He engineers a good cup

George Hill shed his old day job in Tampa to make a mean mochachino at Java Delights.

By MINDY RUBENSTEIN
Published June 19, 2007

Java Delights owner George Hill, who used to work for an engineering firm, laughs with his son. He opened the shop in January with his fiancee, Kim McGuire. "George is the one that's here all the time and he doesn't even drink coffee," she said.
	[Times photo: Zach Boyden-Holmes]

ZEPHYRHILLS - George Hill went from drawing plans for roads and subdivisions to making root beer floats and lattes - and he has no regrets.

"My fiancee called me up and asked what I thought about opening a coffee shop. I've known her long enough to know she had already made her mind up, " said Hill, 36.

Called Java Delights, the cafe opened Jan. 6 in the Towne Square Shopping Center on Gall Boulevard, tucked back in a little strip center between KFC and Little Caesar's Pizza.

"I grew up here, so these are my old stomping grounds, " said Hill, who left the military in 1994. "We have such a wide variety of customers, from your neighborhood grocery stocker all the way up to real estate attorneys."

Hill helped fiancee Kim McGuire set up the shop and was going to stay in the background. But he decided to take on the project full time, quitting his job at an engineering firm in Tampa.

"He went with my crazy idea and here we are, " McGuire said.

Hill has custody of his two sons, and she has custody of her two daughters. The children are 7, 8, 9 and 15. McGuire also cares for the year-old child of a friend.

So now McGuire takes care of things at home, while Hill runs the shop.

"She works so hard at home it wouldn't be feasible for her to come up here and work, " he said.

They make a good team.

"George is the one that's there all the time and he doesn't even drink coffee. He brings the beans home for me to taste test, " McGuire said. "I want it to be a place for everyone. It's been fun. I've never done anything like this before. It's brought us closer."

Now Hill prepares mochachinos and ice cream cones, leaning over to the shop's couches to take orders when needed. They offer free wireless Internet access for customers who bring their own laptops, as well as three computers that are available.

Children's videos and books line the walls, and a brightly colored kid-sized table and chairs greet people as they walk in the door.

"Wherever I go, if my kids can't go, I don't want to be there, " he said. "I wanted to extend that to other parents."

One recent evening son Cameron, 8, sat in the background playing a video game on one of the cafe's computers as dad took a break from waiting on customers to nudge him to eat a slice of pizza from an open box sitting on the table.

"Yes, sir, " Cameron said politely, taking a piece.

"We're Christian, so we try to live by a moral code, " said Hill, who attends Fairhaven Baptist. McGuire goes to St. Joseph's Catholic, so every Sunday they go back and forth.

"We're an odd lot, " he said.

Thursday at the cafe is BYOB, bring your own banana, for half off a banana split. On Wednesdays, students get a discount. And on Fridays from 6 to 8 p.m., the shop offers live music.

"We make a mean root beer float and a brownie delight that's just mind-boggling, " he said.

Dave Kanter, 24, is a student at the University of South Florida and lives in Zephyrhills. He stops in several times a week for a triple espresso and a place to study.

"This is everything that I've ever wanted in a hometown coffee shop, " said the curly-haired anthropology student as he sat in front of his laptop.

He came across the coffee shop by accident one day while stopping at the stereo shop next door. "I'm a big 'caffeineaholic'. Typically I'm here whenever I have schoolwork to get done."

Fast Facts:

Java Delights

5530 Gall Blvd., Zephyrhills

(813) 783-6272

Wednesday: Student night, discount with I.D.

Thursday: BYOB, bring your own banana for a half-price banana split.

Friday: Live music, 6-8 p.m.

[Last modified June 18, 2007, 23:21:25]