Urban Fuel marks 10 years of coffee, community, creativity

Rachel Kroeger

Staff

September 22, 2025

FOND DU LAC – For 10 years, Owner Terri Deanovich said Urban Fuel Coffee Station has brought “something special” to the Greater Fond du Lac Community.

“I have a little bit of an identity crisis on my hands,” she laughed.

Serving as a coffee shop, brunch spot, cafe, event venue and more, Deanovich said she often has a hard time answering the question, “where do you work?”

“We make our own dressings, our own quiche, we have amazing sandwiches, we have a liquor license and we are a venue,” she said. “[Calling Urban Fuel a] coffee shop is too big, [calling it a] restaurant too basic and, even though we have a liquor license, I would never call it a bar.”

Open from 6:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, Deanovich said her tagline – “Bean. Cork. Graze. Chillax” – most closely defines what Urban Fuel offers its surrounding community.

Sunday through Tuesday, however, she said her business only caters to private events.

“On Sundays we do baby showers, bridal showers, anniversaries, corporate gatherings – whatever you need,” she said. “Then on Monday and Tuesday, we do more corporate/business [group meals].”

Urban Fuel’s space, Deanovich said, can also accommodate a few dozen people for larger parties and even weddings.

“Even though my place could probably hold 100 people, I really try to cater to around 50 and under for any kind of party, because less is more in our world, and I don’t want to be overwhelmed,” she said. “I want to have everybody have a great experience, and I want to make sure I don’t forget all the little things.”

Located at N7645 N. Peebles Lane, Suite 3, right off Highway 151, Deanovich said the building where she rents space “dates back to the late 1800s” – previously serving as a feed mill, then a John Deere implement dealer and then a gift shop before a local developer bought and renovated the historic facility.

In 2014, “right before Christmas,” she said she reached out to the developer – whom she has known for a while – and expressed interest in opening a coffee shop in his complex.

“I always wanted to have a small little coffee shop,” she said. “Space was available, so I called my friend, and I said, ‘Hey, can I look at it?’ He said, ‘Come on over.’”

Before opening Urban Fuel, Deanovich said she owned and operated her own contracting business – painting and installing various types of walls – something she did for 20 years.

“I ended up getting sick, and I couldn’t work with chemicals for a little bit, so I had to retire from that,” she said.

Though she “absolutely loved” the space in her friend’s building, Deanovich said she was apprehensive to start a new business due to her lack of experience in the food and service industries.

But, she said her friend and her husband recognized her determination and encouraged her to take the leap – officially opening Urban Fuel in March 2015.

“I went in there and, of course, I painted everything, hung some palettes on the wall, changed some lighting, figured out the menu, got in contact with a few people I knew who were smarter than I was to help me… and it happened – we opened,” she said.

A pandemic pivot

Deanovich said when she first leased her space, she didn’t initially intend for it to encompass as many offerings as it does now – adding that those offerings have changed over time.

“We had live music for a while,” she said. “You have to have permits if you want live music, [so] we had all of our permits… and it was super fun, but COVID-19 made us shift in a different direction.”

Through the duration of the pandemic, Deanovich said her family grew – leading her to adapt her business to accommodate her new responsibilities as a mother-in-law and a grandmother.

“I didn’t really have a good balance with work and family,” she said. “It was okay at the beginning, because my kids were all out of the house. They weren’t married at the time – they were just doing their own thing – so it was easy for me to just throw myself into work.”

In the last several years, however, Deanovich said her family has grown to welcome three daughters-in-law and five grandchildren.

“All of a sudden, I look around and it’s like, ‘Oh, my goodness, I have these beautiful daughters-in-law, I have five grand babies – I really don’t want to work 80 hours a week anymore,’” she said.

Prior to the pandemic, Deanovich said Urban Fuel was open “nearly seven days a week without a break.”

“That pace was sustainable for a while, but I could tell I was getting burnt out,” she said. “So, [after] that little reset, I went from 16-17 employees, [to] now I only have six.”

Urban Fuel’s new schedule, Deanovich said, allowed her to expand the business – by offering the space as an event venue Sunday-Tuesday – and slow it down simultaneously.

