Amadee Braxton
There are hundreds of coffee shops in Philadelphia, and while many are part of big chains like Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donuts, there are dozens of smaller independent cafes that stand out by offering more personal and local experiences. Block by block, reporters Abby Cruz and Ahmed Hassouna stopped by Time and Peace Cafe and Gallery at Seventh and Ranstead recently, and spoke with owner Justine Cruz about what makes a cafe feel like part of a community.
Abby Cruz
Were you always a coffee aficionado? Like, did you always make like good coffee, or are you self-taught? How did you become like such a barista? Is it by trade, TikTok? Like,
Justine Cruz
it’s a little bit of both. So before we bought the cafe itself, I really just made drip coffee at home. It wasn’t anything special that I did, but for a year I shadowed the previous owner. So I came in, I ran shifts, I learned everything from him, I did a lot of back research on my own end, and really tried to make sure that coming into the business, I wasn’t as much of a novice. I wanted to be able to really curate a space and curate the craft, so that when people did have our coffees, it felt like somebody was really trying and really cared and really thought about each individual cup. It’s really easy in a city with so many cafes for it to feel like they’re just trying to give you your coffee and get out, but everything that we do is hand done and handcrafted and slowly. So we tell people like, when you come in, you are gonna take a little bit more time. It’s meant to be peaceful. It’s meant to be intentional. So like when you’re younger and you watch your family members make coffee, or you watch at least when I grew up with Latina heritage, coffee is a big deal. It becomes a part of a ritual. So keeping that kind of feeling within every single cup is what we try to do here, which I think is what makes people really feel like they’re in a time portal and feel like when they come in, everything kind of slows down because you know me, we take our time with everything.
Ahmed Hassouna
While cafe is an important part of the cafe, it is not the only thing that brings people to Time and Peace. Time and Peace also hosts events for all different communities in the city, from comedy shows, run and sip clubs, to hosting weddings. This cafe offers an event. Space for everyone. The cafe is also an art gallery. Justine curates pieces from local artists around the city. One
Abby Cruz
thing I noticed: you have games here people could play. Someone saying the comments is like a little miniature art museum.
Justine Cruz
Yes. Right now we’re hosting 14 different artists on our walls. We try to rotate our artists as much as often, or try to fill the space with as much Philadelphia artists as possible because each piece is a piece of someone from Philly, and I think that that’s important for us because we are a cafe and we are a gallery. But making art accessible is very different than being in a place where like the art is there, but you can’t take it, or they’re not supporting the artists in a way that is conducive of them actually being able to sell the art. So really trying to boost the art profile as well as much as the coffee. So having photographers and painters and drawers and graphic designers, it all like blends into this beautiful melting pot.
Abby Cruz
Customers seem to appreciate what Time and Peace has to offer. Jeff, who was a regular at Time and Peace, brought his two friends along with him for the first time, but found it to be the perfect place to conduct their writing workshop together. What made you keep coming back? The
Jeff
quietness, the hominess, the handmade element to everything, the like amount of care that’s been placed into everything, the friendliness of the folks behind the desk, the kind of tucked away nature of it. I think it’s it’s really wonderful.
Abby Cruz
You’re a lot like me. If I find a spot that I really like, I get my friends and I hold them hostage. Yeah, yeah. Tell them, yo, I got this spot in the city. You got to come with me.
Jeff
Yeah.
Abby Cruz
And you brought your friends to do. One of your friends said it was her first time here. Friend, what’s your name?
Edan
Edan.
Abby Cruz
Edan, what do you feel? How do you feel about this place?
Edan
I love it. I mean, it was such a treat to hear a little bit of just like the owner’s intentions in creating a space that is very much for the community and for the creative community. Like we’re here because of a writing workshop that we all took, so we were doing some writing together, and we’re all various types of artists. So it’s really great to have a space like this for the community.
Justine Cruz
I think that sometimes people look for when they start a business or when they acquire a business, they look for the monetary parts of it. But like the money comes, but the money goes too. Like you can’t keep everything forever. But if you can have a memory in somebody’s mind, they don’t lose that. Like having a picture that they could be like, oh, I remember when I modeled here for one of the sketch and sips, or played my guitar or my piano or whatever instrument here, or I had a special event here. Those things will last forever. So even when time and peace isn’t here anymore, nobody can take that away from those people. Nobody can take that away from me or from my family.
Abby Cruz
For block by block, I’m Abby Cruz,
Ahmed Hassouna
And I am Ahmed Hassouna.
This story was broadcast as part of the June 10, 2026 episode of Block by Block.
Note: This transcript was machine-generated and may contain some spelling errors or other inaccuracies.