Old Town Coffee and Chocolates closes both Eureka locations amid financial troubles

Old Town Coffee and Chocolates shut both of its Eureka locations at once, wiping out a longtime stop at 211 F Street in Old Town and 502 Henderson Street in Henderson Center. The abrupt closure appears tied to financial troubles and ends a 24-year run for a business founded in 2002.

The café was more than a counter for coffee. It described itself as a coffeehouse and roasting company with in-house fresh-roasted coffee, fudge, truffles, pastries, music nights, and free wireless internet. Its menu also stretched to premium teas, espresso drinks, smoothies, frozen yogurt, bagels, soups, and local beer and wine, making it a daily stop for both commuters and downtown regulars.

That role helped place the business inside Eureka’s commercial core. The city of Eureka includes Old Town Coffee & Chocolates on its Main Street list of coffee and specialty food businesses, and the shop had long marketed itself as a local favorite for specialty coffee, coffee house service, fresh fudge, dessert, and entertainment. Losing both locations at once removes an independent anchor from two different neighborhood corridors, with the Old Town storefront likely to be felt most sharply in the blocks around the boardwalk and nearby foot traffic.

The closure also follows a troubling recent history. In May 2025, Humboldt County environmental health ordered the business closed after an inspector found rodent feces throughout the facility, including in the kitchen, chocolate room, dry storage, dining area floors, and around coffee equipment. County health officials later reinstated the food permit after reinspection and cleanup, then briefly reclosed it in error before clearing it again.

For a company that had served Eureka for nearly a quarter century, the sudden shutdown is a visible sign of how fragile long-running downtown businesses can be when financial strain builds behind the scenes. The loss lands not just on the owners, but on employees, customers, and neighboring merchants who relied on the steady flow of people that a familiar café can bring into Old Town and Henderson Center.