Bibo Coffee and Gelato Serves Midtown and Downtown Reno

Thomas Garner

Oct 7

10 min read

The Reno Arch over Virginia Street in downtown Reno, Nevada under a clear blue sky

Photo: Missvain, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

A coffee shop that also makes real gelato is not something every city has, and Reno has one in Bibo Coffee Company, running two separate locations across the city, one in Midtown at 717 S Center St and one downtown at 460 S Sierra St. Coffee and gelato together is the shop's actual differentiator, the thing that sets it apart from a standard espresso and pastry lineup, and it is worth understanding both addresses, both schedules, and what makes the whole combination work as well as it does.

I run Hillcane with my business partner Jacob, and I think a lot about what makes a coffee shop's own story worth telling in full rather than as a single line in a longer roundup. Bibo has two real locations, its own voted best claim, and a genuine second craft sitting alongside its coffee program. That is a fuller story than most cafes have to tell, and it deserves the space to tell it properly, address by address and hour by hour.

There is also something worth noting about longevity here. Bibo's own site describes more than twenty years only in Reno and calls itself truly local coffee and gelato. A business that has stayed in one city that long, running cafes in two neighborhoods rather than chasing growth somewhere else entirely, has earned the kind of local standing that a newer shop simply has not had time to build yet.

It is worth sitting with what only in Reno actually means for a business with this kind of history. Plenty of successful local coffee shops eventually expand into neighboring cities or even other states once they have proven the model. Bibo has chosen a different path, staying rooted specifically in Reno for more than two decades and putting its growth into a second neighborhood within the same city rather than a second city entirely. That is a real, deliberate choice, and it says something about how tied the business's identity is to Reno specifically.

Two Rooms, Two Neighborhoods

Bibo's Midtown room sits at 717 S Center St, part of the same dense coffee corridor that anchors much of Reno's specialty coffee scene. Its downtown room sits separately at 460 S Sierra St, a different pocket of the city with its own character entirely, closer to the civic and business core of Reno than Midtown's more residential, walkable feel.

Running two cafes in two genuinely distinct neighborhoods, rather than two locations close enough together to serve essentially the same customer twice, is a meaningfully different kind of expansion. Midtown and downtown Reno draw different crowds, different foot traffic patterns, and different daily rhythms, and Bibo has built a real presence in both rather than doubling down on just one.

That geographic spread also means Bibo answers two different searches rather than one. A Midtown search and a downtown search are not the same question, and Bibo has a real, specific answer ready for each, rather than asking a downtown customer to make the trip over to Center Street or a Midtown customer to head downtown to Sierra Street instead. Each address stands on its own as a real, complete answer, not a lesser stand in for the other.

It is worth picturing the two customer bases separately too. Midtown's Center Street room likely draws a mix of residents and the same walkable foot traffic that supports the rest of Midtown's coffee corridor. Downtown's Sierra Street room, closer to Reno's civic and business core, likely draws a different mix, office workers, visitors, and anyone moving through downtown for reasons that have nothing to do with the coffee itself until they notice the shop along the way.

The Hours Are Not Identical

Bibo's two locations do not run on the same schedule. The downtown Sierra Street cafe keeps shorter hours than the Midtown cafe on Center Street, a detail worth checking before planning a visit around either address, since assuming both locations run identical hours could lead to a wasted trip.

That difference in hours likely reflects the different rhythm of each neighborhood. Downtown Reno's daily pattern, more tied to office and civic activity, does not always call for the same extended hours a Midtown cafe serving a more residential, walkable crowd might keep. Running each location on a schedule suited to its own neighborhood, rather than forcing one blanket schedule across both, is a sensible way to actually match a shop's hours to real local demand.

For anyone planning a visit, that difference is worth checking directly rather than assuming. A visitor heading downtown late in the day, expecting the same hours as the Midtown cafe, could genuinely find the Sierra Street location already closed. Treating each address as its own schedule, rather than one blanket set of hours for the whole brand, is the more accurate way to plan a trip to either location, whether the visit is planned days ahead or decided on the spot.

