A Balkan Cafe Is Hiding Inside This Missouri Nursery With Decades Of History
A Balkan cafe hiding upstairs in a nursery sounds made up, but Missouri really went with it!
Plants and gardening supplies fill the lower part of the experience, while coffee, pastries, breakfast, and lunch add a completely different reason to climb upstairs.
That odd pairing is exactly what makes the visit memorable.
The building has its own long history too, which gives the whole place more personality than a standard garden-center stop.
You might arrive thinking about plants and leave talking about lunch. Or the opposite.
Either way, this is one of those wonderfully random combinations that somehow makes perfect sense once you are there.
The Stable Behind The Nursery
The property’s commercial history reaches back to 1893, when the building was used for a feed-and-grain business.
Horse-drawn wagons and storage operations later became part of the activity connected to the site.
That early use helps explain why the structure still feels different from a modern garden center.
The same family remained connected to the property as its purpose changed over time. Rolling Ridge Nursery began serving customers here in 1959.
Historic materials remain visible inside the building. Heavy timber and old masonry preserve much of the character of the earlier structure.
The building has continued adapting without losing its connection to the past.
Family members have continued working here across several generations. That long connection explains why the old building remains useful today.
Looking closely at the older parts of the structure adds another layer to a nursery visit. Details in the wood, masonry, and layout point back to the property’s earlier commercial life.
The address is 60 N Gore Ave, Webster Groves.
Coffee Upstairs, Plants Below
The visit changes character upstairs.
Telva at The Ridge operates inside Rolling Ridge Nursery’s historic building, pairing a modern Balkan-inspired cafe with the older structure around it.
Hanging plants add a quiet reminder of the shop below.
The two businesses complement each other naturally. Downstairs, visitors can compare plants, pots, and gardening supplies. Upstairs, the cafe offers a place to sit with coffee or a meal before returning to the nursery.
Neither part feels separate from the other.
Telva serves breakfast, brunch, and lunch through a counter-service format. Pastries, coffee, tea, and a changing selection of savory dishes expand the menu beyond a quick grab-and-go stop.
Seasonal changes make the current menu worth checking before a visit.
The upstairs room keeps the nursery connection visible while adding its own contemporary cafe atmosphere. Plants, wood, brick, and modern finishes share the same space.
Rolling Ridge Nursery turns an ordinary plant-shopping trip into two stops under one roof. A meal can come before the greenhouse, or the cafe can become the final pause after browsing.
A Slower Cup Of Khava
A copper coffee pot gives the cafe one of its most distinctive rituals.
Telva serves traditional Bosnian coffee from a copper dzezva with a sugar cube and Turkish delight.
This is not designed as a rushed coffee break.
The coffee is poured into a small cup, and a little liquid and grounds remain at the bottom when the drink is finished. Telva even provides its own guide to the traditional serving ritual.
A small sweet served alongside adds another texture between sips.
The full coffee bar gives visitors plenty of alternatives. Current choices include espresso drinks, house-flavored lattes, iced coffee preparations, and several hot teas.
The Bosnian focus gives the coffee service a clear cultural connection rather than treating it as a novelty.
Anyone unfamiliar with the drink can follow the cafe’s serving guide. The slower pace fits naturally with an upstairs room built for breakfast, conversation, and a break from plant shopping.
Old materials in the building and greenery from the nursery make the setting part of that experience.
Breakfast With Balkan Flavors
Breakfast gives visitors another reason to arrive before a long plant search.
Telva currently serves Cilbir, a Turkish-style egg dish with two runny eggs, garlic yogurt, tomato-chile brown butter, herbs, and toasted somun.
The combination brings creamy, savory, and spicy elements into one plate.
The Breakfast Sendvic offers a different start. It pairs a runny egg and cheese with herbed ajvar mayo on fresh somun, with optional additions that include a sudzuka patty.
Other current plates broaden the menu further. Breakfast pide, Balkan-style French toast, hummus toast, avocado toast, and seasonal salads give the cafe more range than a simple pastry counter.
The menu draws from Bosnian and broader Balkan traditions while adapting them to a modern cafe setting.
