Lucy’s Coffee & Tea celebrates 25 years

Located at the edge of the UAB campus, Lucy’s Coffee & Tea has been serving students and providing a “cozy, community-friendly place” in downtown Birmingham for 25 years, owner Lucy Bonds said. It is the only locally-owned coffee shop in Five Points. 

Originally, Lucy’s Coffee and Tea began in 1993 as a coffee cart in front of Sitar, formerly known as Tracy’s Cafeteria, on 20th Street and University Boulevard after Bonds spent some time in Seattle and saw that the coffee business was booming. As popularity for the cart grew, Bonds decided in 1995 to move to her current brick-and-mortar location at 2007 University Boulevard. 

 “I picked the UAB area because there’s people from all over the world going to UAB,” Bonds said. “I have a wonderful customer base.”

Bonds said when it first opened, she developed a solid coffee customer base, some of which are still with her today. A few years into the business, she started selling lunch. 

“I’m really proud of our lunch, I make all of our soups from scratch,” she said, adding that the soups are always vegetarian and healthy, and the bread is made fresh.

Bonds still opens the shop almost every day, she said.

“I have great people working there, and everybody loves them,” she said. “It’s a homey place. It’s where people go to hang out.”

Lucy’s Coffee & Tea uses locally roasted HC Valentine Coffee and serves self-serve drip coffee, a full espresso menu and fruit or coffee smoothies. Crestline Bagels and YoYo Donuts are also menu options.