Kendall’s Coffee to open on Ottawa’s South Side Monday

It didn’t take Kendall Eslinger long to wake up and smell the coffee.

After only about a year working in the coffee industry, Eslinger is making her dream of owning her own coffee shop come true starting Monday, when Kendall’s Coffee in Ottawa will open for business for the first time.

Kendall’s Coffee, a mobile coffee bar providing a variety of standard and unique coffee drinks from not only its usual home in the parking lot of 229 Estates, 1002 First Ave. on Ottawa’s south side, but also at events throughout the Illinois Valley. The shop will dispense hot and cold fare, including some of Kendall’s own flavor creations, using Starved Rock coffee beans.

I’ve always looked forward to my first cup of coffee in the morning, and I want others to look forward to theirs, too. I want them to start their day happy. … I had always wanted to have my own business, so we went with this. It’s working out great.

—  Kendall Eslinger, owner of Kendall's Coffee

Its hours of operation will be from 6:30 a.m. to noon Monday through Saturday, although those times may change when the coffee bar hits the road. The menu, appearances and changes in hours soon will be posted on the Kendall’s Coffee Facebook page.

“I’ve always looked forward to my first cup of coffee in the morning,” Eslinger said, “and I want others to look forward to theirs, too. I want them to start their day happy. … I had always wanted to have my own business, so we went with this. It’s working out great.”

Eslinger, an Ottawa High School graduate who lives in Marseilles, picked up her passion for the business while working as a barista at Spire Book and Coffee Co. in Cincinnati, Ohio.

“I worked there about a year and found I loved making coffee and dealing with the community,” Eslinger said. “My boss had just opened up that place, and she was so successful it inspired me to try this. She taught me so much about what it takes to run the business.”

Having the hometown coffee shop notion set the entire Eslinger family in motion. Her father, construction savvy Nate Eslinger, renovated a trailer, put in counters and cabinets, and helped install the large espresso and latte machine that is the backbone of the operation. Her mom, Kristy Eslinger, is Kendall’s business partner and co-worker.

This is not Eslinger’s first experience in the business world – sort of. She had a business selling “slime” back when she was 13 years old, and she also has sold candles on a part-time basis in recent years.

She’s found all the hoops to jump through for food licenses and assorted required paperwork this time around to be more of a chore.

However, now it’s ready to roll and will keep rolling right through the Chris Kringle Market at Christmastime, as long as the weather holds out for pedestrian traffic.

“Eventually, not anytime soon, of course, but I would like to move on from Ottawa, and I know wherever I go I can take this with me to give a start in a new place,” Eslinger said. “It’s perfect for me, and I can’t wait to get started.”