Ferndale’s newest coffee shop, Honey Dirt, feels like your friend’s basement — and that’s exactly what the owner wants

There’s a nostalgic feeling you get when you walk into Honey Dirt Coffee in Ferndale. The recently opened cafe is eclectic, yet cozy, and filled with thrifted furniture, colorful decor, greenery, and moody lighting — an atmosphere that makes you want to stay long after finishing your drink. 

Customers stream through the garage-style entrance while conversations bounce around the room, giving the space less of a polished coffee shop feel and more the vibe of a neighborhood hangout. 

This isn’t an accident. 

“I designed it myself based off of feel and aesthetic, and who I am, an extension of me,” says owner Teddy Shaska.

After spending even a few minutes talking with him, it’s clear Honey Dirt isn’t just a reflection of Shaska’s design taste — it’s a reflection of his personality. Warm, approachable, and refreshingly unpretentious, he speaks with the same ease that makes first-time customers feel like regulars.

Shaska’s path to opening Honey Dirt wasn’t one he planned from the beginning. Born in Albania, he moved to Michigan when he was seven or eight years old before spending most of his teenage years in Portland, Oregon, living with his sister. At 19, he landed a job at his brother-in-law’s coffee shop, unknowingly setting in motion a career that would eventually bring him back home.

“It’s really the only job I had, besides some little gigs,” he says. “Coffee’s been the only thing I’ve been, not just good at, but I’ve known.”

After that first café, Shaska spent nearly eight years working for Dutch Bros Coffee, traveling the country to help open new locations. The work eventually took him to Salt Lake City before he returned to Michigan, where his parents still lived.

For a while, though, coffee was almost lost to another dream.

“I was really close to buying a van,” he tells me. “Something hit me like, ‘What happens after month 10?'”

Instead of spending his savings on van life, he invested in a coffee cart.

Honey Dirt debuted as a pop-up in 2024, eventually finding a home inside The Post in Grosse Pointe. What started as occasional pop-ups quickly became something more permanent after customers continued to shop up.

“They were awesome, but you still have to answer to somebody,” Shaska says. “I want to have my own hours, I wanna have my own vibe, my own aesthetic.”

Looking for the next step, he connected with Rust Belt Market owner Chris Best about operating out of the market’s rotating vendor space. 

Quickly, Honey Dirt became so popular that instead of rotating out, it stayed.

“They were so busy that it’s hard for them to book a new person each weekend, so I kind of alleviated a little bit of stress and workload off their plate, but it was just really popular, and people really liked it, and they wanted it there,” Shaska says. “It blew up, and now we’re a full-time vendor at Rust Belt.”

Still, he wanted a place that was entirely his own.

While touring another building in Ferndale, the landlord mentioned a different property on Livernois Avenue that had been vacant for some time.

“He drives me here, and he opens the garage door, and it was just thrashed,” Shaska says. “It was just storage, but what I really liked was the garage door and the parking lot… so I kind of just went for it. I was like, ‘I don’t know how we’re gonna do it, but I’m gonna do it.'”

He signed the lease the following week, took out loans, and began transforming the space almost entirely through secondhand finds.

“Essentially everything you see in there is just thrifted, or I bought off of the landlord.”

Facebook Marketplace and auctions were his favorite resources. Outside of a new pastry case, much of what customers see today has been carefully pieced together over the course of months of searching.

The result is intentional — and a direct response to what Shaska feels is missing from many cafés.

“I think people are tired of the very sterile, stale Apple Store, white and black, very pompous or pretentious coffee shops,” he says. “My personal belief is that if you can get your coffee to a seven out of 10, everything else is vibe, hospitality. How do you feel when you walk in there? Is it warm? Do you feel like you’re in a community space?”

For Shaska, creating that feeling has always mattered more than creating a perfectly curated aesthetic.

“That’s the vibe in there is just like your friend’s basement,” he says. “It’s eclectic, but it’s warm, and it’s inviting, and the stakes are low. You don’t have to dress a certain way; it’s for everybody. Anyone can walk in here and feel comfortable and feel like they’re part of the community.”

He wants customers to feel welcome regardless of their budget or coffee knowledge.

“You don’t have to have a certain amount of money in your bank account, you don’t have to know everything about coffee,” he says. “We’re just here to serve you.”

That same philosophy extends beyond coffee.

Shaska hopes Honey Dirt becomes a place where local artists and makers can gain exposure through rotating displays and installations, giving creatives opportunities he remembers needing himself when he was getting started.

“I know how hard it is if you don’t have the tools or resources, AKA money, to get out there,” he says. “I think this is a great launching pad.”

Asked where the name Honey Dirt came from, he laughs.

“I was just stoned,” he says. “I was eating a graham cracker with honey on it, and I wrote it down. There’s no philanthropy behind it… It’s not that deep. It just sounded cool, and it was memorable.”

Honey Dirt held a soft opening on May 28 before officially opening on June 2. The response surprised even its owner.

“It’s actually been busier than I ever expected,” Shaska says. “Every day I’m like, ‘I hope people show up,’ and people have been showing up like crazy. I still don’t get it.”

During the interview, a customer passing by congratulates him and asks how it feels. “It feels good,” Shaska replies. “It hasn’t settled in yet. I think after this month. Right now I’m just trying to pay off some debt.”

Looking ahead, he hopes to expand Honey Dirt’s wholesale coffee program, increase event catering, and establish a permanent coffee stand within Rust Belt Market. But for now, his focus remains on building the culture inside the café and alongside the eight to 10 employees who help run it.

“My philosophy is the first 90 days, I think ownership or leadership or whoever has to be working open and close,” he says. “I want them to know I’m in it with them.”

Ultimately, Shaska believes people don’t return to a coffee shop solely because of what’s in the cup.

“Honestly, we just give a shit about service,” he says. “The product is love and hospitality. If your coffee is seven out of 10, you’re crushing it. Everything else is hospitality.”

Judging by the crowds filling Honey Dirt just weeks after opening, it’s a philosophy that’s already brewing something bigger than coffee.

Honey Dirt Coffee is located at 359 Livernois Ave., Ste 103, in Ferndale. Hours are Tuesday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday through Sunday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.