Family coffee shop to warm up downtown Dagsboro, starting New Year’s Day

It was a 15-year-old dream for Dana Miller. Now her coffee shop, Dagsboro Days, sits on Main Street, ready to open the first day of the new year.

“It almost brings a sense of community,” said Audrey Miller, Dana’s daughter. “We had somebody walk in yesterday. She must live down the street. She just walked in and said, ‘We’re ready. We’ve been ready for you!’”

A few blocks down from the Clayton Theatre, Dagsboro Days will brew up a new community space for folks to gather, talk and slow down.

The interior is reminiscent of the Artful Bean in Bethany, with promises of board games and live music in the near future. The community board has one photo of Dana’s husband, co-owner Pat Miller, at a Halloween cookout. A small bookshelf, local art and sink-right-in couches give off a homey vibe.

Dana and Pat designed Dagsboro Days to be a gathering place, a warm and inviting nook for locals to relax with a cup of Rise Up coffee, a quick stop for workers to grab a bite, and a safe spot for students to hang out after school.

Dagsboro itself has remained quiet over the years, compared to neighboring town Millsboro, which has seen significant growth in restaurants and retailers.

But Dagsboro is a small town by nature. The Botanic Gardens, just a short drive or bike ride from the coffee shop, will open in 2019. The Clayton Theatre, and antique furniture and corner vintage shops, make it a quaint 'boro more than anything. 

"It’s a small community," said Joyce Smirk, a sales associate at Serendipity Quilt Shop. "I think that it’s thriving in that the locals really find what they need here."

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Serendipity Quilt Shop is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Smirk said Dagsboro Days will benefit Serendipity by adding a place for customers (and often, their patient husbands) a place to grab a cup of coffee after a day of shopping.

"This town offers a lot, but we need to complete the picture, and I think Dagsboro Days will add to it," Smirk said.

Dagsboro Days is a simple coffee shop: There isn’t an overwhelming drinks menu with 20 latte flavors, but the Rise Up coffee is local and many of the pastries are homemade. They’re selling bagels too, from nearby A Bagel And in Ocean Pines.

Town Administrator Cynthia Brought said before Dagsboro Days, the closest place she could get coffee was from Royal Farms, but she had no place to walk to from work.

“I think it’ll be great place in the summer to sit out on the front porch and watch traffic go by,” she said.

Before it became Dagsboro Days, the red storefront saw many businesses. Customers told the Millers they used to get pizza there when they were kids. Most recently it was a health food store, and before that, a Mexican restaurant.

One customer recalled it being a dentist’s office. The Millers are hopeful Dagsboro Days brews on for many years.

Inside, near the espresso machine, an unassuming to-go cup sits on a shelf. On the inside, it is old and yellowed and holds a single quarter. A friend gave it to Dana 11 years ago. She had wrapped the outside in coffee beans with a note that read, “One bean at a time and when gathered a whole pot will brew.”

After the crowd from Dagsboro Days’ soft opening left, and the sun bowed pink and red into night, Pat asked his daughter if she’d like a cup of coffee. She did.

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