Opened in February 2021, Monica’s Coffee Bar took over an additional section of the dining hall, adding a little flare to St. Augustine’s Catholic Center.
The coffee bar, open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday is still growing and wants to make students across the university aware of the space. Not just specific to the Catholic center, students, faculty and staff among the university can grab a drink or bite.
“Our (coffee bar) is more of like a sit-down kind of feel, we want it to be that way, more so than just grab and go,” Emily Waters, barista at the coffee bar, said. “It’s more about, I would say, having a nice sit-down experience closer to campus, and just bringing the students in, so they can be exposed to the Catholic center…it’s just nice to have that option rather than just always going to Starbucks.”
The coffee bar was named after Saint Monica, the mother of Saint Augustine. Jordan Gogl, manager of the coffee bar, said that the name fit the space perfectly because they wanted to make it as welcoming and loving as any mother, like Saint Monica.
“A lot of it is wanting to have everyone who comes into Monica’s Coffee Bar to experience the hospitality, love and have a sense of belonging,” Gogl said. “We were really focusing on excellence.”
Gogl and her husband were brought to the University of Idaho through a partnership with the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) with the Catholic Church. As missionaries, they came to the university and were brainstorming ideas to have leadership at the church and decided to do a coffee bar.
Monica’s Coffee Bar was started by St. Augustine’s Catholic Center, and it was Gogl’s dream was to manage a cafe, which she was given the opportunity of managing it.
“Managing is definitely a curve learning for me. I’ve never managed a coffee bar before, let alone, manage the team before, but I’ve learned a lot and I can’t wait to learn more,” Gogl said. “We love to celebrate our growth and individual accomplishments, so it’s been really fun to work with a team and be able to lead.”
Drinks and pastries served in the coffee bar are organic and made of high-quality ingredients. Gogl said that they want everything to be high quality and small business oriented. They source locally as much as possible, and the pastries available are from local baker Storybook Baking Co. made fresh each morning.
As of now, the coffee bar is only serving warm drinks but plans on offering Nitro cold brew and kombucha from local brewers.
A way that the coffee bar stands out from other cafes in the area is that they are practicing fair wages. They don’t expect tips or want customers to feel like they have to pay extra for a high-quality cup of coffee, Gogl said.
“We stand out because we put quality and excellence into everything,” Gogl said. “Every single thing that we do, when the person first steps in the door or being welcomed by the barista to, the very last drop of whatever the customer orders is a high-quality experience. We want to bring awareness to supporting local businesses and being eco-friendly.”
This article was updated to fit an accurate picture of what Monica’s Coffee Bar is doing at St. Augustine’s Catholic Center.
Emily Pearce can be reached at arg-life@uidaho.edu or on Twitter @Emily_A_Pearce