Espresso To Go Coffeeshop To Close In February

The end of an era on Old South Road is on the horizon.

Espresso To Go, the coffeeshop owned by Buddy and Terri Dion, will close in February after more than two decades in business at the Toombs Court location just off Old South Road. Its final day will be Friday, Feb. 13th.

As Terri Dion greeted her regular customers at the coffeeshop Wednesday morning, she told the Current she was at peace with the decision and ready for her next chapter, which, at this point, remains unclear.

"We have known for a few years that we would either close or move," Terri Dion said. "While we would be open to moving Espresso, it remains difficult to find space to continue at our current capacity. Reaching an agreement with the new property owners to close earlier than originally anticipated made sense for us at this time, as we try to back away from the everyday demands that our restaurant entails. We will miss our longtime staff and seeing both our longtime year-round and seasonal customers, who have supported us for the past (almost) two decades. It’s been a great run, but we look forward to our next chapter wherever that may take us."

In addition to its coffee and caffeinated drinks, Espresso To Go also featured pastries, cookies, cakes, house-made soups and salads, and many other breakfast and lunch options for people on the go. 

The property at 1 Toombs Court, where Espresso To Go is located, is slated to be redeveloped as a subdivision along with a neighboring property. It is currently owned by Toombs Court LLC, a limited liability company registered to New Hampshire resident Diane Downing, who purchased the property in 1998, but is under contract to be sold. The coffeeshop's lease was due to expire in October.

The original Espresso To Go cafe on Main Street was operated by Susan Fisher in the space that is now occupied by the restaurant Or The Whale. After it closed around the year 2000, Fisher moved it to Toombs Court in 2003, and the Dions took over the business in 2006.

They also operated a sister coffeeshop, Fast Forward on Cherry Street, from 2006 through 2020. It was closed due to COVID and other factors, Dion said.