Elora Cafe closes for good

ELORA – It’s the end of an era for an Elora coffee shop but not one unexpected by the owner. 

The Elora Cafe has closed for good with its last day on April 14 following nearly six years of serving coffee. 

A sign on the front door said, “Elora Cafe has closed permanently, thank you for everything!”

“We had known for the last three years that this would be the end of the cafe,” said Paula Allen, who co-owned the cafe with her husband.

The building housing the Elora Cafe is slated for demolition, approved by council in 2023 to make way for a four-storey apartment building made up of 19 rental units and ground-floor commercial space.

Prior to the cafe opening in September 2018, Allen said this building housed a personal fitness studio. 

Allen opened a separate coffee company, Elora Coffee Roasters in 2021. That business focused on emissions free coffee roasting, selling beans and takeout coffees. Allen plans to focus on that business, with plans to add some indoor seating and offer some food items but stressed it’s not have the same menu as the cafe.

“It’s not like the Elora Cafe is moving down there, that’s not at all what we’re doing,” Allen said

She has no plans to open another cafe ever again. 

“We did the cafe, we did that thing, it was wonderful, it’s done now,” Allen said. “It was obviously an extreme challenge during COVID to try to stay open and then to find out the building is coming down was devastating. I just don’t think I could have my heart broken like that again.”