Restaurant News

Warm Waves Coffee opens second location in Suwanee

Owner of Warm Waves Coffee Kenny Libby (left) poses with wife Shawn Libby (middle) and daughter Brooke Libby (right) at the grand opening of their newest cafe location.
Owner of Warm Waves Coffee Kenny Libby (left) poses with wife Shawn Libby (middle) and daughter Brooke Libby (right) at the grand opening of their newest cafe location.
Jan 3, 2024

Warm Waves Coffee, a family-owned coffee shop in metro Atlanta, has opened its second location in Suwanee.

Located at 500 Buford Highway, the new shop offers the same drink menu as its Alpharetta location as well as pastries from locally-based St. Germain Bakery.

Warm Waves owner Kenny Libby started roasting his own coffee beans about 15 years ago when his wife gifted him an at-home roaster. His roasting hobby grew when his daughter Brooke Libby started raising money for a mission trip and they gave out bags of coffee as a thank you to those who donated. Soon, they were selling their beans at farmers markets and opened a brick-and-mortar location in Alpharetta in 2021.

The newest Warm Waves location is staying in the family; Brooke Libby and Lauren Kobe, a friend she met on the mission trip, are co-managers at the Suwanee cafe.

Managers Lauren Kobe (left) and Brooke Libby (right) pose during Warm Waves Coffee's grand opening at the Suwanee location.
Managers Lauren Kobe (left) and Brooke Libby (right) pose during Warm Waves Coffee's grand opening at the Suwanee location.

Located in the Thrive Coworking building, the 1,000-square-foot Suwanee Warm Waves has a bar with several stools and some indoor tables, along with an outdoor patio set to open soon.

Brooke Libby and Kobe wanted to create a “third space,” Kobe said, which is a social destination separate from home and work where people can build community. The Suwanee location has board games, decks of card and even a basketball for kids.

Family-owned cafe Warm Waves Coffee opened its second location in Suwanee.
Family-owned cafe Warm Waves Coffee opened its second location in Suwanee.

The menu includes espresso-based drinks, matcha, seasonal lattes and teas. Drinks are made with Warm Waves beans roasted in Norcross, which Kenny Libby said he works to source directly from farmers in Nicaragua and Honduras and from local boutique traders in Ethiopia.

“That’s important to us to be selling quality coffee,” Kenny Libby said. “And it’s traceable, so we can trace it right back to the land that it’s grown on and the people that are growing it.”

500 Buford Highway, Suwanee. warmwavescoffee.com, 678-395-4881.

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About the Author

Olivia Wakim is a digital content producer on the food and dining team. She joined the AJC as an intern in 2023 after graduating from the University of Georgia with a journalism degree. While in school, she reported for The Red & Black, Grady Newsource and the Marietta Daily Journal.

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