ROTTERDAM, 10 March 2026 – Barista Cafe has opened a new branch on the Oude Binnenweg, bringing coffee, breakfast and lunch back into the former Chocolate Company space. The new café is run by 22-year-old entrepreneur Donna Rijsdijk, who is marking the launch with free cappuccinos for visitors on Thursday 12 March.
The new branch adds another familiar national coffee name to one of Rotterdam’s best-known shopping and café streets, but the local angle here is Donna herself. After running her first business, sweet shop Get Your Candy in Leidschendam, she has now made the jump into hospitality with her own Barista Cafe in the city centre.
From sweets to coffee
Donna says her first experience of entrepreneurship came through confectionery rather than coffee. After studying marketing, she opened Get Your Candy and ran it for around a year and a half before starting to think about a next step.
That next step came when the Oude Binnenweg location became available. Through her parents, who run a Chocolate Company in The Hague, she already knew the space, and says the move into Barista Cafe felt right straight away.
The new café is run by 22-year-old entrepreneur Donna Rijsdijk
A new coffee stop on Oude Binnenweg
The new café is positioned as a place for breakfast, lunch or a straightforward coffee stop in the middle of the city. Inside, there is space for around 50 guests, with a small terrace outside on the street.
Donna says she wanted to create a place where people immediately feel comfortable, leaning into the familiar living-room feel Barista Cafe is known for. That softer, stay-a-while mood makes sense on Oude Binnenweg, a street that still works best when people drift rather than rush.
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What is on offer
Barista Cafe Oude Binnenweg is serving the kind of menu you would expect from the chain: coffee specials, croissants, sandwiches, breakfast and lunch dishes. The photos shared with the announcement also point to a brunch-style offer, with coffee, pastries and fuller plates in the mix.
The branch has been open since Tuesday 10 March and is open daily from 09:00 to 18:00. On Thursday 12 March, the opening is being celebrated with free cappuccinos for all visitors.
Barista Cafe has opened on Rotterdam’s Oude Binnenweg, bringing coffee, breakfast and lunch to a familiar corner in the city centre.
Why this corner matters
There is also something quietly practical about this opening. The former Chocolate Company site was already one of those corner units people tend to notice, and Barista Cafe gives it a format that fits the rhythm of the street: coffee in the morning, lunch in the afternoon, and a comfortable stop while moving through the centre.
For Rotterdam, that is usually what makes a new café stick. Not only the brand, but whether the place feels like it belongs where it landed.
A familiar Dutch chain with a local face
Barista Cafe began in 2009 in Alphen aan den Rijn and has since grown into a national concept with multiple branches across the Netherlands. The formula is built around approachable coffee, a light food menu, and a relaxed atmosphere.
This Rotterdam branch, though, is also a personal project for a young local operator taking on her first hospitality venue. That gives the opening a bit more character than a standard chain expansion story.
How to get there
Barista Cafe Oude Binnenweg is at Oude Binnenweg 109A, Rotterdam, right in the city centre. If you are coming by public transport, Eendrachtsplein is the easiest metro stop, and from there it is only a short walk onto the Oude Binnenweg. By bike, this is one of the simplest parts of the centre to reach, and if you are already in town, it is exactly the sort of place you can fold into a shopping round or a slow coffee break.
