Brave Neighbor Coffeehouse Will Open in North Portland

A new coffeehouse called Brave Neighbor is opening up in the cafe space next to Spin Laundry Lounge on North Fremont Street. For a short time, this location was home to Harder Day, but starting in mid-January it will be home to this new coffeehouse, offering up espresso drinks, matcha, and other beverages, as well as baked goods, sandwiches, community, and more.

In December I met up with Edward and Mary Powers, the proprietors of Brave Neighbor Coffeehouse & Social. I got a chance to see the inside of the cafe with its papered-over windows, which is a pretty nice space—I can see it being conducive for friends meeting up for coffee, remote workers, board game nights, and more social activities.

And what a nice amenity for the laundromat users! It provides a “third place” that is important in our culture, and I applaud folks who are making them happen.

About Edward and Mary

Mary is from eastern Oregon, born and raised Hermiston, and graduated from Western Oregon State College (before it became Western Oregon University). She is a successful real estate agent with licenses in four states, though she is planning to focus her efforts here in the PNW going forward.

She and Edward got married when they were 21 and 19, respectively, and their marriage has lasted over 30 years. They finished college together as a couple and have four kids—two biological and two adopted. They are all adults now and live across the country, from San Diego to Virginia; at the time we met, one of their daughters was in Bolivia with her husband.

Edward was born in the Sacramento area and grew up in a very rural section of the region. He was there until high school, when his family moved to Brookings in southern Oregon, so his dad could work a correctional officer in northern California. His family remains in Brookings.

He attended Oregon State and served as a Marine Corps officer for 22 years, where he flew helicopters and was a squadron commander, and did three deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. I asked him why he wanted to go into the military. “So my paternal grandpa was a navy recruiter,” he explained. “Out of the eight siblings in his family, seven of them were in the navy.” But he chose the Marine Corps—that’s because he believes it’s the most elite branch of the military, and that’s where he wanted to be.

Their Hospitality, Food, and Beverage Experience

I asked them if they have been involved with food and hospitality before this. “So that was college for us,” said Edward. “We have managed and served, been a delivery driver, a manager, a cook—all the things.” Edward’s brother also owns and runs a coffee roaster down on the Oregon coast in Brookings.

That family-owned roaster is Chetco Coffee Roasters, and they will supply the coffee beans for the coffeehouse. And his brother is also making a trip to Portland to help them fine-tune everything as they ready for city inspections.

The Spin Laundry Cafe and Harder Day

Originally, the people behind Spin Laundry Lounge ran the cafe themselves, along with their work providing a new kind of laundromat concept. “Morgan, who started Spin Laundry Lounge with her husband, wrote a thesis on what it would look like to do laundry differently,” explained Edward. “To do it sustainably, along with an environment where you could come and and hang out, and where the community could gather.”

He continued, “So this was her dream, and she made it happen. They were running this coffee shop, their two laundry lounges, and a soap shop where they sell sustainable soaps for the the machines. And then COVID hit, they got overwhelmed, and it just clobbered them.”

Eventually Harder Day opened in this space, operating from August 2024 to the end of October. They closed, in part, because they wanted to re-focus efforts on some of their other cafe locations. As a result, they were actively looking for a new tenant to take over that North Fremont Street cafe space.

Edward remarked, “It was interesting because we had been looking for a space. Daylily had closed over here, and so we put an offer on that to put our coffeehouse in there.” That did not work out for them.

Then one day Edward and Mary had to use the nearest laundromat, which was Spin.

“Our washing machine broke,” explained Edward. “And so I came in here to do a load. I looked over and I said, ‘Hey, that coffee shop is closed—let’s find out!’ So I went on the Harder Day website and the Spin Laundry Lounge website, and I just sent them an email. They both got back to me very quickly, and they asked what we were thinking. We met them and told them our vision.”

That vision was to create a “living room” for the for the community. The fact that it’s right next to what they call a “modern-day well” (a natural gathering place) really sat well with them. They also liked that there is a video game arcade up in the mezzanine (they estimate about 15 games). “It’s just a cool place to hang out in,” remarked Mary.

The Story Behind the “Brave Neighbor” Name

“This has been a dream of ours for over a decade,” explained Edward, about opening a coffeehouse/community space. “So we’d like to talk about the concept of being a brave neighbor.” This means connecting with the people and community around you, even if it’s outside of your comfort zone. Edward is a self-professed introvert, so he knows what it’s like to put it out there while still feeling uneasy, but knowing the benefits of doing so.

During their time as a military family, they would often get placed in suburban housing (a lot of bases are suburban). It was different from how they grew up, and they observed that the distance among neighbors seemed to be the norm. Later, when they had apartment housing in D.C., they made an effort to meet their neighbors, and the small building made that easy to do, especially compared to the suburbs where things can be more spread out.

Still, sometimes that’s not enough—just meeting the neighbors. Ed and Mary recounted a story about Jen, a retired woman they knew in their building; they would help her bring in her groceries when she needed it. However, one day she wasn’t around with her groceries, needing help. But they hadn’t heard anything, so they didn’t think a whole lot of it.

