Café Zoma, a sister store to the downtown franchise Coffee Cat, opened its doors to locals and students last month.

The new café is located next to the Albertsons in Goleta and aims to cater to both the Isla Vista and Goleta communities. The shop hopes to provide an alternative to the oft crowded I.V. scene.

According to Matthew Carter, former UCSB student and manager of Café Zoma, the coffee shop will accommodate the needs of local families and university faculty.

“Saturday and Sunday mornings, when the Isla Vista population is asleep, I would love to be serving quiche to families from Ellwood after soccer games,” Carter said. “There are not usually students here during the day, [so we are] trying to get with the professor and faculty crowd as well.”

UCSB alumnus and Zoma patron Daniel Hendrickson said the store provides students with another option when I.V. coffee shops become overcrowded.

“It is welcoming, easy to get to know the people,” Hendrickson said. “You go to other coffee shops in I.V. and there [are] always people moving in and out. Here there is consistency, you feel like you can get to know the employees.”

Beverages are served in mugs to eliminate paper waste. Furthermore, Carter said Café Zoma provides fair trade, organic, locally roasted coffee and their Italian espresso and Sumatra roasts are made locally by Green Star roasters.

“Me and Krista have worked pretty extensively with Dan, the roast master at Green Star,” Carter said. “We have been getting into the science of what makes good coffee.”

The café features a modern interior and local art hangs on the walls.

According to Krista Fritzen, owner of Coffee Cat and head manager for all three affiliated locations, each location has a unique design.

“Each shop has its own feel, but the same coffee,” Fritzen said. “It [the Goleta location] is just a cool spot.”

Despite each stores’ different interiors, Fritzen said the menu and service standards are consistent.

“There need to be more community oriented businesses in North Goleta,” Fritzen said. “There are a lot of neighborhoods out there that could be well-served.”

In addition to their drinks, Zoma offers a variety of locally made pastries and baked goods. Carter said he hopes to set up a bakery in the back of the Goleta shop to make fresh goods for all three shops every day in the future.

Café Zoma is open Sunday through Thursday from 6:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. with extended hours for students during finals weeks.