Jitter Bus Rolls Into Brick & Mortar Operation

AJ Crosby, Wooster Square resident Seth Wallace, and employee  Sir-Michael Burrow, who is also a skater and photographer in New Haven. Marasi Elsheikh Photos.

Just off Grand Avenue, AJ Crosby put the finishing touches on an iced chai with whole milk,  the light tan liquid speckled with cinnamon. Beads of condensation dripped off the plastic cup as a clear straw squeaked into it. The first sip came in strong, with a kick of cinnamon. It turned to a whisper as it stepped aside for the scents of cardamom, sweetened milk, and black tea to shine through. 

That explosion of flavor is common for 847 Grand Ave., where The Jitter Bus has opened its first brick-and-mortar storefront after eight years in business as a cafe on wheels. Co-owned by coffee lovers Dan Barletta, Paul Crosby, and AJ Crosby, the cafe is now serving up pastries, coffee and drinks seven days a week in the city’s Mill River District. 

The bus, originally a joke concept between friends, still operates on Grove Street during the week and at the Wooster Square Farmers Market from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays. 

“There was an ice cream truck that drove by and I said ‘What about an adult ice cream truck?’” AJ Crosby remembered of the business’ humble, coffee-splattered origins almost a decade ago. “That serves coffee.” 

The road to opening a cafe began eight years ago, when the three started raising money on Kickstarter for a coffee shop on wheels. With a bank unwilling to approve a loan, they fundraised in the community, buying used materials where they could. Their first espresso machine, for instance, came at half price from the smoothie shop Pure Health Lounge, which closed on Audubon Street in 2015. The vehicle, an old school bus, came off Craigslist.  

When they bought it, the bus wasn’t outfitted for a cafe. But with the help of YouTube, the group got to work, building out additions to turn it into a coffee operation. All three of them had worked in coffee shops before, they reasoned, so maybe opening one of their own was inevitable. After a year of work, the bus officially opened in 2016 (read about its opening in the New Haven Independent).  

Top: AJ Crosby on a recent weekday. Bottom: Dan Barletta, Paul Crosby, and AJ Crosby. 
Arthur Delot-Vilain File Photo for the New Haven Independent.

At the beginning, owners remembered, building credibility was an obstacle. 

“The start of the bus was a challenge because, you know, who wants to get their coffee out of a bus from a bunch of dudes that look like skaters?” said AJ Crosby. 

But as the bus became a fixture on Grove Street, people kept coming, building trust with the owners one cup at a time. Word of mouth traveled, particularly among the Yalies and Yale staff that now build a large part of their customer base. In almost a decade, the bus built a dedicated following. At the farmers’ market on Saturdays, their line is often the longest of any vendor there. 

For AJ Crosby, who is the business’ director of coffee, that loyalty translates to dedication from the owners, who pride themselves on the quality of every cup they serve. The three source their beans locally, from Newington-based roaster Saccuzzo and Canton-based shop Giv. They ensure that the quality of their product matches what they would want to consume to keep people coming back. At the cafe, they source baked goods from the nearby bakery Katalina’s, which has become a fixture on Whitney Avenue in the last decade. 

“The Jitter Bus was a staple of my day to day college experience, like that was definitely my favorite coffee on campus,” said recently-minted Yale graduate Sanya Nair, who made time to check out the cafe on a recent weekday. 

She sipped slowly an iced latte as she spoke, savoring the taste. “I used to give campus tours [of Yale] and people would ask ‘Favorite spot to get coffee?’ and I’d be like, ‘The Jitter Bus!’”

Top: Dog owners Hope and Kyle (they declined to give their last names) and their sweet pup, Lazarus. Bottom: Some of the decor. 

A bus was never the only goal, though. As they built their small city caffeinated empire, the three co-founders became interested in the idea of a brick-and-mortar cafe.  

The spot on Grand Avenue found them, Crosby said. The landlord “wanted a coffee shop in his backyard,” and connected with the Jitter Bus team through a friend of a friend. The building was previously a laundromat—it last sold in 2023—which meant the transformation took time. 

Because they would be serving beverages and food, the landlord and city had to test the soil and sewage, concerned about the laundromat’s strong chemical output. Then there was the issue of remodeling itself, from an ADA-compliant bathroom to picking out ceiling tiles. The entire process took about a year.

Thanks to Paul Crosby, who led renovation efforts, a cozy inside now greets people who wander in for their caffeine fix. Light pours in from the street-facing windows, which look out onto Grand Avenue. The pristine floors and walls work as a blank canvas, allowing the decor to speak for itself. A chalkboard menu announces an array of hot and iced coffee drinks with decorated coffee cups and a talking skull outlined in chalk. The vibes feel like a reflection of the owners.

First-time customer Marco Cenabre, named New Haven’s 2023-2024 Teacher of the Year, described the shop as “spacious” with a peaceful ambiance. While it was his first time there, he said he would definitely be returning. 

“I float between so many coffee shops, and the ones I choose to stay in are the ones where the owners are human [and] the coffee tastes good,” he said. Based on his experience and observations there, the decision of whether to frequent the Jitterbus storefront was a “resounding yes.”

This is, perhaps, the Jitter Bus difference.

“There’s a lot of little things that a lot of coffee shops miss, that if you just take a little bit of time to care, the product comes out so much better,” AJ Crosby said. “Being a little coffee shop, we have to care a little more.” 

He reiterated that they put in care by selecting local coffee beans, serving up pastries from Katalina’s (at an opening earlier this summer, they also brought business to Taqueria Tlaxcala, their longtime neighbor on Grove Street). They make an effort to choose the best for its customers and that reflects in the product. The cafe is also happy to be a dog-friendly establishment, with a jar of dog treats at the front of the store. On a recent weekday, dog owners Hope and Kyle (they declined to give their last names) and their sweet pup, Lazarus, took advantage of that welcoming feel. 

Now that the business’ three co-owners are operating the cafe, they alternate days of who is operating the bus. Hours of operation have not changed: the bus is Mondas through Fridays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the corner of Grove and Hillhouse, and the store is open Mondays through Fridays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

“Some people want just a straight up cup of coffee—but then there’s the people that do want the whole coffee experience,” AJ Crosby said. “And that’s where we come in.”

This article comes from the 2024 Cohort of the Youth Arts Journalism Initiative. Marasi Elsheikh is a rising junior at New Haven Academy.