Graham Central Coffee House and Cafe Perks Up Cranberry

One of Cranberry’s neo-traditional neighborhoods, BelleVue Park already has a mix of homes and retail space, not to mention a prime location next to Cranberry’s popular .

To really tie the new community together, family members of Weaver Master Builders, the developers behind the neighborhood, thought a coffee shop was needed. 

So they made it happen.

On Halloween, the Mars-based Weaver family, patriarch Bill; his wife, Bonnie; their son Chad; and his wife, Tracey, opened Graham Central Coffee House and Café in BelleVue Commons. The café is the second business to join the BelleVue Commons retail space. opened there last year.

“It’s such a new venture for us” said Tracey Weaver, who works in the café as a jack-of-all-trades. “We are so excited for the people and for our staff.” 

Taking its name from the famous Grand Central Station in New York City, as well as its location at the entrance to , Graham Central has a train depot theme.

A coffee table surrounded by oversized leather couches is a wooden train cart. The exposed brick walls feature an enormous clock, and the condiments are placed on another wood train cart. Painted cement floors help to give it that station feel.

A mother of two,Tracey Weaver said her father-in-law, who is an artist and an architect, helped develop the theme for the coffee house. Cindy Reott, a former coffee house manager and a longtime decorator for the Weaver company's model homes, helped with plans.

Reott, who ran a coffee house on the North Side, is the Graham Central manager. The homemade soups and paninis are her brainchild, as are the coffee combinations. Reott, of Butler, also does all of the café’s baking.

“I worked on that menu for five months,” she said.   

Reott said her goal was to create an eclectic mix of hearty sandwiches and vegetarian options. All the ingredients come from local sellers, including breads from Mediterra Bakehouse in Robinson that are so beautiful that Reott sometimes is loathe to cut them, dairy from Marburger Dairy in Evans City and meat from Weiss Provision Company in Pittsburgh’s strip district. After a popular reception on the first few days of business, Reott’s homemade Tomato Basil soup is a house feature. 

“We also have the best Reuben on this side of Pittsburgh,” she said.    

Besides coffees made using gleaming silver Rancillo espresso makers, Graham Central offers lattes, teas, fruit smoothies and protein smoothies for the gym crowd arriving at the café after a workout at Snap Fitness. 

There are six flavors of ice cream for any little league player who craves a snack after a game at Graham Park.

Reott and Tracey Weaver agree the community has embraced their staff of 15. Tracey Weaver noted people on their third or forth trip to the coffee house within a week while Reott is busy memorizing customer names and drink orders.

“Everyone has loved us and said they’ll be back,” she said. “We’re very exited about the coming months.”