At their last meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 1, the Town Council created a new class B liquor license, and issued a victualing license to Borealis Coffee, soon to join the lineup of new businesses opening at Unity Park on Wood Street.

Owned by Brian and Jessie Dwiggins, the Bristol outpost of Borealis Coffee will be their second; their Riverside location has been a popular part of that downtown streetscape for about five years. But unfortunately, limitations at that location have prevented Brian and Jessie from growing their business’ offerings as they would like.

“Coffee is our primary product but it isn't our only product — for us it's really more about the experience….so what we want to do here in Bristol is create something like nothing else in the East Bay,” said Brian, when the pair first appealed to the Council for a full liquor license back in October. “We want to create an all day space for all ages and add to what is already going to be a very vibrant community in Unity Park.”

While the couple had hoped to expand on offerings like open mic nights, gallery openings, and game nights, there were too many limitations at the Borealis Riverside location for them to really execute their vision.

The Council welcomed Borealis with open arms, but with the caveat that the business is subjected to the same process as other new-to-town applicants: a six-month trial with a limited beer and wine license. That is what they were granted last Wednesday in a unanimous vote, along with the victualing license. Assuming they operate without incident for the first six months of their license, they are welcome to apply for the full license that will allow them to serve coffee-based cocktails.

“There's a lot of life starting to pop up there,” said Brian of Unity Park. “We are very excited about being part of that community.”

Following the vote, Council Chairman Nathan Calouro asked Brian if he wanted to step to the microphone and let everyone know what to expect from the new establishment.

“We we started as a coffee roaster; I started it as a side hustle my full time job, just roasting coffee,” said Brian. “We evolved from just selling coffee to simple baked goods and things like that. We learned very quickly that if everybody had basically one stop on the way to work, they would usually almost always choose a place that had something in addition to coffee. So we've been slowly adding more and more items.”

The Bristol location, which Brian says is four times the size of the Riverside location, will have a full size kitchen which will be well-utilized making pastries, while also offering soups, salads, and sandwiches. They hope to open in February.