The Cottage Cafe & Tea Room Now Open, Accepting Reservations on Joor in Central

My grandmother, Loretta Foreman, opened The Country Emporium in 1984 on Sullivan Road as an antique and gift shop. The store was in a log cabin home on lots of land. It was beautiful and peaceful. 

By 1985, she decided to expand and include a tea room. She always loved tea and enjoyed having tea parties as a child and thought this would be a unique idea for Central and the surrounding areas. 

In 1999, Sullivan Road expanded and the city purchased her original location. She searched for another piece of property that would bring about the same feelings as the Sullivan Road location, and she ended up finding the property on Joor Road. The building was built by the original owner in 1978 as a family home. 

After purchasing the property, Loretta spent years updating the space to make it into a commercial property. The outdoor patio area was enclosed to become the tea room and a two car garage was renovated to be the lunch room. An old barn in the yard was converted to an event space. A large parking lot was poured in front of the house. 

After five years of renovations, the Country Emporium reopened in 2005 at 10443 Joor Road, bringing back the tea room and even including a new cafe/lunch room. 

Many people visited from all over the state and enjoyed the peace and tranquility that the grounds provide. 

In 2012, after 22 years in business, Loretta decided to close the store and retire to spend more time with her family. While retired, she she continued to own the land and she rented the space. For 10 years, the Joor Road location housed many small businesses, including a fabric store, small restaurants, and even a wedding reception venue. 

In 2021, she began pondering the idea of reopening the cafe and tea room. In March 2022, after turning 80, she asked me if I would join her on this adventure. 

After contemplating for some time, I decided that I could not pass up the opportunity to learn from my grandmother who has experience running her own business, and I would also enjoy getting to spend more time with her. 

We officially opened on May 27, 2022, and have been very busy for a new business. Now we are excited to see where the future takes us!

The Cottage Cafe & Tea Room is open Wednesday-Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. One-day advanced reservations are required for high tea (The Queen’s Tea or Princess Sarah’s Tea). Walk-ins are welcome for the cafe and for tea and scones. 

To make reservations or for more information, phone 225-478-2766. Our website is thecottagecafeandtearoom.com