Hopping with Coffee and Community

The Chatham Rabbit opened recently (October 2018) in historic downtown Siler City, as a place for coffee and community. The focus is to offer good coffee and hot beverages, pastries, bagels, and a fantastic space for productivity. Meet colleagues, work away from your office, or spend time with a friend. You’ll find a spacious area to work or talk. The light in the space is primarily provided through large windows streaming in natural sunlight, shining upon the multiple plants lining the large window sills.

A plus for guests, bagels are available here, alongside plenty of pastries. The espresso machine, shiny and new, and Brooke Simmons and her quick style of serving coffee (and always remembering regulars’ daily orders), make the Chatham Rabbit a welcome addition downtown. Owner, Brooke Simmons, tells us, “I’m so excited to be back serving the community full time! Seeing my customers on a daily basis again had been a great pleasure.”

It’s not just a place for coffee or a regular hangout; it’s more than that third place (work, home, coffee shop). It’s also a shared space within the NC Arts Incubator offices and studios in the building, including the acclaimed Terry McInturff’s work space, so you’re in an ambiance of art.

Why was it named The Chatham Rabbit? Find the full story on their website; briefly, rabbits were once a commodity, and in demand with restaurateurs. They were popular locally and regionally but also in the northern states, where they were shipped on a regular basis. Chatham County remains a thriving agricultural area that is now known for so much more and the rabbits now enjoy a more leisurely pace, which is the pace visitors enjoy when they have an opportunity to explore. The Chatham Rabbit will grow as a space for meeting friends and colleagues and discarding the rushed routines in everyone’s lives. Just outside, shops, galleries, and a number of year-round events are ongoing and available, making it worth the trip, again and again.