The Paper Bag Deli is stepping into a new grind with the launch of “The Paper Cup,” a specialty coffee line served at its new drive-thru deli storefront in Waldo.

The Waldo deli (15145 NE U.S. Highway 301) is slated to open mid-June as The Paper Bag’s fourth location, but it’s also a first—the first location with a drive-thru and the first outside Gainesville since Richard Sterck founded the local franchise in 2022.

As a self-proclaimed coffee lover, Sterck said nothing pairs better with breakfast and lunch bites, like those on The Paper Bag’s menu, than coffee.

While current locations do currently offer some coffee, Sterck said he’s ready and excited to take it to a new level with lattes, espressos, nitro brews and “all that fun stuff.”

“All coffee places are slammed. I’m like, you know, what we need is coffee. We have breakfast,” he said. “This spot by Waldo’s got a drive-thru, so I thought, well, perfect spot to start it.”

Sterck said he purchased the long-abandoned former Hardee’s in April, just four months after opening The Paper Bag’s third location at Magnolia Parke.

Every time he and his wife drove through Waldo to get to their son’s basketball games at Jacksonville University, Sterck said he noticed the lack of places to eat. He started thinking about how he could expand his deli there.

“I wanted to put something back in there. The town is neat; I think it needs a little bit more life,” Sterck said. “That’s not saying we’re going to bring all life, but I think we’ll bring a little bit more traffic, and a little more talk to the town, which will be fun.”

Featured on Food Network’s Diners, Drive-In’s and Dives and named in the top 10 of Yelp’s Top 25 restaurants around Gainesville, The Paper Bag Deli is known for hand-crafted Boar’s Head breakfast and lunch sandwiches and salads inspired by pop culture, as well as Sterck’s family and friends.

The EvDaBev Crossover is part Philly cheesesteak, part French Dip and named for Sterck’s son, The Soprano layers multiple Italian cold cuts and the French Toastwich sandwich marries sweet and savory.

All three locations share the same core menu while also offering twists unique to that location; downtown Gainesville serves a lobster roll and smoothies, Magnolia Parke a vegan sandwich in addition to multiple new recipes, and homemade pastries at Tower Road—the busiest spot of the trio.

Sterck said he’s still figuring out what twist to give the Waldo drive-thru, although it could just be the elaborate coffee menu already planned. The Paper Bag will use branded coffee from their food provider Sysco.

Whatever the twist and however tasty the coffee drips, Sterck said he intends to enhance and not sacrifice the deli’s original mission.

“Coffee is definitely a huge thing I want to keep on pressing because that’s going to be new for us. It’s going to be a great kind of business model to kick us into another level,” Sterck said. “The motto, ‘changing lives one sandwich at a time’, is what we live by and die by. So that’s always what I try to put out there to make sure we’ve done that.”

As of now, 6 a.m. will be the targeted opening time for the Waldo deli, with a tentative 3 p.m. closing. But since the city has so much traffic, Sterck said he might push the hours out to 6 p.m.

Sterck also said the Waldo deli is actively hiring and that seasoned Paper Bag employees will be appointed to managerial roles. Anyone interested in applying can contact the phone numbers listed online.