Cafe Ana Taking Former Coffee Cat Spot

Java jonesers will be ecstatic to learn the former Coffee Cat location will soon house another barista bar, and more. Husband-and-wife team of Julian Sanders and Katherine Guzman-Sanders plan to open the Cafe Ana at the corner of Anacapa and Anapamu in the fall with a full kitchen and menu featuring open-faced sandwiches, salads, soups, and other “tasty bites,” Guzman-Sanders said. And natch, they’ll “continue the coffee focus during the day.”

The Coffee Cat had been ad hoc headquarters for people attending county hearings and court proceedings on the blocks nearby, as well as all the employees of both institutions, downtown artists taking a break, and students doing their homework. When the Coffee Cat shut down in August 2016 — due to financial difficulties, owner Krista Fritzen said — the sorrow was widespread, as the Cat’s chalkboard farewells attested.

The new proprietors bring a combined 30 years in the hospitality industry to the new coffee bar. Sanders currently pours at Public Market’s Wine + Beer, and the duo plan to add a wine bar in the evening to the new venture, plus dinner and brunch to the menu in the future. “We love this industry,” Guzman-Sanders said, “and we’re excited to finally be a part of it.”