As colder winter weather approaches, coffee, hot chocolate and the sugary delight of beignets become necessities rather than luxuries.
Baton Rouge’s most heralded beignet shop, Coffee Call, is wedged between Great Wall and Office Depot in the corner of the Village
Square shopping center off Perkins Road and College Drive.
Vince Cannatella opened the shop in 1976 next to the current location of IHOP on College Drive before Walmart’s construction forced a move to Coffee Call’s current location in 2004.
On any Sunday morning, Coffee Call teems with families sharing a post-church brunch. Saturday evenings usually bring the post-date dessert crowds, and late weeknights draw a college crowd intent on studying and downing coffee.
While the crowds at Coffee Call are diverse, one man’s presence in the shop, head cook Elvin “Eddie D” Dunn, remains a constant draw for longtime customers and new visitors alike.
Eddie D’s catchphrase, “Ya heard me?” as well as his outgoing antics and talkative interactions with customers have helped Coffee Call develop a special camaraderie between customer and employee.
“When I first got the job here, it seemed like a nice place to work and I was just happy to be around some nice people,” Dunn said. “But I like to think I gave this atmosphere a little flair.”
As Dunn talks about his days at Coffee Call, it’s obvious the joy he gets from the students studying loudly in the background, the old friends he has served beignets to for 24 years stopping to ask how he’s doing and the smell of sugar and fried dough wafting over from the fryer.
“When I first started at Coffee Call, I was like, ‘How am I supposed to get paid off of bread and coffee?” Dunn slyly remarked. “I figured out that the real job is interacting with these customers and making Coffee Call feel like a family.”
Eddie’s attention to the customer is part of what made saying goodbye to Coffee Call’s original location in 2004 a difficult task for Eddie and longtime attendees.
“I do miss the old place sometimes because it was like an antique and it was a first-love type of thing,” Dunn said, pointing to the former location. “That’s where the magic began.”
When Coffee Call moved in 2004, nearly 3,000 people marched the 300 yards from the old location to its current home in a jazz funeral, complete with a New Orleans jazz band and a small parade.
Coffee Call’s late hours and cozy atmosphere have made it a favorite spot to study for University students as well.
“It’s got coffee, which is real important when you’re studying, and it’s not this quiet, depressing place like a library,” said Carli Thibodeaux, mass communication freshman. “You get to be a bit social with some beignets and gossip between all the studying.”
Coffee Call is also unique for its family-owned status and the dearth of advertisements promoting the business, relying on a word-of-mouth reputation and a loyal customer base instead.
“Coffee Call is a connection line,” Dunn said. “You meet a hell of a lot people that you thought you’d never know, whether it’s doctors, lawyers, actors, activists, even President [Bill] Clinton.”
Eric Brown, a 20-month employee of Coffee Call and one of the many talkative and notable characters there on a late night, said the customers truly make the environment.
“I’ve had every job, like banking or retail, and the customers here are really special,” Brown noted. “I’ve developed real relationships with the people that come through here.”
Whether Dunn is belting out his signature line “Ya heard me?” or Eric is talking to another customer about the strange patterns on their shirt, Coffee Call, its beignets and the distinctive atmosphere are Baton Rouge traditions for many.
“I really care about everybody that comes through here, and sometimes you have to break the rules to make the customer happy,” Dunn said, smiling slyly. “[The customers] are not the enemy, and once you get that down, that’s how we get the Coffee Call family right there.”
 
 
 
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Contact Chris Abshire at [email protected]