North Spokane's Newest Cafes Were Built for Staying After the Patio Season Ends

Where do you go on a north Spokane afternoon in November when you want to be out of the house for two hours without ordering a drink at a bar? Three north-side openings in 2026 give that question new answers. Each one sells a reason to stay longer than a cup of coffee lasts.

Grounded Gardens on West Francis Avenue, HoneySpell Cafe on Newport Highway and Mother Bear's Bakery on North Wall Street sell very different things. Each built its space around what happens after you order: a workshop table, a separate room for the people who brought a laptop or a board game, or a dining room that stays open until 8 p.m. As a group, their hours also run from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. across the north side, which no single one of them covers alone.

A Plant Shop That Puts Something on Your Calendar

Grounded Gardens opened July 21 at 727 W. Francis Ave. in the building that used to house Green Gables Photography, according to Inlander's opening profile. It's a coffee bar and houseplant shop in one, with patio seating and custom plant orders. Now that it's too cold for the patio, the workshop calendar is the reason to go.

The Spokesman-Review reported on Oct. 28 that the shop holds monthly workshops and that September's bonsai class, taught by a bonsai master, sold out quickly. The November workshop is a terrarium class called "Little Worlds." The shop's events page lists it for Saturday, Nov. 7 and Saturday, Nov. 14, both from 1 to 3 p.m. You can sign up online or at the store.

The October programming showed what kind of place this wants to be. The Spokesman-Review described free Halloween-themed wooden cutouts, small pumpkins and paints for kids, plus plant pots adults could buy and paint at the same stations. One weekday, a toddler finished a project and settled into a sofa with a cake pop while her mom shopped for plants.

The membership works the same way. Grounded's Club 727 costs $34.99 a month, and the shop lists these perks:

• A curated plant each month, plus potting mix
• A café drink when you pick up your plant
• Member discounts, which the Spokesman-Review puts at 10% off merchandise
• Early access to workshops and events

Because the plant has to be picked up in person, members come back every month by design. The Spokesman-Review also reported that the space is available to rent, which gives a small group another option for a gathering on the north side.

One limit applies. Inlander listed Grounded's hours at opening as Tuesday through Sunday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. It's a morning and early-afternoon place. Your evenings have to go somewhere else.

Rooms Instead of a Single Counter

That somewhere is farther up Newport Highway. HoneySpell Cafe opened Sept. 12 at 10115 N. Newport Highway, and Inlander's profile shows a fantasy-themed cafe laid out as several rooms. There's a quieter work room, separate dining and garden spaces, three distinct seating rooms and a patio. The signature drink is a honey-cinnamon latte, served with pastries.

Separate rooms are what let a cafe host people who aren't there for the same reason. When Inlander profiled HoneySpell, three gaming groups, a knitting circle and a book club had already met there. A long board game and someone answering email can share a building without getting in each other's way. Before it opened, the owner told the Spokane Journal of Business about hopes for gaming clubs, journaling, crafts, chess and vendor Wednesdays. Those were plans, so check the cafe's own channels for what's actually scheduled in a given week.

The hours are what set HoneySpell apart from Grounded. Inlander listed Tuesday through Sunday, noon to 8 p.m., when it opened. Weekend hours may run later, so confirm before planning a Friday or Saturday evening there. Either way, HoneySpell is open after dark on most nights, which is the part of the day a plant shop that closes at 4 doesn't cover.

Twice the Space, Open Until 8 Every Day

Mother Bear's Bakery is the third piece. The bakery started as a home-based cottage operation, then opened a storefront in the Town and Country neighborhood. It moved into a larger space at 5503 N. Wall St. and held its grand opening Sept. 1. The Spokane Journal of Business reported on Sept. 10 that the new space is 1,600 square feet, more than double the old retail location, and is open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week.

The Journal said the move was driven by the kitchen as much as the storefront. Co-owner Laura Logsdon, who runs the bakery with her mother, Tammy Cloud, said that baking cottage-style at home and then hauling everything to the shop had been hard. "It's such a relief," she told the Journal about having the kitchen and the retail counter in the same building.

The full kitchen also changes the menu. The Journal reported that Mother Bear's is building on its breads, cookies, fudge and cakes and adding simple breakfast, lunch and dessert items such as bagels and individually sliced cakes. A slice of cake you eat at a table is a sit-down order. A whole cake you carry out isn't. Being open until 8 p.m. every day, Mondays included, makes the Wall Street bakery the easiest of the three to work into an ordinary weeknight.

How the Three Schedules Fit Together

Any one of these places leaves a gap. Together, they cover most of the day. Here are the hours as each was reported this fall:

The overlaps make a few patterns clear. Mornings belong to Grounded. From late morning on, Mother Bear's is open. From noon to 4 p.m., all three are open on Tuesdays through Sundays. After 4, your choices are the bakery on Wall or the game rooms on Newport Highway. On Mondays, of these three, only Mother Bear's lists hours.

The terrarium Saturdays show how this works in practice. A workshop that ends at 3 p.m. on Francis leaves the rest of the afternoon open, and both of the other places are still serving well into the evening.

The Fireplace on Monroe

One more 2026 opening rounds out the north side, though it sits on a corridor we've written about before. Arctos Coffee & Roasting Co. opened its second location at 2823 N. Monroe St. in June. Inlander highlighted its plush seating and a fireplace. Arctos lists its Monroe hours as 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends. That makes it the earliest of the group, with a seven-day schedule that covers the Monday morning the others leave open.

When we help families compare parts of Spokane, we ask where they'd spend an ordinary Tuesday evening. If you live on the north side and are thinking about what your home is worth in a neighborhood that keeps adding places like these, The Bill Richard Real Estate Group can give you a grounded, no-pressure read. Get a Free Home Valuation.