The owners of Greensboro’s new cafe, Drizzle had one goal in mind: bringing something new and lively to the community.
Drizzle Cafe offers a variety of coffee and pastries, with chocolate being their signature specialty.
The cafe is owned and operated by Mike Roach, Haras Sajjad and Waleed Amer.
The three co-owners wanted to bring something new to Greensboro’s food scene, especially for late-night cravings. On March 22, Drizzle officially opened its doors to the community at 2404 Merritt Dr.
“Our creative genius, Mike Roach came up with the name,” Amer said. “Drizzle just clicks and it was something we all ran with.”
Cafes are not anything new for the Greensboro community, although Drizzle brings something different to the table.
The cafe offers treats with the viral Dubai chocolate bars that have been trending on TikTok. These unique chocolate bars are filled with a pistachio filling inside of a milk chocolate shell. The pistachio filling consists of pistachio cream, kataifi dough and tahini.
“Our most popular item that sells is the Dubai strawberry cups,” Amer said. “We love making it. It’s an art. It’s about the layering technique.”
Drizzle sold over 250 on opening day and has averaged at least 100 cups sold daily since.
While virtually anyone could make the Dubai strawberry cups on their own, the owners of Drizzle believe they have something that makes them stand out from the crowd.
“We take pride in our customer service. We uphold the idea that the customer is always right,” said Amer. “Also, the ambiance our cafe has and the vibe it brings, I don’t think anyone else has that.”
On their menu, customers can find non-dairy and vegan options, ranging from vegan chocolate, pistachio cream and vegan pastries. Roach is also the owner of Mike’s Vegan Grill at 2501 W Gate City Blvd and is very familiar with developing alternative recipes.
With every business, hurdles arise. Amer discusses the main issue Drizzle Cafe has had to face since opening.
“Supply chain has been one of our biggest challenges. We make our pistachio cream in-house so finding enough pistachios to provide for daily volume is hard to keep up with,” he said. “Also chocolate. We use Callebaut Finest Belgian Chocolate, which is very hard to get. We go through about ten to eleven pounds of chocolate during the week and double that on weekends.”
Despite these challenges, Amer still enjoys the lifestyle of being a business owner and being self-employed.
“Just the freedom, although it comes at a cost. I’m on call 24/7 but there’s a weight lifted off my shoulders,” he said.
To aspiring entrepreneurs and business owners, Amer offers a piece of advice.
“If you have an idea, the more you sit on it, the more likely you are to not follow through with it,” he said. “The most successful people in life are the ones who act faster on their words rather than just thinking about it.”
While Drizzle Cafe is new to the community, the owners are hopeful about the future of this new Greensboro hotspot.
“We see Drizzle as a very fast-growing brand. We had the location in Greensboro open in under two months and plan to open a second location in NC very soon,” he said. “The plan is to conquer North Carolina first, and if we start a franchise, then that’ll be the goal. We want as many people to experience what we have.”
For students looking to satisfy a late night sweet craving, Drizzle is open until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays at 2404 Merritt Dr. Students can also stay updated on their Instagram, @drizzlenc.
