Hopscotch Coffee plans to open the Hopscotch Kitchen, a restaurant with greater variety in baked goods and meals attached to their current flagship location at 235 W. Dodd St., in mid-March.
The Kitchen will be open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays and then from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekends. Customers can order breakfast and lunch options throughout the week and brunch on the weekends.
Mallory Goelz, one of two kitchen managers at Hopscotch Coffee, said they wanted to open a kitchen to provide a sit-down experience and more variety for their patrons.
“I mean, just previously being a customer before working for these guys, there’s been a lack of more sit-down food and fresh produce; that’s just an issue in this neighborhood at large,” Goelz said. “We want to provide that for people and hopefully become more of a destination place for people.”
In the past, the coffee shop offered baked goods from Rainbow Bakery, but they’d like to offer a greater variety of food options, she said.
Alex Mann, Hopscotch’s other kitchen manager, said the kitchen’s staff learned more about the sourdough and fermentation process during the pandemic.
“We’re producing sourdough for the restaurant, and we’re also starting to sell it here at the coffee spot,” Mann said. “It kind of became a theme. There are also nutritional and digestive benefits in fermented items.”
Mann said the new location will prioritize working with Bloomington vendors such as the People’s Market, a cooperative market featuring local farmers and small businesses.
“It’s hard to find good fermented foods in restaurants,” Gus Deverter, the kitchen’s assistant manager said. “With quality ingredients, it seems like fermentation is really baked into the identity of the restaurant.”
Erin Tobey, the co-owner and marketing director at Hopscotch Coffee, said the staff served Circle City Kombucha and are working on a House Kombucha as well as other popular foods with fermented elements. Some of those include cultured butter, kimchi, pickles, brines and sauces. She said they want to create more unique and recognizable flavors.
She said the Kitchen staff held tastings with current Hopscotch Coffee staff as well as their friends, families and other community members.
“We're soliciting feedback with all those orders that go out on an online form and so far, it's been really positive and going really well,” Tobey said.
Tobey said the plan for Hopscotch Kitchen existed months before the pandemic began. When the virus became a larger concern, she said the team took more time to envision the setup and structure of the kitchen.
“I think we all have a pretty optimistic sense at this point where it feels like we can see the future,” Tobey said.
She said the team feels like people are getting more comfortable with in-person dining again. While things haven’t completely gone back to normal, Tobey said people are still coming to Hopscotch Coffee, and they can start to open more outdoor seating as the weather gets warmer.
“I think we really enjoyed being a hub in the community and being that special place for people to come,” Tobey said. “The hope is that we can give people more. Being able to serve people breakfast and lunch as a part of their routine would be really meaningful to us and how we use this space.”