“It allows me to balance more family time, take care of my home [and] still take care of my business, without getting burnt out,” she said.

Being open to the public fewer days out of the week, Deanovich said, has also helped decrease Urban Fuel’s overhead.

“It taught me to work smarter, not harder,” she said.

The decision to scale back Urban Fuel’s hours, Deanovich said, was also born out of necessity, as her late mother fell ill roughly two years after the onset of the pandemic.

“My mom stayed with us for the last four-and-a-half years,” she said

Fresh, home-made, clean eating

Everything on Urban Fuel’s menu, Deanovich said, is made-to-order using fresh ingredients.

“The menu items, breakfast or lunch, can be ordered anytime we’re open,” she said. “So, let’s say you’re working third shift and you want to come in and have a sandwich or a bowl of lobster bisque, it will be ready at 6:30 in the morning.”

Deanovich said the menu, though small, is filled with quality food – especially for those looking for clean-eating options.

“We serve house-made quiche, steel-cut oatmeal, a variety of egg sandwiches and then, for lunch, we have the typical soups, salads, wraps and sandwiches,” she said. “Nothing is pre-made…, so it gives us the flexibility of changing things, too, because we have to cater to a lot of dietary restrictions.”

Urban Fuel’s house-made quiche is gluten-free, Deanovich said – adding that any item on her menu can be made sans gluten.

“[Also], because we make our own dressings, we know exactly what’s going in there,” she said.

Because she had no previous experience in the food industry prior to opening Urban Fuel, Deanovich said she had to learn how to ask for help.

“I don’t want to sell myself short, but I also know [I came] into it with no experience, [so] I had to align myself with people who had already gone through the process,” she said. “I’m not always good at asking for help. I usually try to figure it out, but this was too big a risk to try on my own.”

Deanovich said transitioning from being a self-employed contractor to a business owner with staff – in a brand new industry nonetheless – has been the biggest challenge throughout her last 10 years operating Urban Fuel.

“I wasn’t sure if people were going to embrace my vision, and that was pretty challenging,” she said. “It was a big adjustment, but, over time – with the support of the community, my family and my friends – it just worked.”

Recent challenges, Deanovich said, include vendors increasing their minimum orders – which she said makes it more difficult to offer 100% fresh, house-made food.

“I don’t have frozen, deep-fried stuff – it’s all fresh food,” she said. “I’m ordering all this fresh stuff, just to make minimums, and if I don’t use it, it’s going in the garbage. So, that is a huge challenge for me right now.”

Regardless, Deanovich said she is actively re-evaluating her supply chain to keep offering her made-to-order menu.

Fuel for life

When she was a child, Deanovich said her grandma used to refer to coffee as “regular and unleaded” – depending on its contents.

“So, I always thought of coffee as fuel,” she said. “I was probably 14 or 15 [when I thought], ‘I want to run a coffee shop, and I’m going to name it ‘Fuel’… but I didn’t know ‘Urban’ was going to be [part of the name] until I got into the space… I just love the way it sounded.”

Though she’s been in business for a decade, Deanovich said her location helps Urban Fuel remain a destination for not only travelers but Fond du Lac locals as well.

“There are people who will go out of their way to stop,” she said. “Everybody’s just so busy and hustling around downtown that I think our space is more chill.”

Accustomed to working behind the scenes, Deanovich said promoting her business has been a personal challenge for her over the years.

“Self-promoting has always been really hard for me [because] I always want things to be organic,” she said. “Like last week, I had a customer come in for coffee on Saturday morning. I was chatting with her and she said, ‘This is so amazing. This is so beautiful. I can’t believe I haven’t been here before.’ I said, ‘Oh, are you new to the area?’ and she said, ‘No, I’ve lived in Fond du Lac my whole life.’”

That, Deanovich said, is one of her favorite parts of owning Urban Fuel.

“I still get [excited] when people find us for the first time, and they’re right down the road from us,” she said.

For more on Urban Fuel Coffee Station, visit its website – urbanfuelco.com – or find it on social media.