Annie’s Coffee opens to delight of Brandonites

The first Saturday that Annie’s Coffee & Roastery was open for business in Brandon, the line of customers stretched out the door.

The following Saturday, the line stretched even further.

That was clear indication that Anne Pedersen made the right decision to relocate her 21-year-old business from Garretson to Brandon. This move is the fourth – and final – time, she assures.

“This is my last move; I can guarantee that. But I absolutely love it here,” she said.

Pedersen first launched Annie’s in Rowena just over two decades ago, and then relocated to Garretson, and is now doing business at 721 N. Splitrock Blvd. in Brandon.

It was through her more than 20-year friendship with the building’s owners, the Jorgenson family, that brought the coffee shop to Brandon and to this specific location.

“I’ve known the Jorgenson family for over 20 years,” Pedersen shares. “They were customers when I was in Rowena, and then I got to be friends with Cindy and Joel, and then Tim and all the kids. I kept telling Cindy that I was going to move my coffee shop here, and she was ‘No, you’re not.’”

But when Pedersen made the decision to start roasting coffee beans, she needed a location to do that, and looked no further than nine miles south of Garretson.

“I brought my boys here,” Pedersen tells. “They’re 21 and 24, and I was fishing with them and I said to myself, ‘If they say any comment, I’m doing it.’ And the first thing they said was, ‘Why don’t you move your coffee shop here?’ And I’m like, ‘Done deal.’” 

Construction to transform the building from a massage therapy business into a warm and cozy coffee and sandwich shop started last August, but really ramped up in January. In the past, the building has housed an ag-related business office to a radio station, a retail gift store, and most recently, Catori Wellness.

After she secured the space to roast beans, Pedersen went to work removing walls. She left some in place to allow different spaces for customers to enjoy a meal, sip on a cup of coffee, talk with a friend or work. There are also two rooms that can be used for smaller group meetings. One room can accommodate about eight people and the other 10. She’s also toying with the idea of adding patio seating outside, but the overwhelming response to the coffee shop’s opening has her rethinking the idea. 

“I hope to, but right now my parking lot is full. Originally, I wanted to take a couple spots and do that,” she said.

The patio, she adds, may come with future expansion. That would also allow Pedersen to serve up more than coffee and other beverages, and her signature soups, sandwiches and baked goods.

Annie’s will soon gain its licensure to serve beer and wine, which she anticipates, will pair well with her Friday night menus that feature eight to 10 flatbreads, along with a specialty item.

“There’s also an 18-ounce pretzel, and I have kielbasa and beer cheese in it. I also have pretzel sticks, and I might do different ice creams or gelato,” she said, hinting at affogato, which is gelato with espresso on it.

“People love that, just the different experience, I imagine, is what it’s all about,” she shared. “I also want to step it up with wine selections, different microbrews, and beers that you’re not going to find (elsewhere).”

Another “perk” of Friday evenings at Annie’s is the “kid-free” environment, which runs from 5:30 to 9 p.m.

During the week, Annie’s is open 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. Annie’s is closed Mondays and Sundays, with the exception of one Sunday a month it is open for brunch. Those dates are announced on the business Facebook page.

“There’s a lot of stuff in here that is not kid-friendly,” Pedersen said. “If I have the roaster going, that thing is 450 degrees and we have an open kitchen, too. Also, I wanted a night where parents or people can come in where they don’t have kids screaming.”

In addition to the full espresso bar, which features the beans Pedersen roasts, Annie’s serves baked goods for breakfast and sandwiches, wraps and salads for lunch Tuesday through Saturday.

Sandwiches range from a chicken salad croissant and Turkey Cranwich with smoked turkey, gouda and house-made cranberry sauce on cranberry wild rice bread to grilled cheese and the Big Sioux with shredded pork, barbecue sauce, Swiss cheese and fried onions on a toasted hoagie.

“Tuscan Turkey is probably the most popular,” she says, rattling off the ingredients. “Turkey and pesto, provolone, and then the Lynx is kind of the same, only it’s on a croissant.”

Pedersen also makes a daily lunch special and creates a featured drink menu every month.

“Dill pickle grilled cheese has been the favorite. It’s a crazy sandwich,” she said. “And then the Thai peanut wrap, I just threw that one out there on Saturday, and people came in just for that. This Saturday, I’m going to do a spring roll salad, and I’ll tweak it.”

April also brings new signature drinks.

“This week, the Easter and spring ones will come out. Those are fun, like the Peep. We actually put a “Pee” in the drink,” she said.

Pedersen’s call to being a “foodie” started with her dad, who she said, did all of the cooking for the family. She’s passed that trait onto her two sons.

“I’m a foodie, and both of my kids are, too. We always go for the most unique thing at the restaurant on a menu,” she said. 

Pedersen’s start in the food service business came at age 13 while growing up in Gregory, where she cooked at a local drive-in. Following high school, she went on to Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall, and then went to work in sales for Reinhart, a food service product company.

“Then I was like, ‘I’m going to open a coffee shop.’ I had no idea what I was doing, but I love it!” she tells.

The first location for Annie’s was on a busy corner in Rowena along Highway 9. Although out of the way, Pedersen did a brisk business, thanks to the morning commuters.

That’s where the Jorgenson clan first became customers, and then soon friends.

“I’ve had a following since, and there’s people that didn’t follow me (from Rowena) to Garretson that have found me here,” she said.

Last Saturday, Pedersen was reminded of that first location by a woman, she estimates, is now close to 30 years old.

“It was Friday or Saturday, that she came in and said, ‘I was one of the little girls that used to come in to warmup before getting on the bus in Rowena.’ She lived in the neighborhood and the bus stopped right in front. She now lives in town, and so it was really cute that she came in and told me that,” Pedersen said.

Annie’s new space in Brandon is more than double the size she operated out of in Garretson. And while the exterior of the building is “a little plain,” she says customers have been “oohing” and “aahing” over the eclectic décor and homey feel the orange and brown hues bring to the space. Pops of orange – including the mid mod freestanding fireplace – have also been well received.

“Orange is my color. It’s my happy color,” she said. “I wanted to ‘wow’ people, and that’s what I did, because people cannot believe (what they see) when they walk in here.”

The décor and intimacy of Annie’s aren’t the only personal touches customers will see. They’ll also taste it in nearly everything that Pedersen and her staff make from scratch.

“I make almost everything, unique items, things you’re not going to find other places,” she said. 

And that includes the cinnamon rolls.

“That’s what was left of 140 on Saturday,” Pedersen said, pointing to a tray of three rolls. “I can’t do anymore because I can’t get up any earlier. I got home at 11 on Friday night and I got and I was here at five.”

The tomato bisque soup she serves was a popular staple on her Garretson menu, and is now in Brandon, too. She’ll put the soups on the back burner for the summer, but starting this fall, she plans to expand her soup menu.

As for roasting coffee beans, that, too, came about for personal reasons.

“Curiosity and cost,” Pedersen said. “I wanted it more consistent. I did some research and found that only 1 percent (of coffee beans) are air roasted. I’m like, perfect, I want to be different, so that’s why I got an air roaster. There isn’t any oil on it, so it doesn’t come up your grinder. And when people say, ‘I want less oil,’ I’m like, ‘This doesn’t have any oil on it.’ So there you go, and it’s consistent.”

She can air roast up to seven pounds of beans in 12 minutes, and longer, if a darker roast is preferred.

“Somebody wanted white coffee, which I did last weekend,” she said.

When she’s roasting, the smell of – “like coffee brewing times 100” – wafts across Splitrock Boulevard and pleasantly fills the venue, she said.

“It will smell in here for two or three days,” she said.