Gilbillies Owners Serve Breakfast with a Side of Small-Town Cheer

Blink twice and you might miss the center of Gilsum, but the doors of a longtime staple business in town have recently reopened with a familiar face behind the counter and owners who are eager to breathe fresh life into a community gathering spot. Engaged couple Heather Britton and Branden Tarbox officially opened Gilbillies, a small coffee shop that serves breakfast on Saturday mornings, at 18 Main St. in Gilsum only a few weeks ago, but the reception from locals has been warm and welcoming, they say. Britton's father owns the building, which for many years operated as the Gilsum Village Store, where she spent her teen years making pizzas and more for hungry townsfolk. It also was previously the location for Old Settlers Cider. The couple live nearby, and each operate their own primary businesses during the week but wanted to open the small café as a collaborative effort. "We wanted to give something back to the community," Tarbox explained of their inspiration for re-energizing the empty building. "We wanted to put something in here and decided a coffee shop would be cool." They're starting small at first, they said, with breakfast sandwiches and a farmer's breakfast, pancakes, hash browns and a few other grab-and-go menu items, plus coffee and tea, of course. The shop is only open on Saturday mornings from 8 a.m. to noon, although they may try to open on occasional Sundays down the road. "We want to take it slow and steady and see how it goes," he said. While Tarbox takes orders behind the counter, Britton is back in the familiar kitchen as the cook, and she's enjoying the opportunity to reconnect with community people. "It's nice to see customers we used to have at the store," she said. "There are people I haven't seen in 10 years." "She knows everyone in town!" Tarbox added, laughing. The shop's name is a mash-up between the words "Gilsum" and "hillbillies" and it's a playful nod to a nickname he had for Britton. "It just stuck, and we thought it would be a cute name for the shop," she said, and the name has enabled them to land on a billy goat theme with the logo, free stickers for customers at the register and stuffed goats for sale, as well as "The Goat" breakfast sandwich. Starting small has been good, but there's been a learning curve, too, they said, and they're open to going with the flow, especially when it comes to customer feedback. For instance, they originally tried open hours of 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. but found it to be slightly too early for customers. They've also added a few requested menu items, like small pancakes for kids and orange juice. On this Saturday, a young patron ordered a breakfast sandwich using the pancakes as the bun and the couple quickly adapted on the fly to the new menu creation, easily embracing and praising the creative substitution. As more customers filter in the door on a grey and rainy morning, the warm and cozy shop starts to buzz with conversation between locals and laughter fills the air alongside the intoxicating aromas of bacon and freshly brewed coffee. A friendly tip competition is tallied on the menu board, as regulars joke about the impeccable service and show their support for the couple's efforts. Seated beneath the historic Gilsum Village Store sign that hangs overlooking the dining room, several customers comment on how wonderful it is that the doors of the building are open for business and remark nostalgically that it's heartwarming to "see the place hopping again" after sitting empty and unused for a while. Indeed, it's engaging with their fellow Gilsum community members that seems to excite Britton and Tarbox the most as they bustle back and forth behind the counter, juggling orders while joking and interacting with customers. "We get different people every week, but the same regular crowd, too," Britton said. "It's been a good blend. The community support has been great."