Twenty-Plus Years of Espresso in Ridgefield

When Phuong Tran opened Lava Java in 2002, Ridgefield was a quiet town of a few thousand people. The idea of a specialty coffee shop — one built around espresso craft rather than drip-and-go convenience — was a bet on the community's palate.

That bet paid off. In 2005, Phuong won the U.S. Barista Championship, putting both herself and tiny Ridgefield on the national coffee map. But the real victory was what happened at home: regulars who came in every morning, families who grew up ordering at the counter, baristas who trained here and went on to their own acclaim.

Today, Ridgefield is growing fast. Costco and In-N-Out have arrived just down the road. But Lava Java remains what it's always been: a place where every espresso is handcrafted, every customer is known, and the coffee is always worth the drive.