Lexington cafe opening second location. It’s in former downtown coffee shop
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Grounded All Day Cafe will open second location at 125 Cheapside in mid–late April.
- New shop will serve original menu, bagels flown daily from New York, Nate’s coffee.
- Owner plans breakfast and lunch; may add liquor license and expand hours for events.
A Lexington cafe is opening a second location downtown in the former Nate’s Coffee spot on Cheapside.
Grounded All Day Cafe, which opened two years ago just off Leestown Road, will be coming to 125 Cheapside, where Nate’s Coffee closed at the end of 2025 after seven years.
Grounded All Day owner Rock Daniels said Nathan Polly, the owner of the former coffee shop, and his products will still be on site.
Daniels said the new cafe will open sometime in April and serve the same menu as the original Grounded All Day Cafe, including bagels flown in daily from New York and Nate’s locally roasted coffees.
“I’ve been friends with Nate for over 20 years, and he’s provided our coffee ever since we opened two years ago,” Daniels said. “He’s sold everything inside (the new place) to us, but he will be working there.”
The new shop also will be called Grounded All Day Cafe, he said, and serve breakfast and lunch daily.
Daniels said cafe will eventually add a liquor license to offer mimosas, bloody marys and sangria.
And they may expand hours to include Thursday Night Live events.
The cafe faces the Fifth Third Pavilion in Handy Park, where the Lexington Farmers Market is held on Saturday mornings.
“We’re excited,” he said. “Thursday Night Live and the farmers market, that’s fantastic.”
Daniels said that with Zim’s Cafe in the historic Old Courthouse closing at the end of 2025, he saw an opportunity.
“There’s just not a lot of breakfast stuff down there now, and there are five hotels within a block, plus Rupp Arena and the convention center and so many people working in offices,” Daniels said. “I felt there was a need. And our price point is really good, with pretty much everything under $13.”
Daniels said he hopes to work with the city to provide offer activities similar to those at the original cafe at 106 Burke Road, including donation-based yoga, kids story time, community chess and more.
“I would like to incorporate all of those into the pavilion, if that works out,” he said.
Grounded All Day Cafe
Where: 125 Cheapside, just off Short Street
Hours: 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily
Online: groundedalldaycafe.com
