Every town needs a third place. Not home, not work, somewhere in between. A place you can sit for an hour and nobody rushes you out the door.

Redlands has one, and there's a decent chance you've never driven past it.

Four Corners Eatery & Coffee Bar sits at 505 New Jersey St, tucked into a stretch of West Redlands that most of us only pass on the way to somewhere else. You're not going to stumble onto it. Somebody has to point you there. Liz and I finally made the trip this week, and I owe you an apology for not writing about it sooner.

The place has been serving Redlands since 2016, when it opened as Deli on the Corner, a straightforward deli and juice bar with wraps, sandwiches, and salads. Somewhere along the way it grew into the fuller version you'll find today, Four Corners Eatery & Coffee Bar, with a real espresso program, fresh juice, and a wine room tucked into the back that I did not expect to find in a neighborhood deli.

But the menu isn't really the story. The story is what's been quietly happening in that dining room for years while most of Redlands drove right past it.

I watched a student camp out at a corner table with a laptop and no apparent hurry to leave. Two women in blazers ran what was clearly a client meeting over coffee, folders spread across the table, handshake at the end. A group of friends lingered over breakfast long after the plates were cleared, in no rush to be anywhere else. Nobody in that room was chasing a food trend. They were using the space the way a third place is supposed to be used, as somewhere to land.

Liz and I split a Sicilian sandwich, mortadella, salami, pepperoni, and provolone stacked with tomatoes and pepperoncini on a ciabatta bun, and it did not survive long enough for either of us to admit we probably should have ordered our own.

The iced tea was some of the best I've had in Redlands, and that's not a small compliment coming from a guy who orders it everywhere he goes.

The wine, is the part I keep thinking about. Liz and I are already talking about heading back after five instead of at noon, which tells you everything about how this first visit went.

Four Corners Eatery & Coffee Bar 505 New Jersey St, Redlands, CA 92373 (909) 307-0447 | fourcornerseatery.com Monday through Friday, 7:30 AM to 7 PM | Saturday, 7:30 AM to 5 PM | Closed Sunday

If you've found your own third place tucked into a corner of Redlands nobody talks about, reply and tell me. That's exactly what this newsletter is for.

Carlos Samaniego,EA
Editor