12 Days of Small Businesses: Wunderbar Coffee House

On each of the remaining days leading up to Christmas, we’ll feature a different local business.

Looking for unique and creative holiday gifts? Throughout the 12 days leading up to Christmas, we're highlighting small businesses in the Cranberry area where you can find great gifts for loved ones. Today, the eighth day of Christmas, it's Wunderbar Coffee House in Harmony, a cozy place to relax between all that holiday shopping. Husband-and-wife team Roc and Vicky Dornbrook opened Wunderbar inside the Center of Harmony on Mercer Street in 2012. Roc Dornbrook, a native of Argentina, told Cranberry Patch he and his wife decided to open the coffee shop after the closure of Beecher’s, a Zelienople coffeehouse that burned down in 2008. “They were the only coffee shop in the area,” he said. “We really missed them.” The coffee house serves …

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Where to Get Free Coffee for National Coffee Day 2012

Get your caffeine on and celebrate with a free cup of coffee.

If the first words out of your mouth every morning are, “I’ll have a large coffee”—or if you can’t even speak until after you’ve had your java fix—there's a national holiday created especially for you. America will put staunch tea drinkers to shame on National Coffee Day on Sept. 29, when coffee fiends can rejoice and celebrate their beloved coffee bean with free brew from national chains. So, where can you get free coffee in the Cranberry area community? McDonald's McDonald's is giving away free 12-ounce coffees every day from Sept. 23 through Sept. 29. No purchase is necessary, and coffee will be available in the drive-thru or in the restaurants. Which McDonald's restaurants are in or close to Cranberry? Cranberry Locations: Other …

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Sue Kerr

11:07 am on Thursday, September 27, 2012

Caribou Coffee is offering a free coffee http://view.cariboucoffee-email.com/?j=fe641575746600757116&m=fef010797c640d&ls=fdeb1d737167027c711d7870&l=fe8c1570726c007a7d&s=fe1f1d747663067c721d76&jb=ffcf14&ju=fe2b157570670d78761071   more ›

Groups to Boycott Starbucks Over Stances on Gay Rights, Guns

Separate boycotts criticize the coffee chain's stances on national issues. What are your thoughts?

Some religious and political groups are urging Starbucks customers to grab their morning coffee elsewhere in light of the company's stance on gay marriage and its policy on guns. USA Christian Ministries, a group boycotting Starbucks for its recent support of gay marriage in the state of Washington, said in a news release that the coffee chain's decision has angered Christians. "Christians are upset with Starbucks for turning against God," said Steven Andrew, president of USA Christian Ministries. The group hopes that, with full support from Christians, Starbucks, which operates two locations in Cranberry—plus kiosks inside Giant Eagle and Barnes and Noble Booksellers— could lose as much as 80 percent of its business. Starbucks joined …

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Bartram House Bakery: Culinary Delight and Coziness From the Cold

The bakery and cafe recently opened in the Village at Pine in Wexford.

Visions of sugar plums might not dance in your head as you walk into Bartram House Bakery, but just give it a moment. One look at the delectable bakery case and you might have pumpkin cheesecake, red velvet cake, Russian tea cookies, pecan pie and lady locks dancing into a box for you to take with you to an office party or your home. Bartram House Bakery offers made-from-scratch desserts in its recently opened bakery/cafe at the Village at Pine in Wexford. Its original bakery is in McMurray.   On a cold wintry day, there's nothing like sitting in a cozy cafe to take away the ugliness of the weather. Here you can sip on a cappuccino or chai tea as you look out the floor-to-ceiling windows and note the wind bending the trees just outside the…

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Graham Central Coffee House and Cafe Perks Up Cranberry

The locally-owned coffee shop opened late last month.

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 Graham Park. 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. Snap Fitness 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…

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Bites Nearby: First Watch, The Daytime Cafe

Fresh ingredients distinguish breakfast/lunch offerings.

Overview:   Open from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas, First Watch serves breakfast/brunch and lunch. It has a "2 for You" lunch special from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. that includes the patron's choice of two of these three items: a half-salad, half-sandwich or a cup of soup for $6.89. There is a children's menu. First Watch is part of a restaurant chain that opened its first spot in 1983 in California. It has about 100 restaurants across 13 states. The restaurants use only fresh ingredients, so some items are seasonal. Décor: Bright and cheery. Lots of big windows. Large, primary-color paintings of fruits and vegetables. Very pleasant and very clean.  Drinks: Coffee is served in a pot that is left at the table…

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Great Escape

Great Escape: Coffee and Music for Your Afternoon

Relax with a Chillabica at Amarabica.

It feels like a cruel joke, but Mother Nature’s not foolin' around – that really is snow you see on the ground. But the weather has to turn eventually, and this week’s great escape idea will have you rooting for spring all week long. Take a break from your busy weekend and stop in at Amarabica Coffee Shop on Route 19 in Wexford on Saturday, April 9 at 1 p.m., for an afternoon of  live original, acoustic music on the arbor-covered patio. The event features local musician Jason Deutsch of the band Hero and the Lie, with acoustic act Geoff Bland. If it’s warm, order the shop’s signature drink – the Chillabica. It’s a frozen coffee drink made with ice, yogurt and coffee for a creamier taste and consistency than the standard frozen drink. If …

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