They’re bringing Black culture, community, and craft to the most magical place on earth!
From the heart of Inglewood to the heart of Disneyland, beloved Black women-owned coffee brand Sip & Sonder has officially opened a new location inside Downtown Disneyland’s Parkside Market. As part of the theme park’s 70th anniversary expansion, the new space marks a milestone for co-founders Amanda-Jane Thomas and Shanita Nicholas, two former attorneys who transformed a shared dream into a movement grounded in culture, community, and craft.
Founded in 2017, Sip & Sonder quickly became more than just a neighborhood coffee shop. With a flagship location in Inglewood, another in Downtown Los Angeles at the Music Center, and now one in Disneyland, the brand has become known for pairing specialty coffee with curated experiences that reflect and amplify Black diasporic stories.
“Coffee is from Black, brown, and Indigenous lands across the world. It’s always been for us, truly,” Thomas told Because Of Them We Can. “So really celebrating those stories, celebrating the producers and the hands that pick the coffee… that clear intention and the love that goes in all the way from the crop to the cup… And those spaces are so important to exist everywhere, including in Black and brown communities.”
With every cup, Sip & Sonder centers sustainability, traceability, and intention, honoring the roots of coffee culture while creating spaces that feel like home for all. Parkside Market, where their new outpost is located, is a fresh, food-forward destination that features diverse culinary concepts under one roof in the heart of Disneyland. Alongside other brands, Sip & Sonder is serving up lattes, fresh treats, Caribbean-inspired bites, and frozen drinks, infused with the same cultural richness and bold flavor that made them a staple in Inglewood.
The journey to this moment began years ago, when Thomas and Nicholas were both practicing law at a corporate firm in New York. Amid long hours and high expectations, they carved out Friday mornings for themselves and other Black women colleagues to meditate, talk, and simply breathe. It was in those moments that the vision for Sip & Sonder was born.
“We were on a rooftop in New York, talking about our dreams,” Nicholas recalled. “I shared my love for coffee and coffee spaces, and Amanda-Jane talked about her passion for empowering others. We didn’t have a name at that rooftop, but as we continued talking, there was this idea that coffee is a connector to community and culture, around the world for people who looked and reflected our families, which was really huge to us.”
Eight years later, standing inside Disneyland with their logo above the door, that rooftop dream is now a tangible reality, proof of what’s possible when Black women lead with vision and hold fast to their dreams.
“It feels like every kind of new milestone that we hit always feels so aligned,” said Thomas. “Like, this is what we’re supposed to be doing. This is the right next step. I have a lot of peace around where we are, you know, from where we started,”
With each sip, Sip & Sonder continues to make space not just for coffee but also for connection, creativity, and celebration. And now, visitors from around the world can experience that magic for themselves at one of the happiest places on Earth.
Cover photo: Beloved Black-Owned Inglewood Coffee Brand ‘Sip & Sonder’ Opens at Disneyland/(l to r) Sip & Sonder Co-founders Amanda-Jane Thomas & Shanita Nicholas at Parkside Market location inside Downtown Disneyland/Photo credit: Veracity Savant/Because Of Them We Can