Hanging from the ceiling next to his espresso machine, Mike Oehm has a giant ring toss game. It's next to a stack of thrifted mugs, including one that's shaped like a unicorn and another that's bright yellow with a big black smile, any of which you can buy if you really like it. Also on the counter is a bowl of free Tootsie Rolls, which he doles out to unsuspecting customers.
"You can just tell when somebody needs a little bit of sugar, you know, for studying or...," Oehm trails off, jumping up to help a customer who's just walked in.
Oehm is co-owner of Paper St. Coffee Co., a coffee and sandwich shop that opened about a year ago a few blocks north of Gonzaga University's campus. You might recognize it as the old Roots Coffee Kitchen location, or as the small red building on Hamilton with the huge mural featuring Zag celebs on the side.
Either way, Oehm has transformed the spot into something unexpected and a little crazy, with its tongue planted firmly in its cheek — not completely unlike the original Paper Street Soap Co. of Fight Club fame.
The thrifted or handmade furniture inside Paper St. is mixed, sort of matched and almost all for sale. Pulp paperbacks line tables and shelves, plus a Shots and Ladders drinking game, a Lego Batmobile set, typewriters, camcorders and a Prohibition-era briefcase filled with cocktail accoutrement — also all available for purchase if you fall in love with them.
A sexy cowboy movie is on the TV, a whiteboard for notes and doodles lines the back wall, and the bathroom is wallpapered with vintage Playboy magazine interviews and other, uh, cutouts.
Some of the only things you can't walk out with are the childhood portraits of Oehm and co-owner Bryan Toston hanging near the entryway — Oehm with a bowl cut and Toston swagged out in a classic '90s Lion King sweatsuit.
But the point of all this mayhem at Paper St. Coffee Co. is different than the dark, violent undertones of Tyler Durden's Paper Street Soap Co. The personal touches, creative outlets and invitation to literally take the shop home with you are part of something Oehm calls "unreasonable hospitality."
"Every person just wants to be heard or seen," he says. "It's giving somebody that extra little bit of attention, or being interested enough and trying to find that thing that'll make this experience a little bit better. It's always the littlest thing that you don't think of. If they've got kids, it's a couple of cherries in the cup. I'm just aware of people's demeanor — if I ask somebody how they want [their food or coffee,] I feel like I can tell what they're gonna say almost before they say it."
I f there's one thing Oehm is serious about, the former Brooklyn Deli employee is serious about his sandwiches.
"I saw what sandwiches did to people at Brooklyn," he says. "Jody showed me the true magic of a good sandwich."
Jody Harville was the owner of Brooklyn Deli, a beloved local sandwich shop on the corner of First Avenue and Monroe Street that closed in July 2023. Most of the two dozen-ish sandwiches at Paper St. take inspiration from her menu, like the hot Paper St. Grinder with three meats, two cheeses, pepperoncini, and plenty of salt and vinegar. The Jody is an all veggie sammy named after Spokane's patron saint of subs.
Whole sandwiches are $13.50 and halves are $8, whether they're hot or cold. Each lunch sandwich is served with chips and a spicy pickle spear made in house.
But if you're there before lunch, a killer bagel breakfast sandwich ($8.50) with egg, bacon, avocado and arugula is a best seller, and Belgian waffle pops ($8.50) are a fun twist on a brunch classic.
If your breakfast doesn't come with a pickle, you can still buy a whole pickle on its own for $2.50. No matter what time of day it is, you'll probably be tempted because these things are seriously good, thanks to Toston's decade of pickle expertise.
Toston has gone through over 100 pickle recipes in the past 10 years — Kool Aid pickles, fermented pickles, basically any trend you've seen on TikTok — to create his own masterpiece with garlic, dill and hot peppers. He's also shipped in Kirby cucumbers from all over the world because they make the crunchiest pickles. In one salty afternoon, the shop makes one massive batch of pickles — enough for the whole year — so they don't run out week to week.
But the most unreasonable part of it all? Toston doesn't even like pickles much. He just dated a girl who liked pickles, so he tried making pickles for her one Christmas.
That girlfriend is long gone, but Toston realized that pickles make great Christmas gifts for a lot of people. They get people to like him, he says. Now he's spreading the love at Paper St., too.
Before working at Brooklyn Deli, Oehm also worked for Heritage Bar and Kitchen, plus now-closed Spokane staples like Scratch Restaurant and Rain Lounge, Sante, and Gaslamp in River Park Square.
But owning his own spot, whether it be fine dining or a coffee shop, was something Oehm has always wanted to do — "to own a place where I can serve my friends good food and laugh a little too loud and say f--k if I want to," he says.
"I love my customers," he continues, "and people could tell that it was something I loved. So they would ask, 'Is this your spot?' It was always the best compliment, you know? [...] A lot of times I will tell customers I'm pretty sure this is what I was put on this rock to do."
This summer, Paper St. has been closed on Mondays and Tuesdays so Oehm, who's constantly barista-ing behind the bar or brainstorming chaotic ideas in his office, can catch a break. But as college students return to campus, Oehm is planning to reopen on Mondays so he can host Kill Tony watch parties, plus extend hours until 8 pm.
He'll host live music and comedy nights, too. He'll provide the coffee, snacks, and probably some other surprises you'll never see coming. He'll literally help you install a shelf in your own home that you just bought from his shop (he's done it before).
Besides the rollercoaster of owning a small business, it's that relentless empathy and anticipation that take up most of Oehm's time.
Doesn't he ever get tired?
"Good thing I own a coffee shop," he says.
Paper St. Coffee Co. • 1307 N. Hamilton St. • Wed-Sun 10 am-5 pm (fall hours coming soon) • paperstcoffeeco.com • Instagram: @paperst.coffeeco
