Last Best News (https://montana-mint.com/lastbestnews/2016/05/moav-coffee-house-after-many-delays-now-open/)
Co-owners Matt Pipinich, left, and Jeff Hosa finally opened their MoAv Coffee House on Friday. Click on the arrow at top right for more photos.
In the back of the coffee shop is living-room-like area with tables and chairs.
Coffee cups at the ready.
An outside look at MoAv, located at Montana Avenue and North 25th Street.
Months later than originally planned, MoAv Coffee House at 2501 Montana Ave. is open for business.
The new business finally received city approval on Thursday and then had a soft opening Thursday night.
“The official date was Friday the 13th,” co-owner Matt Pipinich said. “We opened this morning. Everybody’s been so amazing and gracious.”
When we first wrote about MoAv in November, Pipinich said they hoped to be open early in the new year, probably in February.
Most of the delays had to do with fire code regulations, ADA accessibility regarding the rest rooms and the typical surprises in store for people who start doing extensive work on century-old buildings.
“You dig into a wall and you find, oh, that wall was not installed as expected,” Pipinich said. “But getting all the approvals and permits, that was just beastly.” After a slight pause, he added, “It’s been a great learning experience.”
Co-owner Jeff Hosa said they’ve got 10 employees, not counting him and Pipinich, to staff a coffee shop that will be open seven days a week—from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday-Friday, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Although, as our earlier story said, MoAv hopes to have a fair amount of food in the future, the emphasis for now is on the coffee, a subject about which Pipinich and Hosa are quite passionate.
So far they are getting their coffee beans from Onyx Coffee Lab in Arkansas and Little Red Wagon Coffee Roasters in Bozeman. They plan to continue featuring coffee from roasters around the country, as well as locally and from around the state.
They will also be roasting their own coffee beans … eventually. They are still having problems obtaining a city permit for that aspect of the business, which is in the rear of the coffee shop in an area where they will also have a tasting room and classes on brewing and other aspects of coffee making.
The coffee shop is in the old Carlin Martini Bar at Montana Avenue and North 25th Street. It has a raised seating area with sofas and easy chairs, a big living-room-stlye area with more couches, chairs and a couple of coffee tables, and plenty of tables and a high-top coffee bar.
There is also a patio on the east side of the building, across the street from the McCormick Cafe.