Voted Best, In the Shop's Own Words

Bibo's own site leads with a line about its standing in the city: voted best coffee and coffee shop in Reno. The shop puts that line in front of everything else, alongside the promise of truly local coffee and gelato, and it is the first thing a visitor reads about the brand.

A shop choosing to lead with a voted best line, rather than a more generic description, says something about how it wants to be understood in the city. Paired with more than twenty years of operating only in Reno, it paints a picture of a business that has built its identity around local standing over a long stretch of time, rather than a newer shop still establishing its name.

The same site describes the kitchen side of the business with an equally plain promise: gelato whipped up every day in its own kitchen, no shortcuts and no factory floors, everything done by hand. That is the shop's own account of how it works, and it explains why gelato sits beside the espresso machine as an equal rather than as a freezer case of something bought in.

Coffee and Gelato Together

The differentiator running through both of Bibo's locations is the pairing of coffee with gelato made every day in its own kitchen, by the shop's own description, rather than brought in from an outside supplier. That combination is uncommon among coffee shops, most of which stick to a standard pastry case if they offer food alongside their drinks at all.

Gelato and espresso share more in common than they might seem to on the surface. Both are built on precision, temperature control, and technique that rewards real craft over shortcuts, and a shop willing to do both well is signaling a broader commitment to quality across its whole menu rather than treating coffee as the only thing worth doing right. Getting gelato's texture correct, in particular, requires consistent attention that a shop treating it as an afterthought would struggle to maintain across two separate locations.

For a visitor deciding between Bibo's two locations and a more standard coffee shop nearby, that gelato pairing is a distinctive reason to choose Bibo specifically, especially on a warm Reno afternoon when a scoop of real gelato alongside an espresso is a different kind of stop than a quick coffee run alone.

That pairing also changes the actual role each location plays in someone's day. A pure coffee shop tends to be a morning or early afternoon stop, tied to a specific caffeine need. A coffee and gelato shop has a longer natural window, relevant for a morning espresso just as much as an evening dessert stop, which gives Bibo's two locations a broader reason to be visited across more of the day than a coffee only competitor nearby might have.

Where Each Room Sits

The Midtown room at 717 S Center St sits a few blocks from the S Virginia Street corridor, Reno's densest coffee pocket, where Pangolin Cafe is at 955 S Virginia St and Midnight Coffee Roasting is upstairs at 1401 S Virginia St. A visitor walking Midtown can fold a gelato stop into a morning of coffee and shops without getting back in the car.

The downtown room at 460 S Sierra St sits closer to Reno's civic and business core and to the Truckee River, the same downtown stretch where Hub Coffee Roasters runs its Riverside cafe at 727 Riverside Dr along the Riverwalk. That puts Bibo's second address in the part of the city where office workers, visitors from the casinos and people walking the river all cross paths during the day.

Seen against the whole city, the choice of those two pockets makes sense. Reno proper holds about 268,959 people on the Census Bureau's 2023 five year estimate, and its specialty coffee is spread across Midtown, Wells Avenue, California Avenue, Vesta and Holcomb, downtown along the Truckee Riverwalk, the RED district and South Reno. Midtown and downtown are the two pockets most visitors reach first, and they are also where a lot of residents walk rather than drive, which is exactly the kind of foot traffic a gelato counter rewards.

For anyone who wants to see what is in the gelato case before choosing a room, Bibo posts on Instagram at bibocoffeeco. It is the simplest way to check a flavor, and a good habit given that the downtown room runs on the shorter schedule of the two.

Why Two Real Rooms Matter More Than One Big One

There is a real case for what Bibo has built here, two distinct locations in two distinct neighborhoods rather than one larger flagship trying to serve the whole city from a single address. Midtown and downtown Reno each get their own genuine, walkable Bibo option, rather than one or the other neighborhood being left to make a longer trip across the city just to reach the brand at all.

That is a meaningfully different model than a single flagship cafe, and it reflects a business that has grown by meeting real neighborhoods where they are rather than betting everything on one location's draw. Two decades of operating only in Reno, spread across two real locations, is a genuine local footprint, the kind that gives a shop real staying power across whatever changes happen in either individual neighborhood over time.

