South Florida

The Book Lounge Opening November 8 in St. Petersburg

The Book Lounge opens in downtown St. Pete with books, wine, coffee, and 100+ board games.

Image from The Book Lounge on Instagram

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — The Book Lounge, a new bookstore and social café from owner Natalya Calleja and her daughter, Pamela, will celebrate its grand opening November 8 at 631 Central Ave, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for November 7 at 3:30 p.m. Business Debut learned of The Book Lounge first from What Now.

What to Expect

The Book Lounge combines a full-service fiction bookstore with a café and board game lounge. Guests can browse from a curated selection of all-new fiction titles while enjoying wine, coffee, specialty teas, frosé, or a light bite. The café offers charcuterie boards, local desserts, and cakes in a can—single-serve cakes packaged for easy enjoyment.

The 1,300-square-foot space features comfortable lounge seating for about 38 to 46 guests, designed to encourage reading, conversation, and play. More than 100 board games are available, with Thursday nights dedicated to community gaming events. “We want people to connect—if your game needs four players and you only have two, someone else can join your table,” Calleja told Business Debut.

“Our wines, coffees, and teas are all sourced from local St. Pete vendors,” Calleja said. “We wanted everything to reflect the creativity and quality of this community.” The café’s offerings are designed to be affordable, with wines priced under $30 per bottle and casual counter service to keep the atmosphere relaxed.

Books are the heart of the concept. The store exclusively carries new fiction titles, including works by bestselling, indie, and local authors. “We celebrate local and indie authors just as much as we would a New York Times bestseller,” Calleja said. Each shelf is carefully curated, drawing on top-rated books from sources such as Goodreads.

Family Business

The Book Lounge is a family venture. Natalya’s daughter, Pamela, helped launch the concept while attending the University of South Florida. “The dream actually started with her,” Calleja said. “She created the ‘Blind Date with a Book’ idea in high school and raised her first $25,000 in a quarter to become an investor in the company.”

Calleja also credited her niece, Kendra Narquez, for helping organize and open the business. “It’s definitely a family business, and now we have an incredible crew of knowledgeable women who love books,” she said.