HOUGHTON, Mich. (WZMQ) – There’s a new coffee shop in the Keweenaw, offering a wide menu of food and drinks, ample study space, and plenty more to come.
In place of the Cyberia Cafe at 524 Shelden Avenue, comes the Prickly Pine Cafe, opened in mid-July.
Owners Robert and Geni Klimek are from the Lansing area, and abruptly came to the U.P. after hearing that the former shop had closed its doors, and that their opportunity was available.
“I got a call from a friend up here saying Cyberia Cafe was closing down,” said Robert. “So we said ‘hey, the space is open, let’s go rent it out.’ And we just kind of quit our jobs and moved up here, and here we are.”
The Prickly Pine offers a wide variety of specialty drinks, including a partnership with the popular sparkling water company, ‘Bubblr,’ as well a list of comfort foods, made from family recipes, with plenty of space to enjoy them.
“We have any coffee you can really think of,” said Geni. “Your frozens, your frappes, your Americanos, cappuccinos, whatever you want.”
“There are a lot of coffee shops up here, but not a lot of them have the extensive seating and food that we have,” said Robert.” We kind of offer that traditional early 2000’s cafe vibe.”
After signing the building’s lease in April, and with only about two months of refurbishing, the new business has been heavily welcomed by the Keweenaw community.
“We just got to work, we cleaned the place out, painted the walls ourselves, I installed the ceiling and built the bar,” said Robert. “The community up here, they’re such a kind bunch of people, they love supporting local, small businesses.”
Running the store by themselves, the couple hasn’t slowed down. They have a lot planned in the near future, including hiring more staff and expanding the space, especially as students roll back into town.
“We’re expecting that,” they both laughed. “We’ve got a lot of projects to do in the meantime.”
The shop is currently open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and weekends from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Prickly Pine Cafe can be found online on their Facebook or Instagram pages.
