Auburn’s Josh Brugger and his friend and business partner, Tim Larson of Tacoma, dream big dreams for the second of their two walk-up coffee stands.

From opening day on Jan. 5 on Cherry Street in Seattle’s Central District, next to Garfield and Nova high schools, The Shore House coffee shop, carrying the same name as its predecessor, has stood apart.

“We’re a bit different,” Brugger said.

How so? Well, beside the high-end Lighthouse Roasters coffee they brew and pour at The Shore House, you can get a variety breakfast sandwiches. If you’ve a got sweet tooth, they also dispense frozen chocolate bananas, and shaved ice offering 40 flavors of syrup to choose from, which you get with sprinkles and a whipped topping. It is available at all times.

“The students and faculty have been great. We get teachers coming over,” Brugger said. “Great customer interactions, and great food, including 10 breakfast sandwiches we prepare ourselves and don’t cook until you order them.”

Brugger and Larson, veterans both of the hotel and restaurant industry, met on another job years ago, became fast friends, and a handful of years ago decided they would strike out on their own together.

They toyed with other ideas before setting their sites on making great coffee.

“We looked at bars. I’m a hotel and restaurant person, but mostly a hotel person, and Tim’s mostly a restaurant person. So we talked about a nightclub or restaurant and the space that we looked at, with that Winnebago, it just screamed coffee and shaved ice,” Brugger said.

They opened first of their walkup stand on Mother’s Day in 2023 in a rented Winnebago across from Elks Beach in Seattle. It is closed right now for the cold season and reopens on Mother’s Day.

Their new coffee shop on Cherry Street is open all year round.

They’re already looking at expanding, and eventually, the walkup new coffee stand will provide indoor seating.

“You know, it’s January, and we’re selling shaved ice, in winter, in Seattle,” Brugger laughed.