Gloria Jean’s Coffee, Florida Road

Updated: 05-10-2022

The first thing that caught my eye on their Instagram page was these bright yellow occasional chairs. It made the space look so sunny and happy I knew it was the kind of coffee shop I’d love to frequent.

Florida road in Durban is famous for interesting spaces, art galleries and exciting halaal restaurants. We checked out Gloria Jean’s for breakfast on a weekday morning during a recent trip to Durban. The inside space is not very big with perhaps 3 tables, but they have an outside section overlooking Florida road that can accommodate plenty more. On a less chilly morning, it would have been our choice. It was quiet when we got there around 9am, but after about an hour several other tables were occupied by what looked like mainly a student crowd.

They have a cute instagrammable love-seat, to which they brought a table so my friend Kausar and I could sit inside. We ordered a Spicy Chicken Mayo Toastie, Chickpea and Avo open toast, a Café mocha for her and a Choc Macadamia Latté for me.

Gloria Jean’s opened their first coffee shop in a small town outside of Chicago in 1979. Gloria Jean Kvetko was a determined young mum from Chicago who dreamed of owning a coffee shop where she could combine her passion for caffeine and meeting people. Fast forward a few years and Gloria Jean’s is now in more than 50 countries around the world.

Our food arrived served on newsprint wax paper on a wooden board. I liked the presentation. Our coffees came in chunky black mugs with fun latte art on top. The Chicken Mayo sandwich was a hit. Perfectly done with a flavourful spicy filling. My Avo and Chickpea on ciabatta toast was fresh and filling but I felt the lemon flavour from the avo was a bit too strong. Kausar felt her Cafe Mocha was too sweet for her, but she is not one for too much sweet foods to begin with. I enjoyed my Choc Macadamia latte. It was quite rich though and may have been better with dessert.

By pure coincidence, we met the owner of the little gem as she was working at one of the tables. Naz, who owns the coffee shop with her husband animatedly told us more about how they got into it. The restaurant business needs a certain type of person, and while she seemed quiet and reserved initially, her bubbly personality and hospitality is suited to the business. She insisted we try some dessert on her.

They have an assortment of desserts and cakes, and we tried the carrot cake and a chocolate tart. The chocolate tart I would go back for. It’s a dense dark chocolate, the way I like it. Served very slightly warmed and oozy and gooey in the centre as you cut into it.

I found the prices to be quite reasonable. Our sandwiches were around R50 each and our coffees R40 each. So you can have a coffee date without breaking the bank.

Currently there are 3 branches in South Africa, all in Kzn, but only the Florida Road branch is halaal.