The Left Hook Coffee Comes Out Swinging in Raleigh

Howard Bryman| August 19, 2026 The Left Hook Coffee in Raleigh, North Carolina. All images courtesy of The Left Hook Coffee. Raleigh, North Carolina-based roasting companyThe Left Hook Coffeeis stepping into the ring with its first standalone cafe. The 800-square-foot cafe occupies a 1920 building that formerly housed the Hargett Street Laundromat in Raleigh’s Olde East neighborhood. Exposed brick, vintage furniture and other nostalgic touches surround a straightforward quality-focused coffee program. Against a bare-knuckles backdrop of exposed red bricks, a Kees van der Westen Mirage Duette espresso machine anchors the bar. Its polished, retro styling complements vintage pennants, old coffee tins, circus references and secondhand furniture throughout the cafe. “You feel like you’re in your grandparents’ basement,” Left Hook Coffee Co-Founder Kristin Kulik told Daily Coffee News. “Even our retail coffee bags have a call back to the past. A picture of my grandpa during his boxing club days is our main bag label.” White walls and counters, wood floors and natural wood paneling keep the cafe bright, while signs, tchotchkes and other vintage objects throughout the room reference Kulik’s childhood in New Jersey. “I was a navy brat, so we moved around a lot growing up, but our one constant was staying with our grandparents in Rockaway, New Jersey, just 45 minutes outside of the city,” said Kulik. “Growing up in this area had a huge influence on me.” Takeaway drinks come in iconic blue Anthora paper cups, while the menu includes more flavorful flourishes like a New York-style egg cream made with whole milk, chocolate syrup and seltzer. Kulik has spent about 15 years working in coffee, restaurants and cafes in Orlando, Seattle and North Carolina. She and her husband, Nick Atkins, launched The Left Hook Coffee in Orlando before beginning pop-up retail service there in 2021. In

Howard Bryman| August 19, 2026 The Left Hook Coffee in Raleigh, North Carolina.

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