The rumors are true. One of the Triangle’s most loved coffee shops is reopening
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Cup A Joe reopens Mission Valley cafe after closing in 2021 due to COVID-19.
- Business revival led by co-owner Jeff Gold and daughter Andi Macko in 2025.
- Soft opening offers limited menu ahead of full reopening on August 11, 2025.
For decades, Cup A Joe in Mission Valley was a staple spot for local coffee lovers — ever since its opening during a packed premiere weekend of “Forrest Gump” at the old movie theatre next door.
But like many businesses, the cozy cafe was hit hard by the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and ended up closing its doors.
Now, about four years after it closed, it’s making a comeback.
‘COVID was rough’
“The problem was staffing. It was a perfectly viable location, but COVID was rough,” Jeff Gold, co-owner, told The News & Observer on June 24. “We closed for several months ... and then we reopened, staffing was so tight back then. It was too hard, so we decided to sacrifice this location and put all our energy into the other one.”
The flagship location, on Hillsborough Street near N.C. State, made its debut in 1991. A few years later, Gold joined the team alongside founder Dave Sullivan and brought a taste of Cup A Joe to the second spot at the Mission Valley shopping center.
While the second location was closed in 2021, Gold says they used it as a prep space to continue running the other coffee shop.
When Sullivan, his business partner, suddenly passed away in 2023, there were many concerns about the OG cafe.
But Cup A Joe kept its doors open, and now, with his daughter as his new co-owner, Gold and his team are bringing their beloved cafe back to Mission Valley.
“After Dave died ... a lot of people — their question was, ‘What’s going to happen to Cup A Joe?” because he started it. It was his baby,” said Gold’s daughter Andi Macko, who first worked at Cup A Joe as a teenager.
“So it was really putting as much focus on just being there and showing everyone that we’re not going anywhere,” Macko said.
“When Dave passed away, that was really heavy on my mind, because I had quite a legacy to maintain and sustain,” Gold said. “I think Andi’s proven that with our collaboration, we can move it forward.”
‘It feels like home’
Even during a blistering heat wave, several regular Cup A Joe customers made the trip on Tuesday to get a freshly brewed drink on the shop’s first day back.
“Cup A Joe has always been such a big part of the community,” said Marcia Binkered, who was sporting a Cup of Joe baseball cap while grabbing a coffee Tuesday afternoon. “I’ve known Dave since he opened the original location on Hillsborough Street, and it means so much that he and Jeff also opened this Mission Valley location. Since the pandemic, it’s been gone so it’s nice to have this close by and be back again.”
Gavin Romig-Koch, who’s been going to Cup A Joe for nearly 20 years, even changed his plans and stopped in after he heard the news of the reopening.
“If I was going into the office, I would come in here and drink a cup of coffee and start work ... and that just got to be a little habit,” he said. “And even after I retired, I still kept coming here as often as I could.”
Cup A Joe hours at Mission Valley
The cafe’s soft opening “pop-up” lasts through Friday, June 27. During that time it will be open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
During this time, the team is offering a paired down menu of drip coffee and cold brew, along with some of its signature grab ‘n go baked goods, including cinnamon buns, banana nut bread, rice krispy treats and bagels.
It will close Friday afternoon and reopen on August 11.
This story was originally published June 25, 2025 at 8:30 AM with the headline "The rumors are true. One of the Triangle’s most loved coffee shops is reopening."
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