[audio:http://www.wdde.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/BREWHAHAGREEN.mp3|titles= Delaware Public Media contributor Pam George of Small Wonder, Big Bites interviews Bew Ha Ha! founder Alisa Morkides.]
In 1993, Alisa Morkides was ready to launch a new career. It wasn’t the first time. Realizing that science was not her passion, the former bench chemist got her MBA in finance in 1983. She worked for firms, such as Rohm & Haas, for 10 years before becoming a newly certified financial planner. She intended to start her own company. But a vacation in Florence, Italy, put her on a serious detour.
Impressed with the coffee drinks served at Italian cafes – and the convivial culture that surrounded them – Morkides nixed the financial planning business and returned to Delaware to open Brew Ha Ha!, a coffee shop featuring upscale espresso drinks. She was ahead of the curve in more ways than one. Between 1997 and 2007, the number of women-owned restaurants jumped 50 percent.
In the 21 years since the first Brew Ha Ha! opened in Powder Mill Square in Greenville, Morkides has seen upscale coffees go mainstream. Not only do people regularly stop for cappuccino on the way to work, but home machines are also plentiful. Chains, namely Starbucks, have proliferated.
Yet Brew Ha Ha! remains a familiar Delaware presence, a hub in the New Castle County communities in which the stores are located. Morkides, meanwhile, is the recognized trailblazer for latte-lovers throughout the First State.
On Nov. 17, the Delaware Restaurant Association will honor Morkides at the 13th Annual Restaurant Industry Cornerstone Awards, held at the World Café Live at The Queen in downtown Wilmington. Javier Acuna, owner of Sante Fe restaurants and Del Pez, will receive the Restaurateur of the Year honor. Morkides is the recipient of the Cornerstone Award.
“The Cornerstone Award is about a restaurateur with a great story who’s really added luster to the hospitality industry,” said Carrie Leishman, president and CEO of the Delaware Restaurant Association. “Alisa loves her business, and the community loves her. She’s a trendsetter.”
A caffeine-laced saga
Born in Alabama, Morkides has spent most of her life in Delaware, thanks to her father’s career with the DuPont Company, which brought the family to Wilmington. She went to Bucknell University for her undergraduate degree and to the University of North Carolina for her graduate degree.
She began drinking coffee in earnest when she got a job in Philadelphia. To manage the commute, she woke up at 4 a.m. Not surprisingly, coffee became a necessary part of her daily routine. But at that time, a cuppa Joe came from machines also dispensing hot chocolate and chicken soup. “I got an incredible buzz from it – which I loved,” she recalled. “But the taste was awful."
She then discovered Philly’s espresso shops, and she was so enchanted by the signature Italian drink that in 1987, she convinced her husband to honeymoon in Seattle, a hotbed for a coffee scene characterized by art-loving patrons, long discussions over lattes and the hiss of shiny machines. Her personal espresso machine and coffee grinder became constant companions — even on camping trips. “My friends called me the ‘Cappuccino Queen,’” she said.
But it wasn’t until that trip to Florence with friends that she had a revelation: She could make a living selling lattes. “That was where my passion was,” she said. “I knew it.”
Coffee and conversation
The Greenville store, located in Powder Mill Square, wasn’t her first choice. She initially wanted to be in West Chester, Pennsylvania, among the college students. But the 700-square-foot Greenville shop was available and affordable, and the area was affluent.
Brew Ha Ha! quickly became a gathering spot. People told Morkides that it reminded them of Johnson’s Pharmacy, once located in Greenville Shopping Center, which had a bustling lunch counter. “It was the social center of the community,” Morkides said. And that was exactly what she wanted Brew Ha Ha! to be.
More than 20 years later, with nine locations, Brew Ha Ha! remains the local gathering place. The logo is the same at each site, and so, for the most part, is the menu. Yet each store has its own identity, whether it’s the size of the dining room or the art on the walls.
Although Delawareans may hit multiple stores throughout the week, they tend to gravitate toward a neighborhood favorite. Gwen Smith and Michelle Kramer-Fitzgerald, both Brandywine Hundred residents, visit the Branmar Shopping Center site. “I like the easy atmosphere,” Smith said.
They both enjoy the coffee and food. (Most selections have been on the menu since 1993, although there have been some salad additions and a few new small drinks, such as a 3-ounce espresso macchiato and chai latte.)
Kramer-Fitzgerald is particularly fond of the French toast muffins. She also appreciates the friendly staff. “I like that they recognize their regulars. Plus it’s the perfect place to serve as my ‘office annex,’” said Kramer-Fitzgerald, who is self-employed. (All the stores have Wi-Fi.)
Growth spurts and scaling back
Brew Ha Ha! picked up steam in the 1990s, and at its peak, there were 15 locations, including seven in Pennsylvania. The operation was so large that Morkides once got lost trying to find the Maple Glen, Pennsylvania, store.
With a new child, Morkides knew that something had to give. She sold the Pennsylvania sites in the early 2000s. “It was the best decision I ever made,” said Morkides, who sold the stores solely based on geography not performance. “I just wanted to be in Delaware. That’s what I still want.”
Today most restaurants offer some kind of espresso product – even McDonald’s – and chains have entered the marketplace. Starbucks, of course, is the most visible, and in October, it opened a location in the Nemours Building in downtown Wilmington, near the Market Street Brew Ha Ha!
Morkides said she remains unconcerned about the java giant’s presence. “We focus on what we do, and we do it as well as we can,” she explained. “People who prefer our style come to us and vice versa.”
Brew Ha Ha! offers handcrafted espresso drinks made on a semi-automatic machine; baristas require training. Chains often use a totally automated machine to ensure consistency across thousands of stores. Automation is also helpful when the chain licenses its brands to grocery stores and hotels, which have their own staff to operate the machines.
What’s next for Morkides? She isn’t planning to open another café, but if a good site becomes available she’ll consider it. Franchising isn’t part of her current business plan. “Quality is hard to control when you franchise,” she explained. If all goes as planned, Brew Ha Ha! will begin roasting its own coffee next year.
She’s excited about the Cornerstone Award, which she considers an achievement for her managers and employees. “They are Brew Ha Ha!,” she said. It’s also about her customers. “Cornerstone is about community. My dream as I originally conceived it really did happen.”