New coffee shop opens in familiar spot on Beaufort’s waterfront. Here’s what it offers
Residents and visitors can sip coffee again at a sweet downtown spot with a waterfront view, but this coffee shop’s different.
Lowcountry Cider Co. and Superior Coffee opened Monday in the former Common Ground Coffee Shop between Bay Street and the Beaufort River. For 24 years, Common Ground had die-hard local customers, but also drew visitors.
Then in late March Scott and Mandi Lee purchased Common Ground from Ramona Fantini, who had owned it since 2014.
The space closed for improvements in late March and reopened Monday.
“Most people who walked in, their immediate reaction was, ‘Wow,’” Scott Lee told the Beaufort Gazette and Island Packet on Tuesday.
The inside has been remodeled. Among the new touches are shiplap wooden walls, which bring a country store look to the interior, which now appears bigger and brighter.
Additional outdoor seating has been added as well.
On Monday, its first day, sales at the Lowcountry Cider Co. and Superior Coffee matched sales at the Lees’ established store off Sea Island Parkway on St. Helena Island, which Scott Lee noted “has always been great for us.”
Like its predecessor, Lowcountry Cider Co. and Superior Coffee isn’t just about coffee. It also sells name-brand cider, jellies, jams and jerky, baked goods including pecan pie and shakes made with Hershey’s Ice Cream.
And it continues to offer popular staples from Fantini’s Common Ground, such as gelato and baked goods, including the renowned tomato pie.
Employees who worked for Common Ground are back, working for Lowcountry Cider Co. and Superior Coffee, Scott Lee says, and customers are returning, too.
“A lot of the longtime locals,” Lee said, “came back first thing.”
This story was originally published May 18, 2022 at 11:26 AM.
