Employee buys Café Mekka in Nevada City

Photo by Bob Lickter Corey Bristow was all smiles recently at Cafe Mekka. He just bought the business after working there for eight years.

“We want to do several things: be an integral part of our community, offer expanded menu choices, have longer hours and provide a high operating standard by providing excellent customer service and skilled baristas." - Corey Bristow, the new owner of Cafe Mekka in downtown Nevada City.

By Stacy Butler

Nevada City Advocate

“Everything and nothing will change,” Corey Bristow said before he recently purchased Cafe Mekka in downtown Nevada City.

 The first thing the longtime employee did was close the business from Monday through Thursday of this week for some cleaning and other work. He reopened the business Friday.

Bristow, 31, said he plans on implementing ideas he’s had for this popular coffee shop at 237 Broad Street since he began working here eight years ago.

“I’ve been hanging out in coffee shops since I was a kid with my dad," he said. "I used to tell him ‘you drink too much coffee!’ It was his only vice.”  

Bristow was born in Grass Valley, moved to Southern California and then to Sacramento while in seventh grade. He moved back to Grass Valley in 2001 to care for his elderly grandparents, whom he spent his summers with as a youth.

When Café Mekka became available for purchase, he was hesitant but with the support of the current owners and landlord he was able to put the deal together.

Bristow plans on keeping the current staff and hiring past employees who share his same dream of what they want Café Mekka to be to the customers and the community.

“We want to do several things: be an integral part of our community, offer expanded menu choices, have longer hours and provide a high operating standard by providing excellent customer service and skilled baristas,” he said.