Downtown Gilroy is in the midst of a coffee renaissance thanks to the opening of Fifth Street Coffee.
The coffee shop on Fifth and Monterey streets, formerly known as Dragonfly on Fifth and for a long time before that Sue’s Coffee Roasting Company, has opened its doors once again – but this time around, it’s had a major facelift. Owners Yolanda Castaneda and Daniel Pina bought the business in January and spent two months renovating the insides before opening. They replaced the cracked, grocery-store tile floor with rustic hardwood, painted the walls a warm brown, filled the floorspace with stained wood and leather furniture, and enlivened the interior with chic décor.
“We got the entire family involved,” Pina said. “There’s someone that does everything in our family, so we had them all out here – long hours – painting, electrical, flooring. Sometimes we’d be here to 12 or 1 a.m.”
The husband-and-wife team have also brought something entirely new to the downtown scene: 16 flavors of handmade ice cream.
“We though, ‘why’ not?’ Coffee and ice cream, why not?” Castaneda said from behind the long wooden espresso bar.
The ice cream – which comes in unique flavors such as lavender honey, cotton candy and green tea – is churned by Polar Bear, a family-owned business in Santa Cruz.
“Parents come in and get their coffee drink and the little ones can get ice cream. It’s a slam dunk,” Castaneda said.
The coffee shop also offers fresh croissants and turnovers from a bakery in Prunedale.
Castaneda and Pina hope locals will use Fifth Street Coffee as a place where people feel comfortable enough to relax by themselves with a book, hook their laptops up to the shop’s Wi-Fi, or meet with friends. A long table toward the back of the store can be reserved by clubs or just a larger group of friends.
Born and raised in Gilroy, Pina and Castaneda graduated from Gilroy High School in the early 1990s. This is their first entrepreneurial endeavor.
When they first heard the business was up for sale in December, the couple thought “why not?”
A popular drink on the all-new menu is the Mexican mocha, a mix of dark Mexican chocolate, a rich shot of espresso and steamed milk. For the non-coffee drinkers who still like clutching a hot beverage, artisan loose-leaf teas are available. On weekend mornings, customers are invited to witness (and smell) a batch of coffee beans being roasted right in the front of the store.
“On a clear day you can smell it all the way to 10th Street,” Pina said.
The shop has a very local flair. Copies of local magazines and this newspaper are displayed on a bookcase near the roaster. Castaneda, a dog lover, put up a bulletin board that she hopes customers will use to tack photos of their pooches. The couple also hopes to be a place where local musicians can showcase their talents. The husband and wife combo plans on hosting open-mic nights soon.
The store is open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and Sunday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
