s Coffee House at 8231 U.S. 301, Parrish.
The space was previously home to The Cherry Ice Cream and Coffee Shop, which closed in November.
Menu features signature drinks, food and sweets
Ryan’s Coffee House serves hot and iced coffees, signature drinks, various non-coffee beverages, avocado toast, cake pops and pastries.
The coffee menu includes cappuccino, caramel macchiato, cold brew, latte, Americano and double espresso. Signature drinks include the caramel apple macchiato, raspberry white mocha, s’more cold brew, bananas foster and salted caramel mocha.
Drinks cost between $6 and $6.75.
Lose said they will add ice cream soon.
At Ryan’s Coffee House, the coffee beans are locally roasted by Banyan Coffee Co. in Palmetto and the ice cream will be sourced from Yoder’s in Sarasota, Lose said.
“We try to keep everything as local as we can, still giving back to the community,” Lose said.
Ryan’s Coffee aims to be neighborhood hang out
The inside of the coffee shop was renovated in a month after getting the keys to the space at the end of November.
“I didn’t want it to feel like a grab-and-go,” Lose said. “I wanted people to be able to hang out, sit down, talk, meet friends here.”
The renovations included changing the ceiling to a 3D black drop ceiling-style tile look, painting the wall across from the counter and adding a greenery wall.
Lose said Krista spent more than 20 hours hand-painting that far wall. There’s a display in the corner next to it that features a framed dollar bill with the words, “Small bill, Big dream.”
How it started: Ohio to Florida
In Ohio, Lose and his wife Krista were close to signing a lease for a brick-and-mortar shop toward the end of 2019.
“Something told me it’s not a good time, so we didn’t do it,” Lose said.
His gut feeling worked out as the world was gripped with the COVID-19 pandemic that shuttered businesses left and right in 2020.
A move to Florida followed, and Lose said they found out food trucks were prevalent in the area.
“This would be a great way to build our name and test out the water,” he said.
Krista Lose added: “Once we actually got down to Florida, he was like, ‘I found a trailer. I think we should buy it.’ And just jumped on it. It was really crazy, but we did it.”
Ryan’s built menu and fan base with coffee trailer
They started in Parrish.
“Before Parrish was even blown up,” Ryan Lose said. “Some days we had one customer. Some days we have 150 customers.”
The slower days yielded creativity, like the birth of their seasonal fall favorite: the white pumpkin.
The drink is a white mocha and pumpkin spice latte combo, and it generates rave reviews from the customer base during its seasonal menu inclusion.
Lose said the caramel apple macchiato was a seasonal drink that turned into a signature staple.
“A lot of our signature drinks come from the trailer’s downtime,” he said.
There’s even a hidden menu item that is the drink Lose has every day. It’s a white mocha with salted caramel and cinnamon.
Hours and info
Ryan’s Coffee House is open from 7 a.m to 2 p.m. on Monday through Saturday and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sundays.
For more information, visit RyansCoffeeHouse.com.
