THE
AGORA
COFFEEHAUS &
EVENT VENUE
Located in Historic Downtown Red Oak
Red Oak Agora exists to serve fresh house-roasted organic coffee with clean, quality ingredients while offering a relaxed space for our community to connect and form lasting relationships.
Established in 2024
What is The Agora and what does it mean?
During Ancient Greek times, the agora was a market and a place for assembly.
The Agora in Red Oak, Iowa is designed to be a community hub; a place where people can gather, share conversation over coffees and teas, and/or find a cozy nook to read a book, get some work done, or study for personal advancement. The space is also available to rent for private events.
When are you open?
Saturdays and Sundays from 7:00 AM to 2:00 PM
With your support and with us establishing our workflows and recruiting people that also want to achieve our mission… our goal is to expand our hours into the rest of the week.
Where is The Agora located?
The Agora is located next door to the Red Oak Grand Theatre – just off “The Square” – in Historic Downtown Red Oak at 404 E Coolbaugh Street.
The Coffeehaus & Event Venue occupies a 5400 sq. ft. Classical Revival brick building built in 1901. The building historically was occupied by furniture stores up until 2014 when previous owners converted the main floor into an event venue and the upstairs was converted into an eclectic living space.
The front exterior of The Agora on its opening day for the coffeehaus; Saturday, November 29th, 2025. The warmth from the inside peers through the storefront windows on the cold Saturday morning. A light dusting of snow covered the community but didn’t stop people from stopping by for their first freshly roasted cup of coffee in The Agora.
What makes The Agora different?
We strive to craft high quality products, utilize and offer clean foods and ingredients, and provide a welcoming and comfortable sit-down experience for all to enjoy.
- We source organic specialty coffee beans and roast the beans on-site.
- We try the best we can to utilize clean and organic ingredients in our drinks.
- We offer gluten-free snacks and other options for those with sensitivities.
- We provide high-speed secure internet for those who want to get some work done.
- We have a strong rooted passion for this community and want to succeed.
What events can be hosted at The Agora?
The venue has been used for many common event types like graduation parties, celebration of life lunches, wedding receptions, bridal / baby showers, birthday parties, business meetings, and more.
Follow The Agora on Facebook for updates.
It looks like we’re starting a bowling alley, but it’s just us getting backed up during a rush! We’d love for Saturdays to continue like this - and if that’s the case, then we’d have to seriously start considering adding/upgrading our espresso machine. Like Grandpa Boeye would always say, it’s a happy problem to have.
Patrick and Kristen from TRU BRU stopped by today during our peak rush. We felt bad for the long wait, but it was great to talk to them before they left. They totally understand the growing pains of scaling a business. We’re thankful we were able to pick their brains about how they added food options to their business. We’ll have to make a trip down to Clarinda to pass on the support ❤️
Today was a learning curve regarding the addition of pastries from the Neighborhood Bakehouse. We sold out of the key lime pie danishes and chocolate croissants by 10-11 AM… we were hoping to have enough to last until Sunday, so we’ll have to adjust our numbers until we find that sweet spot. We’re waiting on these really cool paper pouches for the pastries; we’ll also have to add paper bags to the mix for those ordering multiple items to-go.
Levi and Laura of LML Kreations dropped off our commissioned coasters for the shop. They turned out wonderfully! We’re also going to work with them on adding our logo to the front of barista bar. They also came back later in the afternoon to host their son’s birthday party! Lots of collaboration 🤗
People ask how it’s been going. It’s a lot of fun to work together with other businesses to build community. 🤝
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‼️ Decaf drinkers, this one is for you‼️
On a more positive note, decaf will be an available option for your espresso shots in the coming weeks. We’re also going to consider doing pour over orders for those interested.
We found a distributor that allows us to buy organic decaf green beans in smaller quantities, so we placed an order for 20 lbs.
The picture below shows the cupping profile of the decaf Peruvian bean that we’ll roast to a medium level. Simple, versatile, with hints of brown sugar, dark truffle, and herbal hints.
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