Foundation Coffee Place

An espresso bar with its own roastery behind it

The counter is fed by its own roastery. Foundation Coffee Place is the espresso bar side of Foundation Coffee Roasters, which has been working in Odessa since 2015, so the beans in the hopper come from the same operation that buys, cups and roasts them. The named lots move through Rwanda Kabyiniro, Colombia Rose Tea, Honduras Montecillos, Costa Rica Tarrazu, Colombia Quebraditas, Colombia Pacamara and Ethiopia Koji, alongside house blends, filter and drip lines and a decaffeinated option. The roastery's catalogue is broader than the bar, running from single lots through blends to filter and drip lines, so espresso is only the entry point. It is still the first order, because it is the most direct way to read what the roastery is doing that week. The bar was named in the 2025 European Coffee Trip Awards.

A brick room built for sitting

The room is contemporary and comfortable, with stylish decor, exposed brick walls and seating both inside and outdoors, and it carries the two uses a specialty bar in a city centre needs: a quick cup standing at the counter and a longer sitting for a conversation or a meeting. The retail side is part of the identity too. Matcha, tea, cocoa, sweets, grinders and brewing kit are sold alongside the beans, which pulls the cafe into home brewing rather than keeping it a drinks counter. Anyone buying a bag can ask how the same coffee is being brewed on the bar first, which is the practical advantage of a roaster running its own room.

Orange cake, poppy eclair, and a shakshuka

For food, the clearest breakfast order is the mushroom shakshuka, which gives the cafe a proper morning role rather than a pastry-only one. The desserts to look for are the orange cake and the poppy eclair, both better against a filter coffee than an espresso, since the longer cup holds up to sugar. If you are choosing coffee rather than food, take a filter of one of the named lots: Ethiopia Koji, Costa Rica Tarrazu, Colombia Pacamara and Honduras Montecillos each show a different side of the roasting. Matcha and tea are there for anyone not drinking coffee, and the blends are the steadier everyday choice. High5 is the roastery's second coffee line and turns up beside the Foundation label on the shelf.