CAMAS — Tucked into a corner of the Daily Paper Coffee Roasters drive-thru in Camas, a sign speaks to the owners’ philosophy: “Quality takes time. Thank you for your patience.”
Daily Paper owners Ben and Anita Mikhalets take pride in the quality of the roasted-on-site coffee drinks and the sweet and savory Eastern European-style bakery goods from Ben’s family bakery. But they know customers may be used to a faster coffee drive-thru experience.
“We’re trying to deliver quality,” Ben said, “and want to be proud of what we do.”
Both are children of European immigrants. Ben’s parents, Ukrainian immigrants Olga and Yaroslav Mikhalets, are owners of Sweet Touch Bakery and Svitoch European Deli in Vancouver as well as the Camas Market and Bakery at 2940 N.E. Everett St., in Camas. Anita’s parents emigrated from Ukraine and Russia.
If You Go
What: Daily Paper Coffee Roasters
Where: 3016 N.E. Everett St. in Camas
Hours: 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays
Information: dailypapercoffee.com
Ben, 27, and Anita, 25, grew up in Camas and were high school sweethearts.
The Mikhalets focus on a quality experience means some customers may have to wait a couple minutes longer than they would in a fast-food drive-thru, but the results are worth the wait and weeks after the Sept. 14 opening, Daily Paper has a number of repeat customers.
The business, on Northeast Everett Street near the Lake-Everett roundabout, is a dream come true for Ben and Anita.
Their relationship survived a long-distance stint while Anita worked at a busy coffee shop in Hawaii and Ben helped run coffee drive-thrus in Illinois and Florida. The couple returned to Camas and threw a pared-down wedding in 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ben grew up in an entrepreneurial family and helped his parents in their ventures. Anita learned the art of creating a quality espresso drink at Kona Coffee Purveyors, a Hawaiian coffee roaster. Ben honed his coffee-roasting skills at Portland’s Buckman Coffee Factory, which offers coffee-roasting courses and acts as an incubator for small businesses.
When Ben’s parents bought the Camas Market in 2023, the couple realized the property would be an ideal site for the coffee roaster-cafe they’d been dreaming about.
Daily Paper — a nod to Ben’s high school mascot, the Camas Papermakers — went from concept to grand opening within a year.
“We broke ground in March,” Ben said.
Today, the couple oversees nearly a dozen employees and are looking at expanding, offering a coffee bean subscription service, for instance.
Daily Paper Coffee Roasters is at 3016 N.E. Everett St. in Camas, and is open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays.
For more information, visit dailypapercoffee.com.