Bread, yogurt, eggs, roasted vegetables, herbs, and cured or spiced meats appear throughout the current lineup. That variety makes the menu approachable even for someone unfamiliar with Balkan cooking.
Breakfast can also be a practical starting point before browsing the nursery. Eating upstairs first leaves the rest of the visit open for the greenhouse, outdoor plants, and garden supplies below.
Sweet Choices Beside The Garden
The pastry case adds another reason to stop upstairs. Telva currently lists baklava, a chocolate-orange-pistachio cookie, portokalopita, a sour cherry scone, and warm kunefe among its sweets.
The selection gives the cafe several different textures and flavors without relying on a single style of dessert.
Baklava brings crisp phyllo, toasted nuts, spices, and syrup. Portokalopita turns orange and phyllo into a soft syrup-soaked cake, while the sour cherry scone adds a fruit-forward option.
Kunefe is served warm and combines shredded phyllo, cheese, and baklava syrup.
A tahini bun appears on weekends in limited quantities. The cafe describes it as its take on a cinnamon roll, finished with warming spices, tahini drizzle, and sesame crunch.
Because the pastry selection can change, the case is worth checking before deciding what to order.
A sweet stop also works well as the final part of a nursery visit. Once the plant shopping is finished, the cafe offers an easy place to sit down without carrying food or drinks through the greenhouse.
Plants For Every Season
The nursery floor changes the focus completely.
Rolling Ridge Nursery carries houseplants, annuals, perennials, trees, shrubs, edible plants, bulbs, pots, and a broad range of garden supplies.
Its selection can change with the growing season.
Herbs and vegetables appear when edible-garden planting is in season. Trees and shrubs suit larger landscape projects, while houseplants offer options for visitors without outdoor space.
Cacti, succulents, tropical plants, and other indoor choices add different care requirements to consider.
Plant labels give shoppers a useful starting point. Sunlight, watering, mature size, and drainage all matter more than choosing a plant for appearance alone.
Outdoor plants also need to suit Missouri conditions. The nursery’s current inventory includes both common landscape choices and harder-to-find varieties, with availability changing rapidly through the year.
Indoor shopping requires the same kind of planning. Window exposure, shelf space, humidity, and watering habits can all shape which plant makes sense at home.
Taking a little time with those details makes the nursery’s large selection easier to navigate.
Help For My Next Plant
Choosing a container can become part of the visit too. Rolling Ridge Nursery currently offers custom potting and carries pots and planters in a range of sizes and styles.
The custom-potting process starts with choosing a plant and container. Staff at the greenhouse potting bench then use the soil and amendments suited to that plant.
That service can simplify a houseplant purchase or a planted container project.
Soil choice matters just as much as the pot. The nursery carries growing mixes and amendments for different plant needs, including products intended for plants that require faster drainage.
Custom potting can also make a plant gift easier to finish before leaving the store.
Rolling Ridge also maintains a classes and workshops section through its current store, although individual topics and dates change.
Previous sessions have covered practical subjects such as pruning, watering, plant health, and seasonal garden maintenance.
This Missouri nursery’s current digital tools also include plant-care information and identification help, giving shoppers another way to follow up after taking a plant home.
A Visit Worth Planning
Two businesses under one roof make the schedule worth checking.
Telva at The Ridge is currently open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Rolling Ridge Nursery follows its own schedule, currently opening later than the cafe.
The nursery changes noticeably with the seasons. Spring brings a larger focus on planting, while fall and the holiday period shift the displays and available products in a different direction.
Leashed dogs are currently welcomed at the nursery, and pet-oriented listings also note a display of pet-safe plants. Plant toxicity should still be checked before bringing any new variety into a home with animals.
Telva’s sustainability efforts add another point of interest. Its kitchen is fully electric, herbs and grape leaves are grown onsite, and food waste is composted.
The cafe is also part of Webster Groves’ Green Dining District.
Planning the Missouri visit can stay simple. Check the current cafe menu, allow time for the nursery’s seasonal inventory, and decide whether food comes before or after the plant shopping.
The combination works because neither business needs to be treated as an add-on.
One address offers a historic garden center downstairs and a Balkan-inspired cafe upstairs, with enough variety to make either half the original reason for stopping.
