Valorie Hill always believed there should be a place to stop and have coffee with friends on Franklin Street.

When that place didn’t materialize, she invented it.

Hill runs The Coffee Break Cafe at 503 Franklin St.

Open for two weeks, it has already earned praise from tourists and locals alike.

&uot;I’ve received so many compliments,&uot; Hill said about her homey bistro.

Designed to &uot;make you think you’re in somebody’s kitchen,&uot; Hill said she wanted to carve out a spot on Franklin Street where friends could buy a coke and sit down.

&uot;We have so many wonderful antique shops on Franklin Street, but we didn’t have a place to just sit and rest between antiquing,&uot; she said.

The Coffee Break Cafe is that place – with a menu that offers more than coffee or cappuccino.

Hill prepares different &uot;little entrees&uot; each day — lasagna, red beans and rice, pizza and salad, gumbo — and regular sandwiches of chicken salad, tuna salad, roast beef and turkey.

At the end of any meal is an inviting display case of confections – sweet rolls, pastries, cheesecakes and more.

Open Monday through Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Hill’s philosophy for rounding out the menu is a simple one.

&uot;I just see what people like, and I add it,&uot; she said with a laugh.

Only five months in Natchez, Hill has taken to the town like a duck to water.

&uot;I&160;just love it here,&uot; she said. &uot;Everybody is so sweet to me. I’ve never felt so welcomed.&uot;

Hill spent the last 20 years of her life in Baton Rouge as an administrator at Louisiana State University.

After many visits to Natchez to visit her daughters Karen Linton and Julie Smith who own and operate The Pampered Sole at 508 Franklin St., Hill decided to make the plunge herself and bought the building at 503 Franklin St. and converted it into The Coffee Break Cafe.

Plans for the spring include opening the courtyard behind the building for coffee and food alfresco. Hill also has an idea to convert a building next door into a fine linen shop.

&uot;I’m so excited about Franklin Street,&uot; Hill said. &uot;I want to build desirable and exciting things for the street.&uot;

Also this spring or summer, Hill plans to renovate and rent apartment space above the cafe.

&uot;I’m just getting started,&uot; Hill said.