Updated Feb. 27, 2026, 10:26 a.m. ET
The coolest coffee shop in Providence has shut down, citing the risk of imminent roof collapse.
Neighbors who’d become enthusiastic patrons were saddened, but not exactly surprised, by its sudden closure. It was, after all, an igloo.
Before it started melting, Snow Cafe was equipped with a top-of-the-line La Marzocco espresso machine and powered by an extremely long extension cord. The menu was limited, but the cortados were among the best in Providence, according to residents of the Mount Hope neighborhood. Customers could place orders at the igloo’s walk-up coffee window, and even pay by credit card.
Noah Carroll, who came up with the whimsical concept after Monday’s blizzard, said that the recent “heat wave” of nearly 40-degree temperatures made it unwise to keep selling coffee from the igloo after Thursday.
“The actual structure of it is probably not OSHA-approved at this moment,” he said.
Coffee pop-up found temporary home after storm
Carroll runs a pop-up coffee shop called Very Good Coffee, in addition to working as a sports photojournalist. Usually, he sets up shop at A Guy & His Pie Pizzeria in Pawtucket on weekend mornings, serving coffee and pastries. This week, however, he stumbled on the idea of turning the snow piles in his side yard into a coffee igloo.
“Real estate is really hard to come by right now,” he joked.
Unlike many Rhode Islanders, Carroll was excited when the blizzard blanketed the state with three feet of snow on Feb. 23. He grew up outside Syracuse, New York, where building snow forts and snow sculptures was a major part of his childhood.
“We have six months of winter, basically, so there’s a lot of snow to practice with,” he said. “I haven’t seen that much snow since maybe 2015, so it was cool to get a real, real big amount of snow like that to actually be able to play in.”
Carroll, who lives off Camp Street, finished shoveling by Monday night. Then he started turning the large pile of snow in his side yard into an obstacle course for his dog. He was in the process of building a tunnel when he accidentally poked a hole through one of the walls, and realized that it looked like a coffee window.
“I kind of just struck gold, on accident,” Carroll said.
‘One of the coolest experiences I’ve had in Providence’
By Tuesday, Carroll had built an igloo that was large enough to stand up inside, and had a sturdy counter for his espresso maker and bean grinder. Snow Cafe officially opened for business on Wednesday morning, selling $5 flat whites and $4 cortados.
About 20 people stopped by that first day, Carroll said. By Thursday, word had spread on the Providence Reddit forum, and around 60 people showed up. At times, there was a line outside.
Carroll said that the igloo seemed to transport adults back to their childhood, “as corny as that sounds.” It also gave him a unique opportunity to meet his neighbors. With people largely limited to getting around on foot after the blizzard struck, the neighborhood felt like a small, tight-knit community, he said.
“I think that was probably one of the coolest experiences I’ve had in Providence,” he said.
