<< Previous   of   Next >> Snohomish County Business Journal/KIMBERLY HILDEN  (click to enlarge) Roy and Linda Davis, the new owners of Tazza Bella Espresso Café, say they want to create the “Cheers” of coffee houses, where everybody “knows your name” — and your favorite drink.

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Entrepreneurs' Corner: Tazza Bella Espresso Cafe

By Kimberly Hilden
SCBJ Assistant Editor

From the warm, golden hue of its walls and the flickering of an electric fireplace in its dining area to the eclectic mix of tables, chairs and artwork, Tazza Bella Espresso Café invites guests to sit down and relax with a latte and a fresh pastry or chat with friends over a lunch of soup and sandwiches.

Located in the Perrinville neighborhood of Edmonds, the eatery was bought late last year by Roy and Linda Davis, who live nearby and discovered the business was for sale while looking on Craig’s List.

“I noticed there was a café in Perrinville for sale,” she said. “We corresponded (with former owners Lynda and David Grimmer) for about a year back and forth.”

In September, the Davises took the plunge into entrepreneurship in the hospitality industry.

“Most of this has been a learning experience,” said Roy Davis, who also works full time in human resource information technology at Boeing.

Linda Davis also works full time as a property manager, and the two rely on the skill and professionalism of their four-member staff, which includes 19-year-old daughter Danielle Tarabochia, who can be found working the morning shift most days.

“She’s been a big help,” Linda Davis said.

“She’s a firecracker,” Roy Davis added. “She’s entrepreneurial and business oriented and has more ideas than I can consume.”

In the past six months, the two have discovered the ins and outs and ups and downs of operating a restaurant.

There is the pleasure of seeing folks enjoy themselves at the piano parked in the dining area; families coming in on Saturdays, with parents enjoying a leisurely breakfast while their kids entertain themselves in the nearby children’s area; and groups making use of the Argentina Room’s meeting space.

And there are the less pleasurable moments: the daily trips to the store to stock up on staples and dealing with a weeks-long road closure that affected business.

The couple recently sat down with the Snohomish County Business Journal to talk about their ongoing adventure.

SCBJ: You both work full time – why did you decide to buy a business?

Linda Davis: My husband and I have been looking to do something together when we retire, even though it’s still a ways away.

SCBJ: What has the learning curve been like?

Roy Davis: Steep, but not impossible. I used to work in clothing retail before I got into information technology … (so I have experience) with customer service.

Linda Davis: I’ve always had an entrepreneurial (streak), from owning a day care to aroma therapy. Twelve or 13 years ago, I ran Irene’s Personal Touch, which catered to women with breast cancer.

SCBJ: How do you maintain a presence at the café while also working elsewhere?

Roy Davis: Linda has a lot more freedom in her schedule than I do. I’m basically the donkey and pool boy; I haul all the stuff and fix all the stuff.

Linda Davis: We’re here on weekends greeting the customers.

SCBJ: How are the responsibilities divided between you both?

Roy Davis: I do a lot of the business-related stuff, the money. I pay the bills and manage the accounts and scream or laugh, depending on the matter.

Linda Davis: I do the marketing and am down here working.

Roy Davis: And I leave it to (Linda) to work with the kids on their schedule.

SCBJ: Have you made any changes to Tazza Bella since taking over ownership, and what’s the menu consist of?

Linda Davis: It’s pretty much the same.

Roy Davis: Basically, we have pastries, breakfast muffins, bagels, fruit cups, yogurt parfaits.

Linda Davis: We have breakfast and lunch. We have sandwiches, soups and salads. We’re introducing our new panini, our new Italian panini. We have chicken Caesar panini, vegetarian panini.

Roy Davis: We’ll probably have an Italian grinder.

SCBJ: How are you marketing Tazza Bella?

Roy Davis: Due to a limited budget, it’s pretty much word of mouth. Having grown up here, we have lots of friends. … We advertised in the Meadowdale High School basketball programs. We’ve donated to a couple of school auctions.

SCBJ: Who makes up your customer base?

Roy Davis: We have a dance studio next door; the kids’ parents will buy them a card to use (here). High school kids; there’s a group of women who come in each Tuesday. … There’s a group of women who come in each Thursday; and a Christian youth group comes in on Monday evenings.

Linda Davis: A lot of the local community.

SCBJ: What has been the best part of operating Tazza Bella?

Linda Davis: The customers.

Roy Davis: The kids that work for us and the customers.

SCBJ: What has been the most difficult part of operating the café?

Roy Davis: What we didn’t understand about the hospitality/restaurant industry is that January and February are the slowest months of the year, and having bought (Tazza Bella) in September, we were entering the trough (of the business cycle). Then during the December storms, (the nearby street) was closed from Dec. 3 until two weeks ago. The last couple of weeks have been better.

Linda Davis: We’re now open Sunday. People are slowly hearing about this place.

For more information on Tazza Bella Espresso Café, located at 7526 Olympic View Drive in the Perrinville neighborhood of Edmonds, call 425-672-8200.