Photograph courtesy Jacqui Wagner
After seeing a Facebook post in late July about Neighborhood Coffee House opening in Madeira, I burst into my 16-year-old daughter’s room. “We have to go!” She replied, “I’ve already been, like, twice.”
Of course she had. She and her friends are coffee shop hoppers. Wherever there’s sugar and caffeine, you’ll find them. “It has great vibes,” she offered.
We go the next day, mid-morning on a busy Saturday. People are buzzing, and the coffee is brewing. Warm terra cotta walls, cozy seating bathed in golden light, big tables with long benches—it’s a blend of ease and style that feels, well, neighborly.
“The whole ethos of calling it ‘Neighborhood’ means it’s a community space, a place to gather and take time out,” says owner Jacqui Wagner, a Madeira native who spent the last 10 years as a humanitarian worker for an NGO. Having lived all over the world, she’s come to appreciate the value of community connection, not to mention rituals around coffee.
Moving back to her hometown to start Neighborhood Coffee was a huge leap of faith for Wagner, 37. She’d taken a barista class while stationed in Cambodia and dreamed of opening a coffee place someday. While home visiting last fall, she saw the “For Lease” sign on the Miami Avenue space that had been Coffee Please, which operated from 1994 to 2025. Wagner loved her job but was ready for a change. Someday quickly became now.
Photograph courtesy Jacqui Wagner
She had the full support of her family (her sister, Los Angeles-based designer Jessica Wagner Kan, did the interior design) as well as help from the Ohio Small Business Development Center. Once the community got word a new coffee shop was coming, we breathed a collective sigh of relief that another bank branch wasn’t moving in. You’ll never lack for an ATM in downtown Madeira.
“The line was around the block on opening day, and the community has continued to show up,” says Wagner. Even the construction on Miami Avenue hasn’t kept people away, though it’s made many of them quite grumpy on social media.
All the coffee is fair-trade, and Wagner worked with Seven Hills Coffee on a proprietary espresso blend. She carries pastries from Boosalis Bakery (definitely try the Morning Roll) and Golden Hands Bakery. There are seasonal drink menus, as well as fruit-based, non-caffeinated “Neighborhood Sips” for the kids.
Photograph courtesy Jacqui Wagner
Wagner looks forward to the completion of street construction, since the new streetscape will allow more room for outdoor tables and mingling. With her mission of bringing people together and providing an inclusive community space, she’s already considering how she might partner with area nonprofits. She’d even like to reach back out to some communities she worked with in countries like Cambodia, Vietnam, and Bangladesh.
In the coming months, Wagner hopes to expand both the hours and the menu, eventually offering late lunch options. Right now, Neighborhood Coffee House is open every weekday but Tuesday from 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. (later on Friday) and 8 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
As for my daughter and me, I hope Neighborhood Coffee can become our own ritual. We’ve gone back several Saturdays. It already feels like home.
