The Jungle—formerly Java Jungle—has been a mainstay on First Street near the river for almost three decades. The little coffee house has long been known for its funky decor, open mic nights and coffee concoctions.
For the last 17 years, Matt Polley has owned the Jungle. Thirteen years ago, he opened a bar—Jungle Vino—in a connected space across the hall. The two businesses did well—first, remaining open through the recession and, then, remaining relevant as Reno’s midtown district flourished with new competition.
He rebranded the businesses to simply “the Jungle” five years ago. But about two and a half years ago, when the coffee shop was celebrating its 25th anniversary, Polley began to wonder if his businesses had enough staying power to last another quarter century.
He made the decision to update both spaces.
“The idea was to bring the spaces more together and jungle them out—keep it artistic and funky,” he said.
Polley painted over some of the older artwork on the walls and ripped out the old mosaic tile flooring, replacing it with blue and brown wooden floors. In the bar, he placed brightly colored furniture and hanging lamps and painted one of the walls with a swirling green and yellow design before affixing men’s ties to it.
“And it didn’t resonate very well,” he said. “But what it did do, I believe, is allow for a transition from the 1990s beatnik coffee house to something that does have another 25 years of staying power. It was time for the Jungle to grow up, really.”
So, Polley began thinking about where to take his businesses next—and he waited. Funds for new changes, he knew, might be a few years down the road—but, he recalled, laughing, “Not having any dough motivates you.”
A few months ago, Polley again invested in changes to the Jungle. He pulled out the funky lamp shades, the multi-colored floors and the wall of ties—creating a simpler, more modern space.
“Frankly, with our evolving community, I thought it needed to be elevated,” he said.
Additional cosmetic changes will have to wait, so, in the meantime, Polley has turned his attention to the plan’s other crucial aspect—food.
“We’ve changed and evolved our menu in a way we’re very, very proud of,” he said. “So it’s the Jungle, right? There’s the bar and bistro side, and the other side is the coffee house and café. You can come get great sandwiches. We’ve got a great brunch menu. … We’re doing our own pastries, fresh every day. Breads—we make our own foccacia, our own sourdough, our own onion rolls. We’re big on sourdough. We’d love to do sourdough pancakes here in the future.”
The Jungle recently revamped its menus with more sophisticated fare. A “bar bites” section features dishes like charcuterie plates and fried chickpeas with crispy sage and brown butter. And the cocktail menu has been expanded to include drinks like “Black Manhattans” and “Caipirinhas.”
On a recent Sunday afternoon, the Jungle was busy with customers drinking mimosas and eating avocado toast and tri-trip omelets with Gruyere from the new brunch menu. From a spot at the end of the bar, Polley surveyed the crowd before summing up his hopes for the future.
“We’re looking, here, to be the Death & Taxes with food,” he said, referencing the popular midtown bar. “We have a direction, and we’re moving towards it. It’s always kind of been like that here. It’s nothing new.”