Come early July, Mercer Islanders will be sipping coffee and munching on pastries, sandwiches, artisan bread and more at a new Macrina Bakery café across from Mercerdale Park.

Macrina’s seventh café in its 32-year existence will be located at 3051 78th Ave. SE. It will cover just under 3,000 square feet and will include indoor and outdoor dining spaces and copious windows for maximum lighting, according to president and co-owner Scott France.

They’ve been engaged in the construction phase of the process since the beginning of this year and France said they are shooting to unveil the café during the first week of July.

Mercer Island is an ideal place to open Macrina’s first café east of Seattle, said France, who noted that their items are freshly baked each morning at Macrina’s massive bakery in the Kent-Tukwila area and then delivered to the eateries.

“We’re always looking for good spots that we think will be well-supported by the neighborhood and the community,” he said. “Our mission is to enrich our communities to the joy of artisan baking. When we saw this and started talking to the landlord, it became clear that we thought we would be well-received on the Island.”

Added Macrina founder Leslie Mackie: “Macrina Bakery has been on the search for a Mercer Island café location for years. Our July opening is met with excitement from staff and customers alike. We look forward to sharing our joy of artisan baking with our Eastside friends.”

Mackie, who opened her first Macrina café in 1993 in Seattle’s Belltown, remains involved with recipe development, marketing and more. In addition to the café side of the business, Macrina sells its items to restaurants, other cafés, hotels and grocery stores.

France said they expect to welcome 16-20 employees onto the Macrina team to serve the Island community.

Speaking of locals, Macrina co-owner Matt Galvin grew up on Mercer Island, attended high school here, moved away to college in New York, lived in Italy for a spell and is now back on the Island with his family. He is also the co-owner of Pagliacci Pizza, which has a location right across the parking lot from the new Macrina café.

“We had so many requests from customers to come to Mercer Island,” said Galvin, adding that it’s a good spot for another Macrina café that feels similar to their other locations. “Serving a neighborhood, a community, nearby park and schools and a business community. So I just kind of checked all the boxes for a new site.”

Galvin is thrilled that Macrina will be serving the community alongside a bevy of other businesses in the area.

“I think it’ll be hopeful that it’ll be a great place for people to stop in the morning for their morning commute or a great place to gather and meet friends or have business meetings,” he said.

As the construction continues and opening day nears, France said that things are moving along smoothly and the city has been helpful throughout the process.

On the community front, he added: “Lots of neighbors are stopping by to ask when we’re open, those kinds of things. So it’s felt very welcoming so far.”

For more information, visit: https://macrinabakery.com/