Not much has changed since Expresso Coffee opened in 1992. The old Dairy Queen building it calls home still stands, proudly serving coffee to Broward County residents on busy mornings for over 33 years.
On any given morning, the line at the coffee shop snakes past the curb just south of Broward Health and the downtown Fort Lauderdale courthouse, a parade of familiar cars whose drivers barely need to speak before their orders are already in motion. There’s no parking lot, no seating, and no Instagram-ready latte art, just a tiny drive-through hut that has been quietly fueling Fort Lauderdale for more than three decades.
That longevity is no accident. Expresso Coffee has been owned and operated since 1994 by Jon Robichaud and Suzy Ludlow. It exists today because of a broken-down Ford E-150 van, a cement-block building that survived Hurricane Andrew, and an inherent refusal to chase coffee-shop trends.
From left: Young Jon Robichaud and Suzy Ludlow with their van in the 1990s
A Happy Accident in Post-Andrew Fort Lauderdale
What began as a temporary stop for a young couple in their mid-twenties, traveling cross-country and stranded in Fort Lauderdale after their van’s engine failed, turned into one of Broward County’s most enduring caffeine institutions. Expresso Coffee looks much the same as it did in the 1990s, serves beans roasted to exacting standards, and has built a fiercely loyal following by staying exactly the same.
Robichaud and Ludlow began working at Expresso Coffee in 1993, living out of their disabled van while saving enough money to fix its engine and get back on the road. Instead, they fell in love with Fort Lauderdale and decided to make it their home.
After a year behind the counter, they purchased the shop in 1994, when the original owner opted to expand and franchise the business. More than 30 years later, they still own and operate the original location, often working alongside family members. After the property’s longtime owner passed away, the couple also bought the land beneath the shop, securing not just their business but a rare piece of permanence in a rapidly changing city.
The coffee shop was constructed to be a Dairy Queen in the late ’80s/’90s
A Building With a Past
The squat building was originally constructed as a Dairy Queen, identical to the one in Wilton Manors, and was built in the same year. After the ice cream chain moved on, the space cycled through a series of short-lived incarnations, including a motorcycle shop, a used luxury car lot, and a dry cleaner. None of them lasted.
Expresso Coffee did. Today, about 20 customers have been coming regularly since the early 1990s. Tried and true, the shop has survived not only hurricanes but also redevelopment booms, shifting tastes, and the rise of “Instagram coffee,” holding its ground by doing exactly what it has always done.
Co-owner Jon Robichaud proudly serving coffee from the drive-thru window while wearing his iconic “Coffee Pimp” T-shirt (a name he goes by that is now printed on merch and stationery).
Coffee Without the Gimmicks
At the heart of Expresso Coffee is the coffee itself. Part of the shop’s longevity and consistency stems from long-standing relationships with two private roasters, one of which has been working with the business since its inception.
“We have the highest quality coffee in Broward County. I assure you of that,” Robichaud says.
The beans are sourced from top plantations around the world, roasted to order, and shipped overnight directly to the drive-through-only shop. Flavor, Robichaud emphasizes, comes from the beans, not syrups, although premium syrups are available for those who request them. Each day, Expresso offers five rotating flavored coffees, all created during the roasting process rather than added afterward.
Their flagship drink, the “Morning Express,” is a Vienna roast brewed with cinnamon grounds, milk, and a sweetener, a recipe inspired by bed-and-breakfasts in Maine. Robichaud prefers his with honey, which the shop often carries, sourced locally.
Hidden drive thru coffee shop in fort lauderdale 🥰☕️ Expresso Coffee 📍1900 S Andrews Ave, Fort Lauderdale This is such a cute little coffee spot and with really delicious coffee too! I got a roasted marshmallow latte, a muffin, and BANANA PUDDING! I loved the banana pudding lol. The lady working here was so sweet, go check it out and lemme know what you think 🙂 Follow me for more things to do, restaurants, & events in Fort Lauderdale & Broward 🌴 #fortlauderdale #ftlauderdale #ftl
Nostalgia as a Business Model
For longtime customers, not much about Expresso Coffee has changed, and that’s the point. The shop still runs on an old-school cash register. The look and feel remain largely untouched, frozen somewhere in the 1990s.
The biggest evolution has come from the food. Many items are now made in-house, often by Ludlow herself. When she’s not serving coffee, she’s mashing bananas for homemade banana bread or pudding, or baking fresh batches of cookies.
And while loyalty programs elsewhere have moved to apps and QR codes, Expresso Coffee has stuck with what it knows. A paper punch card. Buy 10 coffees, and the 11th is free. No downloads required.
Ownership of the land has shielded the business from the redevelopment pressures that have erased so many South Florida institutions.
A Multigenerational, Local Institution
Expresso Coffee has always felt like a family operation. Over the years, Robichaud’s son and nephew have worked the window, alongside other longtime staff who have become part of the extended Expresso family. In more than three decades, fewer than 150 people have worked there, an unusually low turnover rate for a coffee shop.
That continuity extends to the customers. About 20 people, Robichaud says, have been coming regularly since 1992.
The daily crowd reflects the shop’s location and rhythm. Hospital staff between shifts. Lawyers and courthouse employees stop in before work or during breaks. Travelers are grabbing a final cup on the way to the airport. Many regulars are so familiar that orders are already underway as soon as their cars come into view. Kids get free bananas. Dogs get treats. It’s a drive-through experience built on speed and familiarity.
Nikki, Expresso’s longtime marketing lead, says that loyalty comes from consistency. While other coffee shops chase trends or aesthetics, Expresso has remained deliberately unchanged, a place people return to because it feels the same.
Dogs getting their bones (treats) from the window.
Why It’s Still Here
That sameness is strategic. The drive-through-only model keeps costs low. Fast service keeps the line moving. Ownership of the land has shielded the business from the redevelopment pressures that have erased so many South Florida institutions.
More than 30 years after a broken-down van brought them to Fort Lauderdale, Expresso Coffee is still here, not because it reinvented itself, but because it never needed to.
Expresso Coffee. 1900 S. Andrews Ave., Fort Lauderdale; 954-527-1222; instagram.com/expressocoffee.