Put together, Bibo's whole story is a complete one: more than twenty years rooted specifically in Reno, two real locations in two distinct neighborhoods, a shop owned reputation built on its own local standing, and a coffee and gelato pairing that gives both addresses a real reason to be worth the trip beyond just another espresso counter. That is a fuller picture than a single line in a citywide roundup could ever convey, and it is the version of the story worth telling.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where are Bibo's two Reno cafes?

Bibo Coffee and Gelato runs two Reno cafes: 717 S Center St in Midtown, a few blocks from the S Virginia Street coffee corridor, and 460 S Sierra St downtown, closer to the civic core and the Truckee River. The two addresses answer two different local searches, one for Midtown and one for downtown Reno, rather than serving the same block twice.

What is Bibo's differentiator?

Coffee paired with gelato that the shop, by its own description, whips up every day in its own kitchen, by hand, with no shortcuts and no factory floors. Both Reno locations, 717 S Center St in Midtown and 460 S Sierra St downtown, pair the two, which sets Bibo apart from the standard espresso and pastry lineup most Reno cafes offer.

Do the two locations keep the same hours?

No. The downtown cafe at 460 S Sierra St keeps shorter hours than the Midtown cafe at 717 S Center St, so it is worth checking the specific location before a late visit. Bibo's Instagram, bibocoffeeco, is a quick place to confirm the day's schedule and the gelato flavors before choosing between Midtown and downtown Reno.

What does Bibo say about its own reputation?

Bibo's own site leads with the line voted best coffee and coffee shop in Reno, and calls itself truly local coffee and gelato. It also describes more than twenty years only in Reno. Those are the shop's own words about its standing, and they sit alongside its two current locations at 717 S Center St and 460 S Sierra St.

How long has Bibo operated in Reno?

Bibo's own site describes more than twenty years only in Reno. Over that time the brand has stayed in one city rather than expanding elsewhere, and today it runs two locations, 717 S Center St in Midtown and 460 S Sierra St downtown. That long, single city history is a big part of how it presents itself as truly local.

Is Bibo part of the Las Vegas coffee scene?

No. Bibo Coffee and Gelato operates in Reno, in the north of Nevada, not Las Vegas at the other end of the state. Its two locations are 717 S Center St in Midtown Reno and 460 S Sierra St downtown, and this post keeps Reno's coffee scene separate from Las Vegas, a city of about 650,873 people with its own cafes.

Why does Bibo run two separate cafes instead of one larger location?

Midtown and downtown Reno are different neighborhoods with different foot traffic and daily rhythms. A room at 717 S Center St serves the walkable Midtown grid near S Virginia Street, and a room at 460 S Sierra St serves downtown near the Truckee River, so each neighborhood has its own nearby Bibo rather than a longer trip across the city.

What makes the gelato pairing significant beyond being unusual?

Gelato and espresso both reward precise technique and temperature control, so a shop that makes gelato every day in its own kitchen while running an espresso bar is committing to craft across the whole menu. At Bibo's two Reno locations, 717 S Center St and 460 S Sierra St, that pairing also stretches the visit from a morning coffee to an afternoon dessert.

What is near Bibo's downtown room?

Bibo's downtown room at 460 S Sierra St sits near Reno's civic and business core and the Truckee River. Hub Coffee Roasters' Riverside cafe is at 727 Riverside Dr along the Truckee Riverwalk, so a visitor downtown can pair a walk by the river with a gelato stop on Sierra Street. Downtown is a different daily crowd than Midtown.

What is near Bibo's Midtown room?

Bibo's Midtown cafe at 717 S Center St is a few blocks from the S Virginia Street corridor, Reno's densest coffee pocket. Pangolin Cafe is at 955 S Virginia St and Midnight Coffee Roasting is upstairs at 1401 S Virginia St Suite 250, so the Center Street location fits easily into a walking morning around Midtown Reno.

Work with Hillcane

A coffee shop that also makes real gelato is rare. Bibo Coffee Company runs two of them across Reno, one in Midtown and one downtown.

If your Reno cafe has more than one real story to tell across more than one room, reach Hillcane at hillcane.co/contact or call (256) 384-2449.