After Noble Ground Coffee in the Arizona Capitol Museum abruptly closed, two former baristas have opened a new cafe in its place to serve regulars desperate for coffee during the legislative session. 

On Jan. 24, Noble Ground Coffee shuttered all locations when its parent company decided to cease operations and lay off all its employees. Exactly three weeks later, two baristas who worked at Noble Ground reopened the shop — now called White Blossom Cafe, named after Arizona’s state flower.

Tara King worked as a barista at Noble Ground’s downtown and Capitol locations and is now the owner of the cafe, which is operated through the Dept. of Economic Security’s Business Enterprise Program. Just a few days after Noble Ground closed, King reached out to DES and the BEP manager to inquire about creating a new shop in the same space.

King said the idea came after she and other Noble Ground baristas commiserated over drinks after being laid off on Jan. 24. 

“I’m like, ‘oh, that’s something somebody else would do,’” King said. “And then it just kind of became one of those things where it’s like, actually I guess we could try.”

King teamed up with Geena Stacy, who was the manager of the downtown and Capitol locations, to reopen after the contract with DES was approved on Feb. 12. By Feb. 14, Arizona Statehood Day, White Blossom Cafe was ready to caffeinate the Capitol community. 

The Capitol Museum hosted a Statehood Day reception on Feb. 14, and Stacy said she and King knew they had to have the cafe open to celebrate Arizona’s birthday. Stacy worked at Noble Ground for nearly a year and said many regulars reached out to her when it closed.

“It was tough, because we love being here so much and we love our Capitol regulars,” Stacy said. 

Stacy noted that the cafe is one of few near the Capitol, making it somewhat of a necessity for Arizona politicos who rely on caffeine to get through their busy weeks.

“Being here last year, I was able to see what session and I was like, we have the people, they will come,” Stacy said. “They don’t really have another option.”

King said she received a lot of help from regulars — many of whom are state employees, lobbyists or even lawmakers — who were eager to bring the new coffee shop to life. 

“I have had so much help from people who wanted us to be here, whether they were just supportive of us or just needed coffee,” King said. “It’s been really nice to see, especially when we opened on Friday with Statehood Day, a lot of people were so excited to see us. And just feeling that I’m like, we’re doing the right thing here.”

For now, customers can expect a standard coffee shop menu with limited pastries, but King said she hopes to redecorate and expand the menu after the session is over and business slows a bit. The coffee shop is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.