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Married couple builds space for discussion and connection with local coffee shop

By: Kelley White

Husband and wife team Nick and Stephanie Bradac have kept their love of people and togetherness at the core of their Genoa coffee shop, Open Door Coffee, since the business’s beginning.

“We’d had this dream to start a coffee shop, and we decided we were going to start small with a truck,” Stephanie said. “We had the truck in 2019 and we did farmers markets and craft fairs. We started doing things for our business, like putting tables out and going to springathons and craft fairs where we set up coffee pots – that sort of thing.”

The Bradacs took their truck to outdoor markets, business popups, festivals and other small events until February 2020, when they bought a property at the edge of downtown Genoa.

“We started renovating it. We turned the upstairs into an apartment. We put a drive-thru in, which opened in June of 2021, and we then opened the shop itself in June of 2022,” Stephanie said.

While the Bradacs primarily operate out of their brick and mortar location at 502 W. Main St., Genoa, they still use the truck to attend events, weddings and festivals. In the years leading up to their coffee shop, the Bradacs cultivated their passions and found each other.

“I graduated high school in Batavia,” Nick said. “I was going to be a dentist, but then I decided I didn’t want to deal with all that schooling, so I took a year off and worked at a couple of different jobs. I was a GM at a Jimmy John’s in St. Charles, and I gained an appreciation for service and efficient operation during that time. Then I went back to school at NIU and graduated with a degree in industrial technology with an emphasis in occupational safety.”

Stephanie was born in the Seattle area and lived there through first grade. At that point, her parents moved the family to Mexico for missionary work. Stephanie lived there with her family until she turned 16, and it has been in her heart ever since.

“I’m fluent in Spanish, and I grew up having a very bicultural experience,” Stephanie said. “I can look back and remember enjoying really good coffee, roasted on the fire with coffee beans hand-ground. I think, more than anything, I grew up understanding the concept of ‘sobre mesa,’ which is just the time spent around the table, sharing in conversation or a meal or drink with people. That’s a very Latin thing. People take more time to enjoy life together.”

Stephanie eventually earned her degree in political science and international affairs. “I loved cross-cultural communication, but it’s interesting how life takes turns and doesn’t always look the way you thought it would,” she said.

After graduating college, Stephanie relocated to Spain to work as a student coordinator. A job transfer led to her arrival in the Chicago area, where she eventually met Nick. During her time in Chicagoland, she shifted into a marketing career.

Still, she heard the call to something more. “I felt this pull to gather people,” Stephanie said. “That was a passion both Nick and I shared, to gather people, to provide spaces for people to connect and know each other. We’ve always been about really plugging into any community we’ve ever lived in.”

In 2009, Nick and Stephanie married and moved around the country, from Atlanta to Joplin, Missouri and eventually back to Batavia. In 2015, the family settled in Genoa to be closer to their relatives. They immediately fell in love with the town and have been raising their four boys in the community ever since.

Over time, the couple started to discuss the idea of opening a coffee shop. Nick initially planned to continue working full time and operate the coffee business on the side, but divine intervention changed his course.

“The Lord had other plans and He told me, when I was on my way to work one day, ‘You need to quit your job, so you’ll learn to trust me,’” Nick said. “I quit my job and went all in with the coffee truck. That was in October of 2018, and we’ve been working together since then.”

Throughout the process of operating their truck and renovating their coffeehouse, Nick and Stephanie maintained strong faith and convictions. Their faith helped pave the path to christening their business.

“We had tossed around so many names, and Open Door Coffee just felt right for us on so many different levels,” Stephanie said. “We named the business Open Door Coffee before we even had a door to open. It really is about people feeling welcomed and like they have a place to call home away from home. We based it off the Bible verse, Matthew 7:7-8. The gist of that is ‘ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be open to you.’ Our faith background and our heart for what we wanted to see in the community all just kind of dovetailed – that’s where Open Door came from.”

The Bradacs have curated a menu of quality drinks and food fare that regularly evolves.

“Our emphasis on flavors and being able to distinguish different parts of the drink is important,” Nick said. “We’re offering interesting, unique options, whether it’s food or our drinks. You’re going to get something that’s more flavorful than sugary.”

Stephanie added inspiration from her multicultural upbringing in both taste and care for quality ingredients.

“Once a year, we do horchata cold brew, and we just got done doing Mexican mochas,” she said. “Those are some tieins to Mexican culture and flavors. We’re also about to roll out premium matcha, something that’s truly flavorful.” She noted Open Door Coffee also partners with The Irie Cup, a husband-and-wife-owned tea shop with Caribbean flair based in Huntley. Working with the community and other businesses is an integral part of Open Door Coffee.

“During the pandemic, we were an openair coffee truck,” Stephanie said. “So, we were not in the same predicament as many of our friends and fellow entrepreneurs were. We were serving out in the open air. Also, we were able to invite other restaurants or food trucks to park and have a place to be and sell their things.”

One of their lasting restaurant partnerships is with Rivers’ Mexican Cantina & Grill, a Mexican restaurant based at 407 Sycamore Road, Genoa. “Francisco and Christina are wonderful people,” Stephanie said. Their 2-year-old Main Street space has enhanced their passion for their work, and the business continues to blossom as a place where people can enter and connect.

“When people show up and they’re just talking about how awesome it is, and you overhear those conversations, it’s kind of like your parents telling you that you can do anything,” Nick said. “It’s humbling and it’s exciting. Not only did we set out to create a space where people are comfortable, but now people can know our team, and I want our team to have these relationships and connections with people as well.”