GALION — The Willow Coffee Shop has been open for about a month, and the Galion community has responded well.
Located at 125 Harding Way East, The Willow Coffee Shop is owned by Jessica and Jared Thew, who are excited about their new venture.
The shop is very welcoming. It includes couches and comfy chairs dotted throughout the area, large dining room tables for groups of friends to gather around and sip coffee or tea while munching on a sweet pastry or homemade cookie. A versatile facility, Jessica said there are places for people to work, meet up with clients or just hang out and enjoy some peace and quiet.
“That’s one of the things we wanted to do … to create an inviting atmosphere where people could connect,” Jessica said. “We really wanted to focus on creating an environment that encouraged community and connection. So that’s why we established different seating options.
Hours for The Willow Coffee House are Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Jessica also pointed out there is a back entrance to the coffee shop and if there is not enough parking out front there is parking available in the back. She said people parking out back should turn into the alley off Columbus Street to the back of the business. Anyone with questions may call the coffee house at 419-468-5268.
“When we purchased this we really wanted the focus to be around the coffee, tea and espresso drinks,” Jessica said. “We do offer some light pastries and we have a wonderful biscotti that is brought in that’s made by somebody local. She brings that it in and it’s really delicious. We usually have a few varieties of that. In-house, we make the mocha bars. We make those in-house every Tuesday and then we make a brownie in here every week and we make cookies every day. We do small things, but our focus is driven on the coffee.”
Jessica said they do have brewed drip coffee every day, a medium roast as well as one flavored. She noted they get their coffee from Beca House Coffee out of Upper Sandusky.
“It’s a local roasting company that is not too far away,” she pointed out. “We always have that on and we offer pour-overs as well. If someone doesn’t want the medium roast we can make a dark roast pour-over or a light roast.”
There are also always the espresso drinks which include the lattes, the mochas, and caramel macchiatos.
“We can do those in iced, warm and we also have frappes, which are the blended drinks. There are a whole variety of different combinations we can make of those,” she said. “And each month we have featured drinks. March drinks will be like shamrock frappes and mint drinks.”
“We also have a good selection of teas for people who don’t drink coffee and we have hot chocolate and frozen hot chocolate,” Jessica pointed out.
The lead barista is Crystal Ebner who stayed on from the previous business.
“She’s been great throughout the whole process, because I’m still learning,” Jessica joked.
