Study Spot Like No Other

Looking for a new place to hang out? Well look no further, Café Martha might be the perfect fit! Being located right on Main Street of Bloomsburg, Café Martha is the perfect place to go with friends to catch up or alone to finish up some work. 

Right after walking up a ramp at the front door, you are immediately met with beautifully soft jazz music, a calm scent of coffee beans, and pretty lights strung all over the walls making the dark red brick and hardwood floors feel as if you are back at home snuggling in bed. The soft velvet couches that have clearly been loved by many in the past just invite you to want to sit in them. If sunk in couches are not for you, there is a bar flush to the wall with small black and brown barstools as well as many tables heading all the way to the back of the shop that are happy to sit two to four people at a time.

After just a couple steps forward into Café Martha, you easily come across the long white counter where you are meant to order. Usually there will be a very friendly face behind the counter to greet you, but if not, there will be a sign placed just before the electronic register that reads, "Barista will be right back! Thanks for your patience". Scattered around the shop are bookshelves displaying different sorts of books, some written by Jane Austen and some by local authors from Bloomsburg. Circling the bookcases, there are earrings, and handmade Appalachian Incense. Once the barista with long flowy hair matching her blue jean skirt and checkered shirt shows up from the back kitchen, it is certain she asks in a sweet, relaxing voice "what you would like to eat", allowing you to choose from the multitude of pastries and breakfast sandwiches they provide, then, after grazing over the drink menu and deciding from matcha, tea, coffee, or a smoothie you can hear a "would you like it for here or to go"? Following payment, any seat without a human sitting on it is available to be sat in.

Although Café Martha is relatively new, a coffee bar here on Main Street is not. The same establishment used to be named Fog and Flame, so what caused the switch? According to barista Sydney, although the original owners still carry a love for espresso and all things tasty, with their ever-growing age, they could not handle the upkeep of a business and ultimately decided that it was "too much". The switch from Fog and Flame to Café Martha first started in November of 2024 but did not go public until January/February of 2025. The previous owners still care deeply about the shop, so they made a very wise decision to sell to someone already familiar with operating a business, the owner of local taco place; Fourth Taco, as well as still supplying the coffee Café Martha uses.

The baristas at Café Martha are extremely welcoming and friendly, yet they all have their fair share of opinions when it comes to dealing with the general population. Barista Sydney was very transparent when she claimed that the hardest part of working with the public is how people "swear they know what they want, when in reality they do not". Due to commercialized coffee shops, many consumers have been led to believe certain things about drinks. Sydney made it very clear that Café Martha makes drinks how they were originally meant to be created and not just how people believe they should be,                                                           "Macchiatos are NOT ICED" for example. 

Considering Café Martha is welcoming to all kinds of interesting people, you might get lucky enough to run into some sweet older gentlemen. Right before closing, a group of three men all wearing leather jacket and jean pants with walked into Café Martha. They all ordered a latte with two shots of espresso in their thick accents that were rather difficult to place. They argued for a bit on who should pay but finally decided on the bald friend of the trio.

 One of the men asked, "How much longer until we will have to pay for parking here?" 

The barista responded with a bit of hesitation, "I am not sure, I do not think you have to"

Since Café Martha's drinks are in fact, the real deal, it is no surprise the gentleman with a beard and glasses kindly thanked Sydney for making the lattes and said, "looks like a proper coffee" with a smile. Baristas are no stranger to confrontation, so when people decide to stay past closing, Sydney has no issues asking the three customers to leave, even offering to put their drinks into to-go cups for free. The men quickly apologized and started to see their way out.

"Do you know of any good pubs around here?" Prompted one of the men,

"I do not drink considering I am underage, but I am sure if you walk further downtown you will be able to find a few." Responded the barista with a giggle.

Whether you are a neighborly old man meeting up with some friends, or a young student trying to pass your hardest class, you should give Café Martha a chance. Their homelike scenery, warm scents, and calming music (that almost works as a sedative, in the best kind of way) is seriously one of the coolest places on Main Street here in Bloomsburg.