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Flying M, creating a cozy community since 1992
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Happy hour at a coffee shop, what? It’s true and it could only be so at the local downtown coffeehouse, Flying M Coffeehouse, located on 500 W. Idaho St. near the heart of downtown. Flying M offers an array of edible pleasures, delicious coffee and spunky eclectic art in the form of jewelry, attire, knick-knacks and an assortment of other unique gift items. This is not your typical coffee shop, rather an unforgettable coffeehouse with plush retro couches, snazzy tables and a variety of art on the wall.
Every year the Boise Weekly serves up the ‘best of Boise’ where readers decide which place has the most to offer in their designated categories. Well, Flying M being as charismatic as it is, was voted the best in three Reader’s Choice categories. Flying M took home awards for the best cup of coffee, the best coffeehouse and best art gallery.
Sure there are plenty of art galleries vying for the best of Boise honors, but Flying M has a little something extra and unique against the competition: great coffee, a sense of community and a cozy atmosphere where anyone is welcome. Owner Lisa Myers said she was a little shocked by the honor and attributes the comfortable setting as the reason Flying M was chosen. “People are comfortable here, they see rotating art when they come here. You have to make a conscious effort to go to a gallery and that doesn’t happen daily in your life, but here it does happen daily,” Myers said. A graduate of the arts program at the University of Washington, Myers has a need to be surrounded by art at all times. “Not being an artist, I always want to be surrounded by it so that’s always been a component of our business,” Myers said.
Eggplant accents, light olive green-colored walls, a deep red boarder wrapped around the menu and above, painted in the paneling, the Flying M logo sits amidst the charming faAade.
On a cloudy yet warm fall Saturday morning, Flying M was vibrant and buzzing with conversations between young couples nestled on a the leather couch, an older couple enjoying breakfast at a nearby table and ladies knitting on the 1970s-style green couch.
Each morning and sometimes more, Myers said, you see the same smiling faces creating a sense of community. Feeling really connected with our staff and customers is my favorite part. Being able to use my energy to create this space that makes us all feel so welcome and warm and part of something, Myers said.
Myers and husband Kevin opened the first Flying M in 1992 where Guido’s New Yoik Pie (Guido’s Original New York Style Pizza) now resides. The space was too intimate and hard to tune out all the other conversations going on, Myers said. So, they made the move into the front location where there is much more space to chat, relax and sip a latte. In 1995, Kevin Myers started roasting the coffee and ever since, Flying M has been serving their own fresh brewed coffee to the community. The Myers both started out in corporate companies and decided that was not the path they wanted to continue on. That is when they decided to open a coffee shop. Inspired by the not so busy pace of Boise, they decided to focus on the sit-down aspect rather than the to-go aspect so familiar to the coffee shops in Seattle, Myers said.Myers has ventured into the realm of expansion and will be opening a new Flying M sector in downtown Nampa, called the Flying M Garage. According to Myers, the location “is an old automotive garage and we are able to move the roaster so people can see the machine and the roasting process.” The Garage is scheduled to open sometime around Thanksgiving. For more information stop into Flying M, grab your desired beverage and just absorb the essence of this unique and cozy little coffeehouse.
Amber Fuger
Assistant Culture Editor
