PALMETTO, Fla. — Eleanor’s Coffee & Cakes just opened in downtown Palmetto and it’s already drawing a crowd.
Tampa Bay 28 stopped in during a soft opening a few weeks back, and there was a line out the door just to get in.
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Eleanor’s Coffee & Cakes is located in the Old State Bank building, which is full of rich history.
“We did not know the history of it until we started construction. So, it was the day we got the keys that we discovered the beautiful floor, the original floor of Palmetto State Bank. We found that that day, and then the Palmetto Historical Society has actually shared with us the history of this, and so as we renovated, as we added to it, we've just unpacked more and more history of this space. And that's been the coolest part of this entire process is just learning more about this space as well,” said Ella Scarberry, the owner of Eleanor’s Coffee & Cakes.
Something that might surprise you is that Scarberry, the owner of the shop, is just 22 years old. She says this has been a passion of hers for a while, and the community support has been great.
“I was homeschooled, so I was able to spend a lot of time doing extracurricular activities, and what I chose was in the kitchen. And so, my parents let me have a lot of freedom and playing around and everything, and then I realized I could make a business out of it,” said Scarberry.
“The support of the community and the town, so much support of people just believing in me, this 22-year-old girl that they don't even know, and it's just this town coming together, and I think it shows just how desperate we are for small businesses to start here, and they saw a vision in me. And I'm just grateful. I'm just really, really grateful," said Scarberry.
Scarberry told Tampa Bay 28 that all of her syrups are homemade, along with her cookies and cake,s which are made fresh daily.
“We have a rotating menu. So, rotating coffee menu, so right now we're doing a really good Pumpkin Spice Latte that's made with pumpkin butter. So, we use real pumpkins in that. We really get that pumpkin-packed flavor there. We have a rotating cookie menu right now, which is our ground Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie that has homemade toffee and some sea salt on there. The rotating cake menu. So, depending on the seasons, we just let our flavors change depending on what people are wanting to see at that time,” said Scarberry.
Eleanor’s Coffee & Cakes is open Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
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