Bittersweet Cafe & Confections
20 Mar 2020
A decade into business together, a local couple's cafe evolves as Louisville grows
By Sarah Protzman Howlett Photos by AliveStudios.com When Patrick and Azadeh Walsh were a new couple, Patrick got the bug to start a business on Louisville’s Main Street in one of the buildings his parents had bought a few years prior. Azadeh, who had recently immigrated from Iran, recalls phoning her father back in Tehran, asking him to borrow $3,000 so she could open a candy store with her then-boyfriend. “My dad thought it was unusual,” she says, “but he loaned me the money anyway.”
The candy store concept only lasted a couple months before the couple ventured into coffee and moved next door, to Bittersweet Cafe’s current location at 836 Main St., about nine years ago. With the town’s population of roughly 19,000 — it is estimated at over 21,000 today — many Louisville retailers struggled to stay afloat.
Nevertheless, the Walshes rolled up their sleeves and gutted the space, which had been a combination bead shop and massage studio. Above a drop ceiling, they discovered beautiful architectural details, such as a medallion they’ve now highlighted with the addition of a chandelier. They also laid some 25,000 bricks around the exterior by hand, Patrick says.
Patrick is a Boulder native who has also spent time in California, but his earliest memories include living in CU student housing with his parents. Azadeh immigrated in 2008 to study English at CU and met Patrick through her brother, Ashkan Anga, part owner of Trident coffee shop in Boulder and a high school friend of Patrick.
Azadeh endured a six-year wait to receive a visa to enter the U.S. Her English was passable at best, she says, when she finally arrived, and credits her ability to catch on quickly to her barista jobs at the now-defunct Page Two Café in Gunbarrel and Caffè Sole in Boulder, where her brother was manager. Azadeh didn’t like coffee then (don’t worry — she does now), but she loved the people aspect of the job.
“Azadeh and I are both extroverts, so engaging with people comes naturally,” her brother Ashkan says. “She’s a hard worker and very determined, and our stories speak greatly about our nation, that anybody can come in no matter where you come from and live the American dream.”
To build their own American dream, the Walshes gave away free coffee on the street. Today, although the couple says margins are thin, locals flock to the cozy Bittersweet Cafe. “It never really slows down here,” Patrick says, adding that the Louisville Street Faire was an early boon to foot traffic.
The café offers a full range of sandwiches, salads, soups, pastries and more, with everything made in-house from an unassuming bakery space in the café’s basement. Their coffee roaster is in a building directly behind Bittersweet.
The Walshes also own /pôr/ Wine House and say juggling the businesses works largely because of their hardworking staff. While employee retention can be difficult in the notoriously high-turnover restaurant industry, Patrick says he and Azadeh have been pretty lucky.
“Once you get a core of good people,” Patrick says, “it makes it easier to entice more good people.” (On the day of this interview, one of their former employees was returning to work for them after a stint in Thailand.)
The Walshes, who are parents to a 3-year-old and a 6-year-old, believe being visible in the café and in the community are important to running a successful local business. “We know our customers and their kids,” Patrick says. “We see them every day.” The family loves Louisville and being part of a growing, yet tight-knit, town. “Louisville reminds me of what Boulder used to be like,” he says. “There’s a small-town feel in this community.”
Bittersweet Cafe & Confections 836 Main St., Louisville 303-317-5522 www.bittersweetcafes.com Sunday–Thursday 6:30 a.m.–6 p.m. Friday–Saturday 6:30 a.m.–8 p.m.
