One World Cafe in downtown Moscow is expanding into the former Mock Orange restaurant adjacent to the coffee shop, One World co-owner Brandy Sullivan said.
“We’ve always kind of been interested in expanding into that adjacent space,” Sullivan said.
She said One World’s new roughly 1,500-square-foot space, located on Sixth Street on the west side of the coffee shop, will serve additional seating for customers, events and meetings like the current One World space, located on the corner of Main and Sixth streets, offers.
The new area also features a commercial kitchen, which is a primary reason Sullivan leased the former restaurant space. She said she wants to expand One World’s food menu and the commercial kitchen will provide that opportunity.
“We’re limited with our space as far as what types of food we can offer,” she said.
Sullivan said One World already expanded its food menu to include items like cinnamon rolls and stuffed croissants. Once the commercial kitchen is up and running, the food menu will expand further, she said.
Sullivan said One World started leasing the new space in July, which she said was a scary time to expand because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But, she said the pandemic is temporary and she expects her business, which has seen a huge decrease in sales this year because of the virus, and other businesses to bounce back.
Sullivan said she has not started remodeling the new space besides preparing kitchen equipment. She said renovating the space is the next step. She is unsure when it will be open to customers and that it depends on the COVID-19 situation over the next two or three months.
“We’re prepared to be patient,” she said.
Sullivan said a small room between One World and the former Mock Orange restaurant (before that it was D. Willy’s Blues Brew and BBQ) has been remodeled and should be able to seat customers within the next month.
The new space will also allow One World to extend its outdoor seating along the former Mock Orange frontage.
An interior sliding wooden door with a glass window separates the existing One World space and the new space. Sullivan said the door will be open or closed depending on certain factors, like the operating hours of each space. She said it is possible the existing One World space and the new One World space operate at different hours.
“We’re just excited about a lot of the different possibilities and being flexible,” Sullivan said.
Garrett Cabeza can be reached at (208) 883-4631, or by email to gcabeza@dnews.com.