Two longtime customers bring house-roasted coffee, scratch-made food and a genuine neighborhood spirit to Ella’s first franchise location.

August 22nd, 2026

By the time Carl Huschai and Fritz Richardson became Ella Coffeehouse franchisees, they had already supported the business in the most traditional way possible: spending a small fortune there.

The cousins knew Ella as customers long before they knew it as owners. Richardson first discovered the South Florida coffeehouse in 2019, and visits soon became part of the family routine. One of the owners brought his daughters so frequently that Ella became the destination for ordinary meals, celebrations and even a stop following a middle-school graduation.

When the opportunity arrived to open the company’s first franchised location, they were not investing in an unfamiliar concept pulled from a catalog. They were taking ownership of the coffeehouse where their families already ate, drank and accumulated enough loyalty points to make buying the place seem like the next logical reward.

That history now pours into Boynton Beach at 6651 Woolbright Road, Suite 132.

Opened in July, the café marks Ella’s first franchised location and its first move into Palm Beach County. The company already operates coffeehouses in Plantation, Davie and Coral Springs, along with an outpost inside Hard Rock Stadium. Boynton Beach carries the recognizable Ella identity, but the owners are steadily molding it around the people walking through this particular door.

The result feels less like a chain expanding its footprint and more like a favorite neighborhood café finding another neighborhood.

A Little Italy, Reimagined in South Florida

Ella’s story began in 2016 with an owner who regularly traveled to Italy and wanted to bring home pieces of the coffee culture he admired there. That influence remains visible in the espresso, macchiato and con panna, which tops a traditional espresso shot with freshly whipped cream.

Even the name has a personal origin. Ella was named after the founder’s daughter, giving the brand a family connection before the first cup was ever poured.

A few years ago, the company was acquired by entrepreneur Anthony Perera, but its focus remained rooted in handcrafted coffee, fresh food and neighborhood hospitality. According to Ella Coffee House, the company roasts its proprietary coffee blend at its Fort Lauderdale roastery and prepares its food fresh in-house.

Those ideas are easy to place on a website. Boynton Beach gives them flavor.

A Room Designed for Staying Awhile

The café sits beneath swaying palms in a familiar South Florida shopping plaza. Beyond the white stucco exterior, the room takes on a warmer personality through layered wood walls, black metal chairs, hanging lights and an oversized painting of bright red coffee cherries.

The visual centerpiece is the food display near the counter. Sandwiches, salads and pastries sit across tiered wooden boards with handwritten labels describing the ingredients. It looks more like an edible exhibition than a conventional display case, and it makes ordering one modest item substantially more difficult.

A chalkboard-style mural welcomes visitors to Ella Boynton, while empty frames, trailing greenery and rustic details prevent the space from feeling too polished or manufactured. The tables offer enough room for laptops and meetings, but the café never slips into the sterile atmosphere of a shared office with espresso.

Wi-Fi is readily available, and a children’s table gives younger guests a space of their own. Comfortable chairs are also being returned after regulars asked for them. The owners listen closely to how guests use the room and adjust it accordingly.

That includes understanding the surrounding plaza. Parents can settle in after dropping off their children, someone can grab coffee while a spouse gets a haircut and customers leaving nearby beauty businesses can stretch a self-care appointment into lunch.

The café has already started developing regulars, including guests who tend to occupy the same familiar spots. That is usually how a coffeehouse becomes part of a community, one unofficially claimed table at a time.

Coffee That Still Tastes Like Coffee

Ella specializes in Italian-style coffee made from its proprietary blend. The beans are roasted through the company’s Fort Lauderdale operation, giving the drinks a consistent foundation before milk, foam or flavor ever enters the picture.

The menu includes espresso, lattes, cappuccinos, Americanos, cortados, flat whites, macchiatos, cold brew and con panna. Most of the flavored syrups are also made in-house.

Vanilla begins with real vanilla beans. Strawberry begins with strawberries. Banana begins with bananas. Caramel and honey-based creations follow the same ingredient-first approach. Hazelnut and sugar-free syrups are among the few exceptions.

That attention keeps the drinks from tasting as though the coffee has been mugged by a bottle of artificial flavoring.

The iced coffee delivered a smooth, cooling lift while allowing the roasted quality of the beans to remain present beneath its creamy finish. It was rich without becoming heavy and sweet without wandering into melted-dessert territory.

