Creamery Coffee Co. Arrives

On August 19, Creamery Coffee Co. opened quietly and joined the restaurants offering food and drink in Rushford, Minn. The new establishment offers quality coffees, teas, sandwiches, and muffins for now with more to come in the near future.

Last November, Creamery/Nordic Lanes owners Dean and Kim Mireau and Tony and Jesica Heiden decided to increase their food offerings. They knew people were looking for quick and easy sandwiches and they knew an appropriate building was empty and available. They decided to rent part of the Pam’s Corner building formerly used by Subway. Work on the remodeling of the building has been ongoing since April. Co-managers Tara King and Cartney Callan have been busy adding final touches and getting their routines established.

The coffee/sandwich shop has a new look. The menu is colorfully displayed in colored chalk on the blackboard wall above the sandwich assembly/checkout area. The sandwich area boasts a steel counter; this was chosen because it’s easy to clean and in style now. King commented, “We’re not Subway – we’re a sandwich shop.” She likes having a different look to the shop.

An L-shaped bar with bar stools was added across from the checkout area for customers as well as new sleek tables and chairs. Another wall area also is painted with chalkboard paint, just waiting to be decorated! King and Callan hope to add a seating area with a couch in the shop later.

The part of the remodel that took the most time and brought delays in opening was getting the inspection by the state to go through.

Currently the shop’s hours are 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. They may be extended later. The shop offers cold coffees, iced tea, iced chai latte, hot tea, and three flavors of hot coffee: gourmet roast, a medium roast, as well as two dark roast coffees, Colombian Viennese and Velvet Hammer. Eight add-in flavors can customize the beverages even more. Eventually they will also offer espressos.

Customers can choose from white or wheat subs, sourdough, jalapeño cheddar, or the most popular cranberry wild rice bread for their sandwiches. Meat choices are ham, turkey, capicola, Canadian bacon and beef; cheeses include American, cheddar, provolone, pepperjack, Swiss and Parmesan. A wide selection of locally grown vegetables are available to choose from. Eight sauces including horseradish, Balsamic vinegar, mayo, olive oil, Italian, both regular and chipotle ranch, as well as both yellow and honey mustard customize your sandwich order.

The Creamery Coffee Company just added  muffins – the cinnamon walnut streusel muffin was a popular offering. King and Callan plan to add other pastries such as scones in the future. Breakfast sandwiches – either plain or veggie – were just added to the menu. Other offerings, more baked goods, and possibly daily specials are also being considered.

In the future they’d like to get into online ordering. A pickup window would be a convenient option they hope to offer the customers.

Tara and Cartney divide their duties with Cartney taking care of social media postings and Tara doing the inventory and ordering. They each do whatever else needs to be done and work well together. Tara also works at R-P School as a cook, while Cartney also works at the Creamery. Cartney will be managing the shop during the week and Tara will be on duty on the weekends. At this time, the Creamery Coffee Co. has a total of four employees; they are hoping to hire more workers.

When asked if they’d had any surprises in managing the new coffee/sandwich shop, Tara shared that they were learning as they go – they started from ground zero. The only thing left in the building were the coolers and sinks which are owned by Pam.

A surprise they didn’t expect was having Daren Chambers pop in for coffee and a muffin. Daren claimed he’d driven from Texas to patronize the shop once he saw it on Facebook! (Actually, Chambers was in the area to visit family. He had worked with both King and Callan at the Creamery in the past.)

(With the interview over, I asked Tara and Cartney to make me a ham/provolone sandwich with horseradish sauce on the popular cranberry wild rice bread. I can testify to the fact that the sandwich was yummy and very filling. Be sure to stop in at the Creamery Coffee shop and try out your own favorite!)