How to Help Farmers, Our Employees, and Our Business

As a result of the COVID 19 pandemic, Open Eye Cafe has seen reduced hours with carry-out and curbside delivery only. Our sister cafe, Caffe Driade has temporarily suspended service, & one third of our staff have been furloughed and 100% of our staff have had significant decreases in hours and pay.

We have set up a Virtual Tip Jar to help supplement the tipped income lost by our dedicated and hard-working team.  All of the money raised will be divided up among our staff and go directly to them, to help support in this time of financial uncertainty.

This time of social distancing has reminded us more than ever how special our community is, and we are looking forward to the day when we can open up the doors for everyone’s enjoyment once again.

Basically, we miss you!

Thank you so much for any support you can offer.

There are a few more meaningful ways you can help us, our employees, and our farmer partners around the world:

  • We are open Monday – Friday from 7am – 7pm and Saturday – Sunday from 8am – 7pm offering carry-out (keeping appropriate social distance and touch-free checkout), and curbside delivery by calling 919-968-9410. See current offerings in menu below:

  • Visit Carrboro Coffee Roasters’ online shop & order coffee, brewing equipment, gift cards, and more. They ship anywhere in the U.S. and you can get it right to your door without ever leaving your home. Don’t need coffee yet? Send some to friends and family who do. You can also subscribe to monthly coffee deliveries or give a subscription as a gift.  SHOPCARRBOROCOFFEE.COM

  • Online gift cards will support Open Eye Cafe & Caffe Driade, and the employees who work so hard every day, 364 days a year to brighten your day with amazing beverages.

  • If, like us, you are worried about the economic survival of all the local restaurants and retail shops that make our community a better place, please keep spreading the word on our efforts & all the ways people can continue to support without leaving home.

  • Maybe you, or someone you know, can take a moment to post our efforts, write an article, or interview us to help spread the word.

Covid-19 and how we are staying safe

We know that the COVID-19 outbreak has affected many of you already in daily life, and these are uncertain times for everyone in our specialty coffee community and beyond.

I’m writing to let you know that our commitment to do everything possible to provide you with the best coffees, and to support our partners at origin, especially those harvesting, processing and shipping coffees right now.

We are continually monitoring and adhering to all official recommendations, and taking additional steps, to ensure our team is healthy and able to continue their work and safely provide coffee service to our customers.

Public health is extremely important to us, and it is our duty to help ensure the public safety of our customers and staff.  In that regard, below is what we at the Cafe are doing to keep everyone safe, as well as some helpful information to help keep you and your loved ones safer.

– We are encouraging all employees to work from home whenever possible and our employees have our full support at this time.
– We require that all employees who exhibit signs of respiratory illness, fever, or cough to stay at home.
– We are supplying all of our employees with disinfectant & hand sanitizer to be used constantly throughout the day.
– We have implemented the use of color-coded gloves for handling different aspects of the business and provide a barrier.
– We are also mandating thorough hand washing, and encouraging/reminding all employees to avoid touching their faces.
– We will not be holding any in-person company meetings, gatherings, or training exercises until the situation has subsided.
– We are diligent in sanitizing every touchable surface in our operations.

– We are not conducting any public cuppings, nor group staff cuppings. This includes the Carrboro Coffee Roasters Public Workshops that are currently suspended.

– We have switched to serving in paper products as take-away only and will be restructuring our hours.
– We are strategizing for next stages of potentially adding curb-side pickup.

Remember to wash hands frequently, avoid touching the face, and practice good general hygiene, including creating the Spatial Distancing to diminish potential contamination.
Remember, the best way to deal with this situation is to follow real, verifiable science and the CDC. There is a lot of misinformation out there right now. Stay diligent, healthy, support local businesses, and stay caffeinated.

Wash Your Hands Often

Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.

Follow Good Respiratory Hygiene

Please cover your mouth and nose with your bent elbow or a tissue when you cough or sneeze.

Clean Phones, Etc.

Use alcohol wipes (60% or higher) to wipe down common use items, often handled directly with your hands.

Follow Social/Spatial Distancing

Keep a minimum of 6 feet of distance between individuals to mitigate potential transmission