Make Locus Your “Third Place” Between Work and Home
Discover a spot where creativity and community meet.
Whether you're looking to work in a mellow atmosphere, enjoy live music, or participate in community events like queer speed dating, Locus offers a welcoming space with unique drinks, all-day breakfast, and local flavors.
Shuffling between home and the office (or for many of us, working from home) makes it harder to find and engage with our community. A “third place” can help — a space to gather or just be around others, free from distractions like dirty dishes or oppressive overhead lighting.
Locus, a hybrid coffee shop, bar, and events venue is that third place for the downtown Bellingham community. Need to get work done or read a book? Come to Locus before 10 a.m. or between 4 and 6 p.m. when the vibe is more mellow. Want a lively atmosphere or to make new friends? Swing by mid-afternoon, during happy hour, or on weekends when local bands perform in the back.
Locus often partners with other local businesses to host events, like queer speed dating in collaboration with Wink Wink, and happy hour pre-Downtown Sounds, Bellingham’s free week-long music series.
On the menu
Regardless of when you arrive and how long you choose to stay, Locus provides a snug and cheerful space from morning to night. You can sip inventive lattes, traditional Japanese matcha, or fresh-roasted drip coffee, and later transition to brews, local wines, or their brand-new flavorful cocktails (they’re continuing to expand their spirits offerings, so stay tuned for new concoctions). Don’t skip the fusion drinks, like IPAs with a shot of cold brew, or White Claw with fresh grapefruit, rosemary, and Prosecco. They also put a fun spin on boozy breakfast drinks and offer mimosa flights infused with homemade fruit syrups, and Bloody Marys. For food, Locus serves breakfast all day, sandwiches at lunchtime, plus salads, pastries, and sharable plates.
Not your average coffee shop
At Locus, there’s an emphasis on local ingredients: their coffee is from the Bellingham-based Lotus Coffee Roasters (the owner Adib has been roasting beans for 25 years), infuse drinks with berries and lavender from the area’s farms, and serve bread and pastries from Avenue Bread and Avellino.
Diverting from the minimalist coffee shop trend of white-walled interiors and neutral colors throughout, Locus favors the bold: floor-to-ceiling floral murals in blue with pops of orange, pendant lamps with Edison bulbs, and cozy booths and armchairs.
How it started
The community-centered events, welcoming space, and unique flavor combos are all by design. Owner Kaycee Rezvani is the first woman entrepreneur in her family, and without a roadmap for running a business, she’s been able to embrace creativity and do things her own way.
Kaycee’s grandmother lived with her family when Kaycee was growing up. She and Kaycee’s mother not only taught her techniques for pairing ingredients but also that experimentation leads to new ideas, as is evident in Locus’s menu items and curated experiences.
Kaycee is a hands-on leader, splitting her time between the downtown location and the newly opened Locus in the Bellingham School District office. In both locations, she’s fostered a tight-knit community between the staff, local vendors and partners, and of course, the patrons.
Whether you’re near the Barkley neighborhood or strolling through downtown on Holly Street between Commercial Street and Cornwall Avenue, stop in at Locus to try something new, and feel free to stay awhile.