The honey lemonade offered an entirely different kind of refreshment. Made with real lemon and honey, it arrived pale and lightly clouded rather than glowing an unnatural shade of yellow. The citrus brought a clean tartness before the honey softened its sharper edges. Nothing about it tasted powdered, bottled or mass-produced.

Ella also knows when to loosen its tie and have fun. During the visit, the seasonal board featured Destiny’s Disco Dream, a strawberry-vanilla iced latte finished with strawberry cold foam and edible glitter.

Once edible glitter enters the cup, the drink has officially left the coffee shop and joined a nightclub. Still, the playful presentation fits a brand that enjoys rotating seasonal creations instead of forcing customers to stare at the same lineup throughout the year.

A Bakery with Very Little Interest in Shortcuts

Coffee may lead the conversation, but Ella’s kitchen keeps interrupting with better arguments.

Baguettes and croissants are baked every morning. Cinnamon rolls are made entirely in-house. French toast gives the unused ends of baguettes a second life instead of sending perfectly good bread into the trash.

That bit of kitchen practicality produced one of the most indulgent dishes on the table. Thick, custardy French toast arrived beneath bananas, strawberries and blueberries, with sweetness settling into every pocket of bread. The baguette provided more structure than ordinary sliced bread, keeping the center soft without allowing the entire dish to collapse into mush.

The blueberry-zucchini muffin proved equally memorable. Its deep golden surface broke into a moist interior dotted with bursts of blueberry. The zucchini kept the crumb soft but never made the muffin taste remotely vegetable-like. It delivered fruit, vegetables and sugar in the same package, which feels like nutritional diplomacy at its finest.

Vegan and gluten-free bakery options widen the appeal, including items such as gluten-free lemon poppy-seed muffins, Nutella coffee cake and power bars. Sugar-free pastries are not really part of the equation, but nobody should walk into a coffeehouse expecting the pastry case to behave like a punishment.

Sandwiches That Refuse to Stay Neat

Ella’s savory menu carries the same handmade personality.

The BLT layered applewood-smoked bacon, tomato, spinach, arugula and herb aioli between slices of toasted multigrain bread. The bacon brought the necessary smoky crunch, the greens kept the sandwich bright and the aioli added creaminess without burying everything beneath it. Grapes served alongside provided a cool, sweet reset between bites.

The American sandwich abandoned restraint altogether. A crusty baguette held bacon, melted American cheese, tomato and pesto, creating a hearty combination of smoke, salt, creaminess and herbs. Cheese slipped beyond the bread, bacon extended from the sides and the sandwich seemed determined to defeat anyone attempting to eat it elegantly.

That messiness was part of the charm. A café sandwich should not look as though it was assembled three days earlier and released from plastic captivity five minutes before lunch.

The Greek salad showed equal generosity. Rather than crumbling a polite dusting of feta across the top, Ella laid thick white slabs over cucumber, tomatoes, peppers and Kalamata olives. The vegetables offered plenty of cool crunch, the olives supplied briny intensity and the feta added enough salty creaminess to make the salad feel substantial.

Fresh salads, loaded sandwiches and baked goods share the counter without forcing Ella into a single identity. It can serve as a quick coffee stop, a breakfast destination or a legitimate lunch option without appearing confused about what it wants to be.

Regulars Are Already Shaping the Place

Huschai and Richardson are not waiting for corporate headquarters to tell them how to connect with Boynton Beach.

One regular named Drew inspired a Monday cold-brew promotion, transforming his weekly ritual into a local special that he could share with friends. Wednesdays feature a senior appreciation discount, while new seasonal drinks periodically rotate onto the menu.

The owners are also visibly involved in the café. They speak with guests, explain unfamiliar offerings and watch how different sections of the room are used. Employees must be equally informed because guests often rely on staff guidance to navigate the wall menu, food display and changing specials.

That service matters. Handcrafted syrups and house-roasted beans may attract curious customers, but familiarity is what brings them back.

Ella’s arrival in Boynton Beach carries obvious significance for the larger company. Its first franchise will help determine whether a coffeehouse built through local relationships can retain that character while expanding into new markets.

Yet the bigger business story fades quickly once the coffee begins pouring and the food reaches the table.

What remains is a warm room, a family connection, an owner who already understands the brand as a customer and a menu willing to place an Italian-style espresso beside a glitter-covered strawberry latte.

Ella Coffeehouse has not simply planted its sign in Boynton Beach. It has started learning the names, routines and favorite chairs of the people beneath it.

Follow Ella Coffee House on Instagram for seasonal drinks, food specials and updates from its South Florida locations.