The Coffee Mill

An oasis of quiet wonderful

This is an OASIS of quiet adult civilization I discovered by chance today in the more hectic but great beach scene. Fabulous French and American jazz plays in the alley between a real ice cream store (no crappy custard) and fine coffee house with an incredible selection of coffees and pastries.

Had i known of this place, i would have hung here a lot during my week vacation. Next year I will and offered to play solo jazz guitar for free outside as well (I play in the DMV now and then). This part of the alley might as well be in the East Village of NYC or the West Bank of Paris. It serves the only good ice cream I’ve had at Rehoboth and the best coffee.

Best of all, I don’t hear the incessant cover rock and blues from the 1950s through 2000’s. I grew up in the 1960’s but just dont want to hear it over and over. The jazz in the alley offer adult respite from the constant high energy music in a time of stress for everyone. Thank you to the owners for having this. Really!

A great little coffee spot just steps from the boardwalk—laid-back, a bit worn around the edges, and covered wall-to-wall in quirky signs that give it real local character. Loved coming back after a long time away—the owner was friendly and welcoming, and the espresso had a dark, bold roast that’s harder to find these days.

I cannot say enough nice things about The Coffee Mill in Rehoboth Beach. My family and I are visiting for a long weekend in January, but I have a 4+ hour training that I had to complete thru Zoom. I needed somewhere to work for a few hours and The Coffee Mill came highly rated. When I arrived, I made sure it wouldn’t be a problem if I stayed to work for a few hours. I ordered the biggest coffee I could handle and set myself up work.

A little while later, the owner came in and was making conversation with everyone who was there. Clearly there were a few locals and a few out-of-towners that the owner remembered from previous visits. After saying hello he noticed I was working and immediately offered up his other business, the Mill Creamery, across the walkway as a quiet place to work. He says he doesn’t staff the creamery in the winter, but he keeps the place open so that people who wanna work or study can have somewhere quiet to do their thing.

How thoughtful and community oriented is that?! I promptly moved across to the new to the creamery and set myself up for a the day. I ordered my lunch, which was delicious (avocado toast with all the fixings) and they offered to bring it over to me so I could keep doing my thing.

Everyone was so helpful and thoughtful. It’s so cool to still find some of these small business coffee shops where the owner really cares and the staff do a great job. Oh yeah and the coffee was great too!

Highly recommend! We gotta support the local businesses if we want to keep them around!