Coffee and cake: Java House opens on Chincoteague Island

With only a step into Java House, the smell of freshly ground coffee beans and baking pastries hits quickly. 

The new coffee shop, located at 6141 Maddox Blvd., opened July 1. Owned by Cindy Filipic and her husband, the couple are serving up coffee drinks, baked goods, smoothies and ice cream. 

“(It's) a place where people can go and bring their family. Have some ice cream, piece of pie, a cup of coffee,” Filipic said. 

The couple are both Chincoteague locals and have lived on the island their entire lives. Filipic's husband is a contractor on the island, but at his age of 77, she said he was looking for one final project he could really make his own. 

Add Filipic's passion for baking, and the idea for a coffee shop was born. 

“We wanted to make a go of something and go out with a boom,” she said. 

The couple purchased the home on Maddox Boulevard and completely renovated it.

“He said, ‘I’ll build it, you run it,’ ” Filipic said.    

Filipic said once her husband was done with the construction, she worked on the interior design. 

The house itself is a soft pink with a large front deck space for guests to enjoy their coffee outside. Inside, customers can choose from a cozy wooden booth or a circular glass table with chairs. 

The counter entices guests with its long lists of coffee drinks, smoothies or ice cream treats. Or, take a look inside the displays holding various baked goods like doughnuts, muffins, cupcakes and cream puffs. 

All of the pastry items are recipes of Filipic's creation. The coffee shop owner makes all of her own icings and cream fillings. Customers can expect the freshest ingredients in the baked goods.  

“I throw things in there until I think it tastes right," she said.

Filipic is especially proud of the Java House's cream puffs. In flavors like peanut butter banana, cherry and pineapple, the cream fillings are made from scratch with fresh fruits. 

The Java House sources its ice cream from Chesapeake Bay Farms in Worcester County, Maryland. The coffee beans are a Colombian bean and a doughnut shop blend that are both ground on-site. She hopes to offer more styles of coffee beans to give customers more variety in the future. Guests can order various different coffee drinks including frozen, espresso and iced coffees. 

She's surprised how quickly the coffee shop has caught on with locals and tourists. Filipic is glad to see guests taking advantage of another coffee option on the island and hopes to see it continue. 

“I’ve done better than I thought," she said. 

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If you go: 

What: Java House

Where: 6141 Maddox Blvd. on Chincoteague Island 

When: Wednesday through Sunday from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., seasonal 

Contact: (757) 336-7077, Facebook.com/JavaHouse-224364764836844/