Betty Goettee was my grandmama, and the person this business is dedicated to. Cafe Betty’s exists completely in remembrance of her.
I was lucky enough to have a little over three decades with her before she passed away from Alzheimer’s in 2022. No matter how much that disease changed her, it never changed her love for coffee. It was her favorite part of every day. She started every morning with a cup before heading off to golf, and it was the only thing she’d order besides an occasional Diet Coke when she met up with friends for lunch dates.
When I was a baby, she used to take me to Stanley’s Drug Store in the small town of Hampton, South Carolina, and sneak spoonfuls of coffee into my mouth, even though my mom said I wasn’t allowed to have any. I fully blame her for what turned into my coffee-obsessed self.
I used to love the super sweet coffee drinks, but as I got older, I started to appreciate the actual taste of coffee. And once I cared about the taste, I became fascinated by the science behind making it better . I tried different beans from all over, dialed them in, redialed, adjusted the ratios, readjusted, until I felt like it was perfect. I realized this wasn’t just a hobby, it was something I cared deeply about. Not just making good coffee, but also serving people well.
Cafe Betty’s is my way of honoring her, sharing that love of coffee, and serving the best drinks I possibly can.
Meet Betty
and we are kristen & Berkley,
the two baristas behind Cafe Betty’s. We’re partners in life and in this business, which makes this whole thing even more special to us.
We’ve been in Florida for several years and settled near the Lutz area a few years ago after buying our home. As much as we love it here, we immediately noticed there was basically zero coffee scene unless you count a couple Starbucks nearby.
Somewhere along the way we had a moment like, wait… our coffee is actually good. Like, really really good. Thats when the joke started: “What if we owned a coffee shop one day?”
I’m still in disbelief that a random comment in our kitchen has somehow turned into our soon to be reality.
We are genuinely so passionate about coffee. We’ve spent so much time testing, tasting, changing, and perfecting recipes to make sure what we serve isn’t just good… it’s reallyyy good. Every detail really does matter to us.
Coffee brings people together and we feel like the current state of the world makes it hard to have a sense of community. We are so excited to create a space where everyone can feel at home and we are over the moon about being able to share it with all of you.