Twin Cities musician Holly Hansen has a new project brewing: Heights Coffee Bar
by Stacy Brooks
January 02, 2026
Fans know Holly Tuhake by her stage name of Holly Hansen and for her musical projects, including indie rock band Zoo Animal. Music industry insiders are familiar with Salon Sonics, the recording studio Tuhake owned and operated for the past six years. But at Heights Coffee Bar, which she opened with her wife in November, Tuhake is the friendly face behind the counter.
Launching a coffee shop might seem like a dramatic career change for Tuhake, but it’s not as much of a departure as it seems. She and her wife have a combined 15 years of experience in the coffee industry and have long wanted expanded coffee options in Columbia Heights. Their idle speculation began to transform into a business plan when they spotted a small, one-story white building on the corner of Van Buren Street and 40th Avenue, two blocks west of Central Avenue, most recently used as the headquarters for a vending machine business.
“I always thought, ‘What is going on in that building?’ It's on a very prominent corner in our town,” says Tuhake. A turning point came when her wife was leaving the Columbia Heights License Center nearby. “She looked over at this building and she said, ‘I really wish I could walk over there and get a cold press right now, and I bet you we're not the only people who think that every time they walk out of that license center.’”
Tuhake’s experience with guests at Salon Sonics also inspired her career pivot. “One of the things I loved the most about running a studio was actually the hosting part, creating a space where people feel comfortable and welcome,” she says. “That was one of the most exciting parts about creating this coffee shop — that I get to do that in a way where anyone who wants to can walk in, whereas in the studio, you have to be a client.”
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Salon Sonics was located in northeast Minneapolis, and Tuhake jokes that stocking pastries from Aki’s Breadhaus is a way to continue patronizing the bakery regularly. Coffee is currently sourced from Duluth Coffee Company (SK Coffee will be in the rotation soon), with decaf from Tiny Footprint Coffee. “There's no reason to go beyond our area for coffee, because we have so many good local roasters,” says Tuhake. “And eventually, we are going to be roasting ourselves.” Other menu items include treats by Janna’s Gluten Free Bakery, loose leaf from Mrs. Kelly’s Tea, house-mixed chai, and golden milk.
When guests step into Heights Coffee Bar, one of the most striking aspects is the rich sound quality, thanks to a speaker wall and acoustic panels throughout the space. Tuhake says her playlists in the shop feature a mix of music without words, lots of jazz, and loop-based music — and she and her wife both love ‘60s soul.
“I think the sonic part of comfort is often not paid enough attention to in public spaces,” says Tuhake. “Coming from the studio world, I just couldn't deal with the bounciness. We put some work into making sure when people are here, even if it's busy, you can still have a conversation and hear each other.”
“We spent so much time thinking about what someone is going to experience when they walk in the door,” she continues. “And that's not just the way it looks, but it's the way it sounds, the way it smells, it's the way we treat people when they walk in … Especially for people who work from home, we're very conscious that we might be the only people someone sees during the day, and we take that seriously.”
Heights Coffee Bar’s warm, welcoming aesthetic evokes a vintage diner, with chrome-edged tables and bar seating. Tuhake’s wife refinished the retro wooden chairs that once graced Memory Lanes, according to the Craigslist seller. The midcentury vibe carries over to the hand-painted sign on the front door, with the words “All Welcome, Welcome All” surrounding the coffee shop’s name.
“I wanted the logo to look like an old school butcher shop, a classic 1950s kind of place you walk into,” says Tuhake. “I think we do draw a lot from that era, even just the idea that there were a lot more neighborhoods that were a lot more vibrant — people were walking around, buying the things they needed … We both wanted it to feel like the kind of place you stop into and it's just woven into the fabric of the neighborhood.”
Although coffee is currently the main focus, Tuhake anticipates that live music will be an important facet of Heights Coffee Bar in the future. They’ve already hosted an event with Minneapolis-based singer-songwriter Sarah Morris. “We're only 20 seats and I think our capacity is 25, so it's kind of an intimate setting, but it works really well for the right kind of thing,” she says. “I think it's a great time to be having music in places where there's less of an alcohol focus, because so many people are drinking less. To bring music into a lighter feeling space is something I'm also really excited to do.”
Plans for a patio and outdoor music are in the works, and Tuhake would like to bring back a reimagined version of the Tuesday Early Evening event she used to host at the 331 Club. “It might look a little different. It may not be on Tuesdays, we'll see,” she says with a chuckle. “It was a place for experimental music or a new project … That was an event people really liked.”
In an era of online shopping, app-based ordering, and drive-through chains, Heights Coffee Bar is an intentional return to an earlier era of locally owned neighborhood businesses and in-person interactions.
“Maybe you're paying a couple extra bucks [by shopping locally], but the life you're creating — not only for yourself, but for the community you're part of — it's just so much more satisfying and real,” says Tuhake. “To me, it almost feels like the difference between staring at your phone and looking at the horizon.”
Learn more at Heights Coffee Bar’s website, and Instagram.
