Local couple brings new coffee shop to Downtown

Jul. 31—A new Downtown coffee shop has seen success in its first month of business.

Reverie Coffee, 114 S. Eighth St., opened its doors to the public on July 9. The co-owners, Sadie Willis and Evan Cruz, have found themselves enjoying nice coffee shops wherever they are, and they wanted to bring a similar vibe to St. Joseph.

"We just always knew that that's what we wanted to do if we ever had the opportunity, we had no idea that it would come this soon. We just kind of knew the previous owner and it kind of just fell in our lap, honestly. And then we're like, well, if we're going to do it, this is the best opportunity I think we're ever going to have," Willis said.

Willis and Cruz agreed that their passion for trying out small coffee shops when they travel has played a huge part in inspiring what they have available at the shop. All of the syrups and food in the shop are homemade.

"I think that we take inspiration from a lot of the shops that we've visited before. Like what I'm looking at when we go to visit a different city, I'm always looking at their Instagram or their like Google listing and I'm looking at pictures and stuff like that that grabs my attention as far as specialty drinks I see," Willis said.

Cruz said his favorite part of the shop being open so far is the number of customers they have and the fact that they're already seeing regulars.

"I love seeing people's faces when they try my coffee and saying, 'This is really good.' It's a good feeling to see someone smile and taking a drink and enjoying it," Cruz said.

The couple, who have been together for seven years, say they've enjoyed meeting people so far, and they can't wait to keep serving the St. Joseph community.

"We're local to St. Joe and we would love to meet you and get to hang out. And we're always going to have new seasonal items coming out. We kind of have our seasonal summer menu out right now, but we're going to constantly be changing that and coming up with new fun ideas. So be on the lookout," Willis said.

Hours for the coffee shop can be found on their Facebook page.