Food & Drink
How The Stoop Owner Revived Her Community Coffee Shop in Pigtown
When Paige Stamerro took over the former Zeke's Coffee—located a half block from her house—she focused on creating a 'Cheers'-like environment in her own neighborhood.
In her 43 years, Paige Stamerro has held a variety of jobs, including teaching English to sixth-graders, dabbling in corporate public relations and marketing, serving as a Starbucks barista, and most recently working in commercial real estate. Last August, she added owner of The Stoop coffee shop to her résumé.
The spot, formerly a Zeke’s Coffee, is conveniently located just a half block away from Stamerro’s Pigtown residence. “I wanted The Stoop to feel like a ‘third place,’” says Stamerro. “The third place is the idea of it being like the bar from the TV show Cheers, where everyone knows your name, and I wanted to create that in my own neighborhood.”
What made you want to open a coffee shop?
We loved having a coffee shop in our neighborhood. We were in New Orleans sitting in a hot tub when we learned Zeke’s was closing. As a Realtor, I was thinking about what else could go there—and a coffee shop was the only thing that made sense. Because of my professional background, I had been able to look at the financials of the business and I have the connections in this community. I decided we had to open a coffee shop.
What is the mission of The Stoop?
It is truly a community spot. We are a radically inclusive space. People think “radically inclusive” means I am Red Emma’s, but it means that anyone should feel comfortable coming in. This is a community space for everyone—I cannot stand a bubble and I don’t think that’s healthy for anyone.
In my 20s, I was a radical burn-it-all-down revolutionary, but my time in corporate and commercial real estate made me realize that the only way forward is across the bridge. When people feel isolated and don’t feel they can have a place to even open their mouths, they go online to find people who agree with them—that creates these islands.
Where did the name come from?
We got to know our neighbor’s son really well—he was Muslim and had tons of theological background. He and my husband, who has a lot of progressive Christian views, would sit out on the stoop and have drinks and smoke for hours. And that idea of stoop life dug into my brain. I was like, “These connections can happen and cross all sorts of different lines.”
When I began to write down the mission for this space, I referred to it as “the coffee shop.” When I started to talk about it, I was like, “I wish I could just call it ‘The Stoop.’” My girlfriend was like, “That’s the perfect name.” So it stuck.
Tell me a little bit about the menu.
We still serve Zeke’s Coffee, but we replaced the baked goods because they were using pre-packaged vendors at the Pigtown location. But the vendor Zeke’s uses at their Harford Road location is Bluebird Bakery, so we use them. They’re inside Zeke’s and upstairs. They make these wonderful baked goods. For anyone coming in, I would tell them to always check out any new special. We just got a PBJ croissant yesterday that’s delicious. We also have these jumbo almond croissants and a little 3 1/2-inch personal quiche, including mushroom Gruyère and salmon and dill versions. They are rich and decadent.
Any advice to your younger self about starting a business?
If you’re going to make this jump to small-business ownership and hospitality, you have to have a hold on your inner peace. No good decisions are made from chaos.