Eliza is a free black woman living in Philadelphia. A brief aside on Eliza, courtesy of Matilda: Matilda is also greeted by Eliza, the most excellent coffeehouse cook. 
(For more, see our section on "Setting: Coffeehouse.")
The coffeehouse is also a place for merchants, politicians, and city-dwellers to drink coffee and discuss the news of the day. No alcohol is served, but there are card games and a bit of gambling. Matilda's widowed mother now runs the coffeehouse with her father-in-law (Matilda's grandfather). (Matilda was four.) Unfortunately, he fell off of a ladder and died of a broken neck only two months after the coffeehouse was completed. Matilda's father, a carpenter, built the coffeehouse in 1783 after the War for Independence. Matilda notes that the kitchen "could feed one hundred people in a day" because it's part of the Cook Coffeehouse, the business her family runs (2.5). Plus, there's Eliza, a free black woman who works for the family as a cook. The house is home only to Matilda, her mother, and her grandfather. Matilda describes her family's kitchen, which is large compared with her family. Again with the "When I was a girl…" stuff (2.4)! Matilda at last arrives in the kitchen where her mother proceeds to lecture her.
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