New coffee shop Rancho Roasters opens in Rancho Santa Fe village

Rancho Roasters has opened in the Rancho Santa Fe village, transforming a boring loading dock into a buzzing coffee shop at Plaza De Santa Fe, where the RSF Post Office is also located.

Owner Courtney Cindrich opened on March 9 right before the pandemic forced shelter-in-place orders. While the timing was less than ideal, people have shown up to support the new small business.

“Everyone in the community has been so sweet,” Cindrich said.

The first few slower weeks were like the soft opening she had planned—there was time to work out the kinks and get baristas up to speed. Rancho Roasters also lucked out in that its business model is mostly outside, allowing the coffee shop to continue to safely serve customers.

A coffee lover, Cindrich took a long time to find just the right roaster for her shop, going with Dark Horse Coffee.

“It was so important to have really good coffee and to bring something to North County that no one has,” she said of Dark Horse, which has cafe locations in North Park, La Mesa, Normal Heights and Golden Hill, and roasts beans out of a facility in La Mesa. Cindrich said Dark Horse has been helpful mentors as she started this new business, she trusts the quality of their beans and, most importantly, people really enjoy their coffee.

One of Rancho Roasters’ specialty drinks is the Sweet Bee Latte, espresso with the customer’s choice of milk, honey and cinnamon.

“People really love our cold brew,” Cindrich said, noting along with an iced Americano it is a best seller.

The shop serves up fresh pastries from Bread & Cie as well as sandwiches, wraps and the very popular breakfast burritos from their provider California Grinders.

A La Jolla resident, Cindrich previously owned a fitness studio in Pacific Beach. She sold the studio to focus on raising her two daughters and while she enjoyed being a stay-at-home mom, she always missed the business side and wanted to get back to it.

Cindrich is very familiar with the Rancho Santa Fe community as she is the daughter of former Rancho Santa Fe Association Manager Pete Smith, and she saw a niche that needed to be filled. She said while many communities have coffee shops on every block, Rancho Santa Fe had just one and with the loss of Stump’s Market back in 2015, people were also lacking a quick grab and go spot.

The small, 200-square-foot space needed a total overhaul to transform into a coffee shop—they added the plumbing and electrical systems and paired stainless steel appliances with white subway tiles and rustic wood paneling.

Cindrich is not allowed to make any permanent changes to the exterior of the building so her idea for a succulent wall will be replaced with lots of potted plants, a new coat of paint (in the same color), some sprucing up of the roll-up door and adding benches to the three tables on the little patio where on a recent weekday morning, a socially distanced line had formed for a coffee fix.

“The response has been great, everyone says it’s so rare that something new comes into the village,” Cindrich said.

Rancho Roasters is open Monday- Saturday 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Address: 16950 Via De Santa Fe, Rancho Santa Fe.