Missoula to Welcome New Restaurant in old Caffe Dolce Location

The comings and goings of Missoula businesses are constant topics of conversation around town. And the last few months have been filled with big news for some pretty recognizable places in Missoula.

Recent changes for local businesses include:

El Cazador closed its downtown location after 27 years
The KettleHouse taproom on Myrtle announced it was for sale, also after 27 years
Imagine Nation Brewing sold to the owners of Cymatic Fermentation Project
Open Road Bicycles and Nordic Equipment has plans to close by the end of summer
Bob's Sew & Vac announced its closure after 43 years

Riding the Caffe Dolce roller coaster

Caffe Dolce's final year before they closed was an up-and-down adventure. In November of 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, the restaurant announced that it would close with plans to reopen in the spring of 2021. April of 2021 brought news that Caffe Dolce would indeed reopen and they would do so with a new bakery that they added to their location during their hiatus. But six months later, in October of 2021, Caffe Dolce announced they would close for regular service with the plan to still offer the space for private rentals. Shortly after, the Caffe Dolce location inside Southgate Mall would close as well.

New plans for the Caffe Dolce location

A story in today's Missoulian shares the news that a couple of Montana restaurant owners have purchased the space and will open an Italian-inspired restaurant in the fall.

They’re going to install a raised pergola on the patio to allow three-season outdoor dining. The duo will remove the drywall over some windows that face the parking lot, which means the section that used to display fine plates will now be a coffee shop exclusively featuring a special blend made by Black Coffee Roasting Co. in Missoula. They’re also going to move part of the kitchen to the dining room, so customers and chefs can interact.

The new restaurant, named Florabella, will also have a beer and wine license and feature local selections.

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Check out the Missoulian article to read more about the mission of the new owners and see how they want their new creation to provide quality jobs that pay decent wages and build careers here in Missoula.