WILMORE, Ky. (LEX 18) — As we enter winter, more people may be looking to start the day with a hot cup of coffee.
Cheryl Williams is one of those people, splitting time between her retirement in Florida and visiting her family in her hometown of Wilmore.
“We have children and grandchildren that live on a farm here,” Williams said. “I was born on Lexington Avenue in the same house that my father was born in. Actually, the same room.”
Cheryl will undoubtedly walk into Solomon’s Porch whenever she's back home.
A spot she feels is an uplifting place for the city.
“It’s a fabulous little coffee shop. It’s almost like walking into a Hallmark movie coffee shop. That’s what I feel when I come in, and I feel very at home here,” Williams said.
The comfortable atmosphere has been crafted by owners Tim and Erin Gibson over the last 20 years since they took over the shop.
From Asbury graduates to husband and wife and, shortly after that, business owners, the Gibson’s wanted to focus on creating a more inclusive community space.
“This was a seminary hangout at first, but we had no ties to the seminary,” Erin Gibson said. “We were hoping to draw in a little bit more of the college population and try to include the community a little bit more at that point; there were no community customers coming in.”
Solomon’s Porch has gone through different fads and phases to get to where it is today.
Hours are changing to focus more on morning/midday customers and multiple menu iterations.
Now, coffee, sandwiches, and freshly baked pastries are the foundation.
“We serve a lot of local food here. It’s a very popular concept, but we were doing it kind of before that became a fad,” Tim Gibson said. “All of our beef comes from a farm over the river. We do all of our baked goods are baked in house.”
Beyond food and drink, the Gibson’s have stayed true to their faith background at their shop.
The initial thought for Solomon’s Porch was to be a coffee shop ministry.
Over the years, though that initial idea may not have come to fruition, the Gibson’s do believe they have been able to provide a space for ministry for customers on top of opportunity for their hardworking staff.
“We were consistently having people come in looking for employment that were having trouble being hired. People who’d been in jail, people who were homeless, or single moms that just needed a flexible place to work,” Erin Gibson said. “We’ve quickly found out that really the ministry part that God was calling us to was ministering to our employees and then also having a space for people to feel comfortable in fellowship here.”
The Gibson’s are proud of what they have created. It is a place for people to enjoy fresh food and fellowship in a city in which owners have spent their entire adult lives.
“We’re very relational type people. We like to get into each other’s lives, and they seem to trust us enough to allow us to get into their lives,” said Tim Gibson.
Cheryl Williams is one of several customers to sing the praises of Solomon’s Porch for the way the staff works to connect with customers.
“They have had a ministry for the people and for the town. You just don’t really find people like them,” Williams said. “They’re a real asset to the community.”
Solomon’s Porch is located at 111 E Main Street in Wilmore.
They are open Monday-Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