“But then, two days later, her door was open and there were a bunch of people moving around, and I saw her daughter,” Edward said. “I said, ‘Hey, what’s going on?’ And she said, ‘My mom fell three days ago in the bathtub, and she couldn’t get up.” She was yelling and screaming but the walls were too well-insulated for anyone to hear her.

They were really taken aback, and thought, “How can we be better neighbors and not allow somebody to be in distress that close to us and we not know? How can we build stronger relationships?” That thought continued to percolate for them. As a result, they chose to start really digging in with their neighbors and being deliberate about getting to know them and being more aware.

Bringing People Together

As they continued to move around during their military years, they decided that whenever they’d land in a place, they’d introduce themselves to the neighbors, host a gathering, and bring everyone together. Even those with differing viewpoints.

On that point, Edward told this story: “So when we first moved to Virginia, I was the Marine Corps fellow at the United States Institute of Peace, which is right there in D.C. So, as a Marine I was surrounded by a conservative majority—you know, stereotypically speaking, most Marines are pretty traditional and conservative. And then at the Institute of Peace it was very progressive.”

He continued, “And they would do all these challenges—like peacemaker challenges—and say, hey, you know—bring together your friends. And I thought, what will happen if we start a game night? We’ll play board games, invite everybody to the house. I’ll invite my Marine friends and I’ll invite all my USIP friends—which had diametrically opposed political views—and church friends and neighbors. So we invited them all together—and lo and behold, everybody had a blast.” They loved this so much that they want to run game night at the coffeehouse, making the invitation to people of all persuasions.

Coffee and Drink at Brave Neighbor

They will have a full coffee bar, and as I mentioned earlier, they will be using Chetco Coffee for their espresso drinks. For their nitro cold brew on tap, however, they’ll source from Portland Coffee Roasters. They’ll also offer chai and matcha, Smith Teamakers teas, and some seasonal specials like a dark chocolate almond latte, peppermint mocha, pumpkin spice, and the like. Along with dairy milk, they’ll offer oat, soy, and almond alternatives.

Also on tap will be three beer options, as soon as the liquor license comes through.

And the Food

They will offer sandwiches, and are talking to Dos Hermanos to supply the bread to make BLTs, chicken salad, and tuna salad sandwiches. They’d also like to figure out a vegetarian and vegan sandwich option. And offer both made-to-order sandwiches and pre-made sandwiches for grab and go (the pre-made would be made by another company). They eventually want to offer a full soup and sandwich menu.

They’ll also offer something called a squarito. “It’s a square burrito that we make,” explained Edward. “The eggs and the sausage go in there, and then you fold the tortilla around it. You can do a breakfast or a lunch version.” They are well-versed in doing a savory version and are looking at developing a sweet version, too.

Look also for cookies, scones and muffins baked in-house. Croissants are probably going to come from Musette.

In case you were wondering about the scope of the menu, there are only certain things that they are allowed to do. And other things they’re not allowed do because they’re not a full kitchen. They can have a panini press, a toaster; they can’t have a flattop or griddle—anything with a flame is off-limits.

Earlier I referred to their grab-and-go section, which will start small but expand over time, as they take feedback from customers. “We’re going to put QR codes out here with the question, “What would you like to see in the grab and go cooler?” They are looking forward to following the lead of their customers here.

The Building Interior and Exterior of Brave Neighbor

On the exterior wall around the walkway to the front door, they hope to paint a mural. It will in essence say, “coffee and beer over here!” They are going to finish paving the walkway, too.

Interestingly enough, the space was originally a boat repair facility and there are remnants of the crane that would move the boat’s pieces. They also told me that it is probably one of the strongest buildings around. The seating in this sturdy room will consist of some banquettes, chairs and tables, including a longer community table. I noticed a bunch of plugs on the wall, so this will be friendly to remote workers looking to work out of a public space.

The Hours

Hours are going be 7am to 8pm daily. This is to support the Spin Laundry Lounge hours (which are 8am to 7pm), so that anybody that is in the lounge can come and hang out.

“It’s been one of our dreams to provide a coffee house that’s actually open later so people can come and hang out and not necessarily have a meal, but meet with friends, play a game, or do whatever.”

There is also an off-street parking lot attached to the building.

Additional Details

I asked them if they plan to have live music. “Yeah, actually, on our grand opening on January 17,” said Edward. “We have two artists coming to play.”

They’ve been in conversation with with the folks that run Spin, with the hope that they can open up the whole place on their opening day. Up on the mezzanine, they want to have a DJ either playing music out loud or do a silent rave. “I mean, it’s called “spin,” for goodness’ sake!” exclaimed Edward.

They’d like to have local artists display their work there, host neighborhood association meetings, book club, and movie nights. They want to provide a variety of things for the neighborhood to enjoy.

Many thanks to Edward and Mary for sharing their time to speak about Brave Neighbor Coffeehouse. Best of luck to them as they get everything ready for their opening on Friday, January 17!

Brave Neighbor Coffeehouse & Social [opening January 17, 2025]
750 N Fremont Street, Portland
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Updated January 10, 2025.