Restore Coffee Roasters: a Coffee Shop in a Church, in a Mall

Last April, the Christ Fellowship Church opened inside the Boynton Beach mall, a new permanent location for the nationwide worship center now located in the shopping center's old Dillard's department store space.

Today, members actually go to the mall for services, with access from the department store's old exterior and interior entrances. Despite the seemingly odd location, once inside it looks -- and feels -- like a free-standing church.

What makes it different from any other church, however, is its specialty coffee shop and lounge, Restore Coffee Roasters.

See Also: This Week's Dish: Candela in Wilton Manors

Restore Coffee Roasters opened in a 3,000-square-foot space near the department store entrance and allows access to Christ Fellowship -- but doesn't make patrons feel like they are somewhere they shouldn't be. A roaming lounge space offers plenty of seating, as well as a meeting room with a TV and large communal table that can seat up to 20 people.

Christ Fellowship, the country's 15th-largest church by membership, has locations in South Florida and New York, including a worship center in Palm Beach Gardens, Royal Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, and Manhattan. Local lead pastor Todd Mullins hopes the Boynton Beach location will help add to the 1,000 local members the church already has.

Part of that plan includes the church's own Restore Coffee Roasters, a coffee shop that sells Colombian arabica coffees, loose-leaf teas, smoothies, and baked goods. The beans are roasted locally in South Florida and are Restore's signature blend, which includes a premium medium roast known as La Casa and a dark roast known as Esperanza.

There's an added bonus to getting your coffee fix on at the mall: At Restore, you can feel good about your caffeine addiction and drink to a good cause. All of Restore's profits go to support -- and fund -- local and national community outreach programs and nonprofit organizations including Place of Hope, Hope for Freedom, Big Heart Brigade, Joann's Cottage, and the Homeless Coalition of Palm Beach County.

Restore Coffee Roasters is located in the Boynton Beach Mall at 801 N. Congress Ave., Boynton Beach. The store is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Visit restorecoffeeroasters.com, or call 561-779-7608.

Follow Nicole Danna on Twitter, @SoFloNicole.