By GRAHAM BROOKS / Staff Writer

HELENA – A taste of New Orleans will soon be coming to Helena offering a traditional breakfast pastry, in addition to a number of different coffees suitable for a variety of customers.

Beignets and Lattes goal is to open sometime this September in the former space of the Helena Family Pharmacy located at 1915 Shelby County 58.

Owner Carolyn Linski, originally from a suburb of New Orleans called Metairie, moved to Helena in February where she soon got the idea to open the business.

“My son and I, we wanted to start something about eight years ago but it just didn’t pan out,” Linski said. “I did go through a divorce in January and we were discussing different things as far as how to make my money work for me and this place came up for lease and it was the perfect place with a location, a drive-thru and small which is what I wanted.”

After acquiring the space, Linski and her son have been working since July to transform the business into a coffee shop that will offer regular coffee, lattes, espresso, nitro coffee and beignets, which is a deep-fried pastry served with powdered sugar on top.

“We will be using a local roaster called Domestique and that’s where we will be getting all of our coffees from and serving beignets, and that’s our menu,” Linski said. “We will have Coke products, milk, white and chocolate milk for the kids as well.”

Another unique aspect of Beignets and Lattes is that they will be utilizing a drive-thru to serve customers on the go, a feature that also attracted Linski to the space. Customers that choose to dine-in can choose between inside seating, limited outdoor seating and Wi-Fi will also be available.

Linski is a first-time business owner and even eight years ago, she said the idea of opening a beignet and coffee shop was appealing.

“After Hurricane Katrina hit, so many people from Louisiana are here now and they would love to have part of it here and I see LSU running around all over the place in Helena.”

Linski said the prices on menu items will be similar to other retail coffee shops while offering three beignets for $3.

After opening, Linski said the hours of operation will be Monday through Saturday from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. The business will be closed on Sundays.

“Helena is a great place I’ve noticed just living here shortly and there’s really not a coffee place here,” Linski said. “So, I’m just excited to bring something that Helena needs.”

For more information on Beignets and Lattes, visit Facebook.com/Beignets-and-Lattes-1269182176583836/.