More than three years ago, Florida Atlantic University alumnus Elijah Gourgue brought East Boca Raton its own coffee nook, Third Place Coffee Lounge, a place where he could focus on bringing people together and fostering meaningful connections while serving quality coffee and service.

Turned away from the corporate-chain style coffee shops he managed, Gourgue envisioned a coffee shop where clients felt connected to their baristas, leading him to dream up his own third place.

“We all want to be understood, and like to feel like someone else understands us. The world is big,” said Gourgue. “You can sometimes feel lonely, but when you’re able to talk to people, and if things are resonating with you … I want to bring that feeling as much as I can.”

After changing his major from psychology, Gourgue graduated with a bachelor’s in business administration with a concentration in entrepreneurship in 2020. Despite his degree, Gourgue’s entrepreneurial itch didn’t emerge until later in his life. 

During his time at FAU, Gourgue took business lessons he would later apply to running his own coffee shop. Gourgue acknowledged Professor Kevin Cox, senior instructor and director of Florida Atlantic’s Adams Center for Entrepreneurship, who made business feel creative.

“[He] pushed creativity in a way the others didn’t,” said Gourgue. “The biggest lesson I took from it was simple: if you have an idea, just try it. If it doesn’t work, pull it back and change it. You don’t have to stick with one decision forever.”

To this day, Gourgue continues to apply Cox’s lesson to business practices when running Third Place Coffee Lounge. 

“Even now, I use that mindset. If I add a new food item and it doesn’t sell, I’ll pull it, mix things up, and try something different. You have to keep experimenting … failure doesn’t mean it’s over,” said Gourgue.

Gourgue officially began his coffee journey in college, where he started working at Starbucks. Starting off as a barista and then transitioning into a supervisor, Gourgue noted that he grew with the clients that came in. 

“I would see people come in for first dates, and then a couple of years later, they’d come back married. It was amazing to be part of that … to make someone’s day and share in those little life moments,” said Gourgue.

Working in a community-based coffee shop was the closest Gourgue came to forming a solid core group connection, as he didn’t have that growing up due to his frequent moves from New Jersey to South Florida when he was younger. 

“I really enjoyed getting to meet people, talk to them, and feel part of something. I’m still kind of a shy person, but coffee makes it easy … you only have to talk for five minutes,” said Gourgue. “You say, ‘Hey, what’s up? Hope you’re good,’ and then they go about their day. It’s small, but it means something.”

As soon as Starbucks began to prioritize drive-throughs, Gourgue explains that his day-to-day felt less purposeful. He understood that keeping drive-through times short boosted profits, but ultimately took a pay cut to join a local South Florida coffee shop where he could reconnect with clients again. 

“It was really pulling away from the connection and craftiness of this shop … you weren’t motivated or felt supportive enough to get to know the person ordering the coffee, because if you weren’t meeting certain metrics … and sometimes it could be artificial,” said Gourgue.

At the local coffee shop, Gourgue got to learn about the process of brewing coffee, pulling the perfect shot of espresso while meeting new clients, something he had lost at Starbucks. While at the local coffee shop, Gourgue encountered the same issue, which he attributes to a corporate overemphasis on integrity. 

This is when Gourgue’s entrepreneurial spirit began to come through. He started dreaming about opening his own coffee shop, even going on to make a detailed spreadsheet, “Elijah’s dream coffee shop,” where he listed everything he’d want, including the costs and ideas of the items.

“If something blows up, I don’t really know how to open a business … I just know how to manage things,” Gourgue said. “At a certain point, you keep growing. Sometimes it’s two steps forward, one step back, but you keep pushing so you can get to the next thing … Fear is a self-limiting thought.”

After a regular took an interest in Gourgue’s coffee shop idea, telling him he’d be willing to go into business with him, he took the leap forward. 

“After deliberating on the idea for a few weeks, I agreed and said, ‘Let’s make something happen.’ That’s how Third Place Coffee Lounge came to be … neither work nor home, but the third place. A community-oriented space, because there wasn’t anywhere else I’d go that felt like that third place.”

Gourgue officially brought Third Place Coffee Lounge to life, painting the walls himself and going around Boca Raton to take photos of historical spots, all while learning the rules of business. 

“The construction, like plumbing and electrical infrastructure, was definitely challenging,” he said. “It’s costly, and there’s all the permitting you have to go through with the city of Boca. I failed my plumbing inspection like 13 times.”

The process of opening Third Place Coffee Lounge dragged on for nearly a year, during which he was paying rent without officially being open. Gourgue left the local coffee shop and resorted to substitute teaching, as well as working for DoorDash and Instacart, to make ends meet until the official opening of his coffee shop. 

Officially located on Spanish River Boulevard, Third Place Coffee Lounge opened its doors in Boca Raton on June 25, 2022. Focusing on individuality and work ethic, Gourgue built his dream team, which included Emma Smith as assistant manager of the lounge. 

After she moved back to Boca Raton in 2022 and realized that everyone she had grown up with had moved away, Smith found her chosen family through the coffee shop. She began as a barista and quickly advanced to assistant manager, witnessing firsthand the growth of the coffee lounge. 

Through Third Place Coffee Lounge, Smith and Gourgue formed a close friendship.

“I think what really speaks to that is the community that shows up. If you were a fly on the wall all day, you’d see all the different groups that come through … people stopping by at different times just to talk or hang out,” Smith said. “That alone says a lot. Sometimes people come in and don’t even order anything. They just want to be here,  to say hi … I’ve met my new family and closest friends through this place.’”

Gourgue continues to work alongside his staff, overseeing the day-to-day operations of Third Place Coffee Lounge. The coffee shop also gave Gourgue the freedom to pursue his passion for music at Liveschool, an institution based in Australia. Now, he creates his own music that he plays throughout the cafe’s speakers as regulars come and go. 

“Sometimes my songs are in the playlist. People don’t recognize it, but I like to hear something I’m making. I’m in school again for music production. I’m super grateful, having this shop allowed me to save enough money to go to that school. I dreamed of going to that school for so long,” said Gourgue.

Todd Greenberg, a regular who has been attending Third Place Coffee Lounge for about a year and a half, discovered the lounge when he visited the North Dixie Center and saw a sign labeled “COFFEE.” Always welcomed by the warmth of the shop, Greenberg finds himself at the lounge about six times a week. 

“I don’t come to Third Place with the intention of meeting new people … the place attracts like-minded people. It happens naturally,” said Greenberg. “It’s more than just a place to eat or drink coffee … It’s open and welcoming,” said Greenberg. 

Kaii Thompson is the Culture Reporter for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email kaiiliburdthompson@gmail.com