Local coffee shop owners serve customers from sunup to sundown, and they wouldn’t have it any other way
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POCATELLO – Bill and Elaine Kelvie always dreamed of opening a coffee shop, and now they’re living the dream together.
The Pocatello couple are the owners of Gate City Coffee and Wine Bistro at 320 West Center Street.
“We love coffee,” Bill says. “We’re addicted to it!”
The duo opened the shop in 2022 after attending a prestigious coffee school in Portland, Oregon. After two years of operation, the business has expanded. Gate City Gift Shop and Gallery, along with Nostalgia Antiques, opened next door to the coffee shop within the last year. The gallery offers additional seating for customers, and showcases art from local artists.
With a cup of black coffee in hand — his drink of choice — Bill explains the reason for this new addition.
“We simply ran out of space,” Bill says.
Bill and his wife moved to eastern Idaho several years ago. He grew up in Boise and Montana and Elaine was born in Germany.
After pursuing careers in different industries, their love of coffee led them to the Bellissimo American Barista & Coffee School.
While running a coffee shop together has been rewarding, this particular location in downtown Pocatello has been challenging. After six months of renovations on the building, the pair says the closure of the Center Street underpass last summer had a negative impact on business.
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Gate City Coffee lost 75% of its summer tourist trade, Bill says, and he “looks forward to the underpass being permanently fixed in a constructive manner.”
Bill and Elaine are heavily invested in the revitalization of downtown Pocatello and the success of Gate City Coffee and Wine Bistro. They start their days at 5 a.m. and are in the shop seven days a week.
Elaine can often be found in the kitchen baking scones, rolls, and cookies.
“I’ve always loved to bake,” she says.
Her favorite thing to bake is rolls. She enjoys the challenge of baking with yeast.
Aside from a relentless work ethic and a strong connection to customers, the Kelvies attribute their success — which includes being voted the best coffee in southeastern Idaho and top four in the state — to what they call the three aspects of consistency: environment, service, and product.
At Bellissimo, they learned how to make quality coffee that tastes the same every time. By listening to customer feedback, they’ve learned how to incorporate or change what works and what doesn’t. If customers request a drink that isn’t on the menu, they add it. If someone needs to preorder a batch of cinnamon rolls, they accommodate. And when they ran out of seating in their original location, they opened Gate City Gift and Gallery.
When asked about their future plans, the couple looked at each other.
“I think in about six months, we’ll take a vacation, maybe do some traveling,” Bill says.
“I want to see some ghost towns!” Elaine adds.
As for future business plans … mum’s the word!