WRITTEN BY CHERYL WELLS
It’s exciting to be able to feature my coffeehouse in Le Mars this issue. Habitué Coffeehouse & Bakery has been open 14 years on March 29, 2024. We just finished a refurbishment, and it is a fresh new look for this new season. Please come in and sit awhile and enjoy a vanilla bean latte or a cup of our best-selling Signature brewed coffee with a friend. The vanilla bean latte actually has a scoop of Blue Bunny vanilla bean ice cream in it as well as some flavored syrup and vanilla bean sugar on top of the homemade whipping cream. Our Signature coffee beans are hazelnut and caramel flavored and it is great with one of our homemade scones or a Nanny’s Caramel Roll.
We have lots of different seating options in our two-story coffeehouse, as well as outdoor courtyard seating for when the weather is nice from May to October. In our main dining room, we have booths mostly, with a few tables; one being in front of our beautiful fireplace with a view that goes up to the second story. We have a south dining room with big, beautiful windows looking out onto Central Avenue and nice red leather chairs. Some people really like our biggest booth in this room for when they have a big group and it’s a favorite for our “coffee guys” that come early in the morning several days a week. This room can be reserved also for special events.
On the second floor we have some booths, and lots of comfortable seating in little cozy settings. I took a small room that used to be an office and made a nice work room with a table and chairs and also two nice chairs with little side tables to set your coffee on. This room has a door that can be shut if you want a more secluded space and quiet to work. In the back of the second floor there is a huge room that can be rented for parties and also has double doors that can be shut. It seats about 40 people plus.
The whole store has been freshly painted one neutral color and all new lights and furnishings. I did keep all my batiks that were hanging on the walls on the second floor, but I moved them around a bit. It was so fun to see it all come together, and I chose everything myself this time. I hope you like it! Notice the new paintings on the main floor that I especially chose. I love the artist and her passion for Christ and His word. You will find a few verses in the store that will be encouraging for what you are facing.
God is doing a new thing in me, and I am asking and trusting Him for you also. I hope that you will be blessed as you come to spend time in the coffeehouse enjoying one of our many homemade goodies or having a relaxing lunch.
We love the new store, and we are wanting to focus on who we have always been. Along the way we have added a drive through, but it is a very complicated and difficult business model for us. It is hard having two stores so close to each other and only having one person there working most of the time. We don’t have enough business there to warrant having much oversight, but that isn’t a good plan for any business. We are doing some things to make picking up your order downtown easier, like a quick pick-up lane in the back and down the alley. Also, we will have parking designated just for that and an app to order through for ease and time-saving. We will have delivery for those that need it in Le Mars, not Sioux City. (sorry)
We have always been about making Habitué a beautiful place and a peaceful place to meet people and relax for a spell. From day one Habitué has been a gift to our community and that we built it to inspire others to invest in downtown. Our downtown has grown so much, and it is going to continue. I guess we have done what we wanted. We are going to continue to focus on making it memorable and we are focusing on our lunch. We will have one day a week that we do a specialty salad and one day a week we will have a soup along with our wonderful sandwiches. Don’t forget us for your favorite desserts and cupcakes (or sheet cakes), as well as wonderful baked goods for breakfast.
Our drive through closed on March 1 and we now have expanded hours downtown. We are open at 6AM and close at 5PM Monday-Friday. Saturdays we open at 7AM and close at 4PM. It is good to have extended hours to meet the needs and wants of our customers and soon downtown Le Mars will have more downtown businesses with evening hours.
We know this will be something for people to get used to, but we believe it is the best decision concerning all things. In leadership you always have to look at the reality and the big picture and make tough decisions. We see good things coming from this one and now it will open up that land for development also. We own other land around it and so we can put a bigger building on that space and it will be fun to see what else comes to Le Mars! More to talk about later! Please come in and see us soon.
