Castle Coffee opens new location in Rio Rancho

Owner Joshua Castleberry wants Castle Coffee to be more than just a place to get a cup of joe. Castleberry wants his shop to be a gathering spot for people in the neighborhood.

Castleberry is bringing that sense of community to Rio Rancho by opening a second Castle Coffee location in the City of Vision. The new shop opened Wednesday at 1330 Rio Rancho Blvd. SE in the same building that housed The Bagel for decades. Dozens of people sat inside enjoying drinks and snacks, and several regulars from the Albuquerque location made the trek up the hill to check out Castleberry’s new digs.

“It just didn’t work out that we could open the shop up in Albuquerque,” Castleberry said. “One of my friends is a realtor and he told me about this space. So I came over and looked at it and you just get the feeling like when you see a space and you get the feeling of walking in, it just felt perfect. And just the community that’s here, a lot of my customers who are in downtown, that work downtown actually live up here. And so it just made sense that we could try to bring something out here. A lot of my customers were like, ‘Please get something on the west side or Rio Rancho.'”

Castle Coffee is much more than a business to Castleberry; it’s his passion. Castleberry grew up in Rio Rancho and spent most of his life in the metro area. He wants his shop to be a place where neighbors, friends and even strangers can sit down and chat.

“Coffee for me is much more than just coffee. It’s community,” Castleberry said. “I think that the coffee shop atmosphere is one of the only places that anyone in any walk of life, no matter where you come from, can come together for a cup of coffee. And I feel like there’s very few places that can offer that for people. So for me, starting the shop was trying to be a community hub for people.”

In the vast sea of coffee shops, chicken restaurants and car washes in the City of Vision, Castleberry said his shop will stand out because of the personal touch provided by his crew.

“Our big thing is learning your name, your drink and your story,” Castleberry said. “You’re not just a number for us; we want to serve you the best possible cup we can. But we want to get to know you as a person so that when you come in, it’s like we’ve created a relationship and we’re building this community. For me, that’s what coffee is and that’s what it should be. That doesn’t mean that I lack quality on the coffee. I want it to be the best in the country. That’s what I’m striving for. But our biggest thing is community and building close relationships.”

Castle Coffee will be working to build those close relationships Monday through Saturday from 6 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

“I’m just excited to be part of the Rio Rancho community and I hope that we [can be] the third place,” Castleberry said. “I hope we’re the third place where people leave your home, you have your work and you have that place where you go when you’re not at home or work, and we want that to be us for people.”