Ricky and Luci Baugham will open their Lakeside cafe in the coming months. (Images courtesy Dentwood Coffee Co.)
A husband-and-wife coffee roasting duo are betting their beans on a new cafe.
Dentwood Coffee Co. founders Ricky and Luci Baugham recently leased space at 5404 Lakeside Ave. to serve as the company’s first retail cafe location.
The two are also relocating their roasting operation (including their little red roasting machine named Ron Burgundy) from farther up Lakeside Avenue to the new space, where they will offer a menu of coffee drinks using their products, as well as tea and pastries.
The couple hope to open the new 900-square-foot cafe by sometime in early 2027.
The two longtime coffee lovers began roasting their own coffee at home together in the mid-2010s, first using a Whirley Pop and later getting a small tabletop roaster.
Amid balancing kids and other jobs, they eventually decided to turn the hobby into a business in 2022. The coffee business’s name comes from Luci’s family; her father Ted Dent had an indoor faux-plant business in the ’90s called Dentwood.
Since then, the Baughams have been selling Dentwood’s small-batch coffee locally, with the beans sourced from places like Colombia and Nicaragua, as well as some specialty blends, all roasted in Lakeside.
Their coffee is sold online, at pop-up events and in Richmond-area shops including places like Union Market in Union Hill, Outpost Richmond in Westover Hills and Perk! Coffee and Lunchbox in Bon Air.
The Baughams currently run Dentwood out of a roast shop at 6219 Lakeside Ave that’s half the size of their new cafe space. They rent the roastery space from a local midwifery business, and will give up the location when they open their cafe.
Luci said that it has been a dream since the beginning of Dentwood Coffee Co. to open a cafe. After she was affected by layoffs at her last job, the couple finally decided to go all in on the idea earlier this year.
“We realized, just like launching a roasting business, that no time is a good time to start a business, especially with a family. You just kind of have to do it,” Luci said.
The Baughams heard the 900-square-foot Lakeside Avenue storefront was up for lease, and jumped on the opportunity, citing what they saw as a suitable square footage and rent price, among other factors.
“It’s close to the Fall Line Trail, and we’re hoping to do a blend called the Fall Line Trail, we’re close to Bryan Park … the right side of the road for people heading into the city, half a mile from our house,” Luci said.
The cafe, much like the branding for the coffee company, will have a vaguely “vintage camp” outdoor theme with warm color throughout and a bike rack. Ricky said they hope that, while having larger appeal, the Dentwood cafe can be a hub for bikers, runners and walkers to come grab coffee.
Dentwood Coffee Co.’s new cafe at 5404 Lakeside Ave.
Luci added that while they will continue roasting coffee out of the cafe, they may have to pare back their distribution to focus on the new retail operation. She’d like to have a small window so customers can watch her and Ricky roast coffee, and said she sees potential to host small coffee roasting workshops in the space.
The cafe will likely be open four days a week from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., while other time in the space will be used by the Baughams to fill distribution orders and, eventually, host workshops.
The cafe will have a “simple” menu with hot coffee and cold coffee options, from lattes and cappuccinos to cold brew, and will likely have an espresso machine, as well as tea and some homemade seasonal simple syrups.
With only a small kitchen space, Dentwood’s cafe will sell baked goods outsourced from the Museum District’s B-Side Bakehouse. The bakery, located at 707 N. Sheppard St., also currently sells Dentwood Coffee Co. products.
With the permitting process underway, the Baughams said they are projecting the cafe will likely open sometime early next year. Ricky noted that the cafe is within the boundaries of the Henrico Investment Program, providing some opportunities for grants and other incentives like architectural assistance to get the cafe started.
Both Luci and Ricky will continue to work other jobs while running Dentwood. Ricky said he has left one of his jobs to devote more of his time to the business.
The two will look to hire some help as they get the cafe off the ground in the coming months.
The storefront at 5404 Lakeside Ave. was previously the home of Lakeside Burgers & Fries, which was set on fire in February 2024 in a scheme that sparked an arson investigation and entangled the restaurant’s owner and others.
In mid-2025, sneaker and vintage clothing shop Dames RVA, located next door at 5402 Lakeside Ave., took over the space in a bid to double its square footage and have a space solely dedicated to streetwear and sneakers.
Dames RVA owner Damien Chew said he put the former burger spot up for lease again a few months ago. Chew said that, with what he sees as a downturn in the sneaker market, he was beginning to feel the effects of double the rent cost, and decided to let go of the expanded space and keep his original one a few months ago.
He added that he’s hoping Dentwood will be able to bring passersby into his store just as Lakeside Burgers & Fries did in the years the two businesses were neighbors.
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