Jodi Petro is opening a new coffee shop in New Palestine called Barrel Racing Baristas. She’s moving into the old Brew 52 location and hopes to be open for business March 1. Her dogs Kane and Chai will help. Chai is an official service dog.
NEW PALESTINE — Jodi Petro says she operates on God’s timing. The horse-loving, coffee-drinking mother of four children is also a business owner who said she felt led by a higher power to take a leap of faith and open a new coffee shop in New Palestine.
Petro is in the process of getting ready to open Barrel Racing Baristas — moving into the former Brew 52 space at 4346 South 500W, New Palestine, which closed in late 2022. Since this past summer, Petro has been operating her new coffee business out of a mobile truck.
“We’ve had a lot of success with it, and I’ve been told we have the best coffee in town,” she said. “Opening a new business is exciting news, but it’s not easy.”
The mobile truck operation has been received so well in the area it convinced Petro that now was the time to expand the business and add a permanent coffee location as well as keep the mobile service truck up and running, particularly for special events.
“The timing and opportunity were just right to make this big move,” Petro said. “I’ve always dreamed of opening a real coffee shop, like the one on ‘Friends’ — one that even has the velvet couch.”
Petro plans to open the new coffee shop on March 1, with hours of operations from 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The menu will offer all kinds of speciality coffees, pastries, donuts and serve Sundae’s Homemade Ice Cream. She’ll also offer some breakfast and lunch items and will eventually serve panini.
“We’ll also serve hot chocolate,” Petro said. “We make a really delicious, speciality hot chocolate.”
The inside of the coffee shop will be cozy. Petro is removing the booths that lined the north side of the old coffee shop and plans to replace them with comfortable places for people to sit.
“I want people to come in relax and want to stay,” Petro said.
She’s also going to be adding a small boutique in one section offering western wear, associated with her other passion, horses.
There are two things, other than family and God, Petro said drive her — a love of horses and coffee. She’s turned both into businesses. She and the family operate a horse-training operation in New Palestine, working with children, and now her coffee ventures, the mobile truck and the new permanent location, are both taking off.
“I do feel really blessed,” Petro said. “It’s going to be a lot of hard work, and I know I’m taking on a lot, but this is my dream.”
The structure (old Brew 52) will have a whole new look in the not-too-distant future as the building owner, not Petro, is dividing the space. Barrel Racing Baristas will be on the north side of the building and another business will open, taking the southern part of the building. Workers were in the building this week meeting with town officials, making modifications and finalizing plans for that operation.
The owner of what is expected to be a restaurant on the south side of the structure isn’t ready to name what the food service will be just yet, but Petro said regardless of what it is, having another business right there with her coffee shop will be good.
“I think people will be surprised when they see it all come together,” Petro said. “We’re providing services the community needs and that’s what I want to do, serve the New Palestine community.”
Petro noted anyone wishing to work for her at the coffee shop can reach out to Barrel Racing Baristas via Facebook and she’ll get back to them.
“I want to hire people who are committed and want to help me make this business work,” she said. “I’ll be training the people so I know they’ll be doing things right.”
Officials with Brew 52 noted before they officially closed that they could not stay open due to not having enough employees, but Petro said she’ll be the one working full-time, six days a week making sure the new shop gets off to a great start.
Petro posted online she will have the coffee truck at their new shop location this week through Friday from around 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“We will be working hard on the inside while we are open in the trailer to serve,” she said.
