Starbucks<\/a> formerly on East Third Street.<\/p>\nThough with house-made pastries and specialty coffee, the shop offers a variety of delicious reasons for its customers to return.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When it is time to order, customers are met with a display case which consists of Lit Coffee Roasters\u2019s pastry selection: biscuits, scones, sourdough bread, babka and homemade pop-tarts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lit Coffee Roasters\u2019 owner Dan Taylor said all their baked goods are made in-house by Michael Joyce, the baker who owns Bub\u2019s Breads. Lit Coffee Roasters has been partnered with Monocacy Coffee Company since its opening, which provides specialty roast coffee and loose-leaf tea.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we opened, we sort of partnered up as two businesses,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cMonocacy Coffee Company was our roasting company partnered up with Melanie Lino, who was our baker at the time and has since gone to open up From Lino over in West Bethlehem.\u201d<\/p>\n
But for Lit, it\u2019s not just the pastries and coffee that keeps their business thriving.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The store has a front room with couches and a main area that includes tables, chairs and their main coffee shop, with plenty of space for studying, catching up with old friends and even creating new art for the walls.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Anisa Hosseini, who recently relocated to Bethlehem, sits down at the coffee shop\u2019s back table with her drink, ready to start on an assignment at her favorite study spot.<\/p>\n
Hosseini moved from Texas and now attends Moravian University as a graduate student studying fine arts.<\/p>\n
She said her program is small, with only one other student. Her classmate, who has lived in\u00a0 Bethlehem her entire life, invited Hosseini out for a cup of coffee before class as a way to get to know each other.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLit Coffee Roasters was the very first place that I went to meet somebody for the first time,\u201d Hosseini said. \u201cI was blown away by the quality of the coffee and the overwhelming sense of community that you get here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hosseini said Lit quickly became a go-to place for her and her classmate to come, grab a coffee and study.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When Hosseini would visit\u00a0 Lit, she said she noticed the baristas were on a first-name basis with their regulars. Hosseini said when you step through the door, you can feel the sense of community the business creates.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though I feel very new to it, I like feeling that warmth,\u201d Hosseini said. \u201cThat energy to me is very comforting, and very quickly I feel like I\u2019m becoming a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walking into Lit, customers are greeted with posters that line the walls, filled with upcoming events, promotions for political events, and other events\u00a0 happening on the South Side.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Poetry, crocheted hats, earrings and prints for sale decorate the tables next to the coffee counter. Shelves display coffee pots for purchase, along with local newspapers and other pamphlets.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Moving toward the back of the shop, David Junior, a local Bethlehem artist, sits at a long rectangular table with markers sprawled around him. He\u2019s drawing pieces to add to his collection that fills one of Lit\u2019s walls.<\/p>\n
Titled \u201cLong Trip Home Public Journal,\u201d Junior\u2019s work is a collection of artwork that covers the east wall of the coffee shop. Junior\u2019s work has been displayed at the coffee shop for nearly\u00a0 a year now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Junior said when he moved back to Bethlehem from Texas in July of 2025, he stopped by Lit and shared his idea with the team.<\/p>\n
\u201cI change (the public journal) every six weeks.\u201d Junior said. \u201cI don\u2019t have a singular focus, I just make a lot of them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Junior said he doesn\u2019t like his art to be obvious and tends to lean into innuendos. He believes the viewer should do the \u201cwork\u201d and take what they want from his artwork.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Coming from a big city, Junior said he understands the importance of third spaces.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like coffee shops in general,\u201d Junior said. \u201cYou get ones that are very cut and dry, more in and out and not very welcoming. I love hodgepodge furniture and weird stuff on the walls. That\u2019s what a coffee shop should be.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Taylor said artists are very important to the shop and he makes a point to showcase local artists and sell their works whenever he can.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Outside of regular store hours, Lit Coffee Roasters hosts local bands and artists to showcase their music, often in partnership with other businesses.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lit customers can also browse through a box of records provided by a local record company and learn about new releases.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In late September, Lit staff organized a \u201cSonic Pizza Party\u201d with Bub\u2019s Breads and had multiple bands perform, including The Sleeves, William H. Travis and Past Nurture.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On Oct. 22, Lit Coffee Roasters welcomed Philadelphia-based artist Jason Calhoun.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve always wanted to be like a place where either new artists or local artists could display their style,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cIt\u2019s always been pretty important to us, between art on the walls and just hosting musicians and just being a place for art in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
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