The longtime home of a photography studio in North Spokane will soon go from lenses to lattes with the upcoming opening of White Rock Coffee Co.

White Rock Coffee is expected to open in March at 727 W. Francis, in the building formerly occupied by Green Gables Photography.

The café has long been a dream of Aubrey White, who is opening White Rock Coffee with her husband, Shawn White.

“We just saw all these buildings becoming open, and we’re like ‘We could do that,’” she says. “So, we just did it.”

White has nearly a quarter-century of experience in the coffee industry, including about six years in management roles.

White Rock Coffee’s name, she says, comes from the couple’s other business, White Rock Masonry LLC, which they opened about a decade ago.

White and her husband are leasing the nearly 1,800-square-foot café space. The building is owned by Dave Black Properties LLP.

The café will source its coffee from Spokane-based Anvil Coffee LLC.

White Rock Coffee will offer gourmet cookies from Crave Cookies, which has a franchisee location in North Spokane, and will carry some food options from Spokane Valley-based bakery Desserts by Sara.

The main food feature, however, will be the café’s panini menu.

“It’s going to be a full panini menu,” White says. “That’ll be kind of the highlight.”

Among the panini choices will be the Italian, which contains salami, ham, turkey, provolone, and pepperoncinis; the Spokane, which features grilled tarragon chicken and avocado; and the Za, which includes pepperoni, mozzarella, and garlic. 

In addition to the paninis and a variety of standard coffee drinks, the menu also includes several breakfast dishes, smoothies, smoothie bowls, and coffee alternatives, like Red Bull and Lotus energy drinks. A selection of caffeine-free beverages is also included.

A variety of grab-and-go items, including salads, also will be available.

White says that while there are plenty of drive-up coffee stands in the area, she recognized there was a need for more sit-down coffee shops.

The possibility of opening another White Rock Coffee location is still on the table, she says, but she wants to see how the Francis business does first.

On the east side of the White Rock Coffee building will be a small fenced-in patio area.

A small parking lot and street parking is available on the building’s west side.

The café will have about five employees to start and will be open daily, from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., initially.

“I’ll be here every day,” says White, who also manages the books for White Rock Masonry.

Small Bites

*A Habit Burger & Grill restaurant has been proposed at the northeast corner of Division Street and Cozza Drive, in North Spokane.

A predevelopment conference application filed with the city last month shows plans for the roughly 2,300-square-foot drive-thru eatery to be constructed at 7404 N. Division.

This proposal comes about a month after the Journal reported on a separate proposal that calls for a Habit Burger to be built on the West Plains, at 9558 W. U.S. 2, across the highway from the former Triumph Composite Systems Inc. building.

A representative of the Irvine, California-based franchise told the Journal that the West Plains location is expected to open in the second half of this year.

The fast-food franchise has over 380 locations across 14 states and internationally, according to the Habit Burger website. It currently has 14 locations in Washington state, with the nearest located in Richland.

*Wonderground, a full-service golf lounge and liquor bar, opened last month in the basement of the Wonder Building, at 835 N. Post.

The lounge features three golf simulators, a food menu that includes burgers and sandwiches, and a variety of cocktails, beer, wine, and alcohol-free beverages.

*Pizza Rita opened its fourth location earlier this month, at 2605 E. 29^th, on Spokane’s South Hill, in the same multitenant space as Nothing Bundt Cakes.

The longtime Spokane pizza chain also has locations at 502 W. Indiana, 5511 N. Wall, and in Spokane Valley, at 201 N. Pines.

*The Blissful Whisk, a Spokane Valley-based bakery, has announced it will be closing after six years in business.

According to a statement on the bakery’s social media pages, the final day of business will be March 29.