Dam Roast House & Browder Bookstore

Amber Stephens and Misty Magruder were coworkers at Albertsons who kept hearing the same question from customers: where could they find a locally owned coffee shop that wasn't a Starbucks? Boulder City had no independent bookstore either. So the two became co-owners and, with their partner Travis, opened Dam Roast House & Browder Bookstore on January 4, 2021.

A building with a history

The shop is in Historic Downtown Boulder City, in what the owners describe as the town's first commercial building. It had been Mel's Diner and then sat boarded up for about eight years. They got the building in May 2020 and spent August through December rebuilding it, with historic preservation work alongside the new construction. The bookstore half is named for Ida Browder, who came to town with her children while Hoover Dam was being built, received the first deed for this building and ran a diner in it. She also started the local Girl Scouts and helped found the city library.

What's behind the counter

• Espresso drinks made with beans roasted in town by Colorado River Coffee, plus seasonal and staff-invented lattes
• Close to 20 organic loose-leaf teas from Davidson's Organics in Sparks, by the cup or in retail bags
• Pastries and bread from two local bakers, Fox Family Bakery and Chef Lemming Bake Shop
• Specialty toasts and sandwiches topped with microgreens grown in Boulder City by Herbs by Diane

Drinks come in real mugs, and the food is made in-house.

The shelves and the calendar

The book side is small, so it carries a little of everything: cookbooks, poetry, self-improvement, children's books, fiction and nonfiction, with romance and thrillers selling best and a small used section. Local authors and artists sell work on consignment. There is at least one author event a month, and Coffee House Tours stops in on second Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

On the third Saturday night of each month the shop becomes the SKOL Mocktail Lounge, a 21-and-over pop-up from 7 p.m. to close with alcohol-free cocktails, local music and makers, while the coffee bar stays open. The Boulder City Chamber of Commerce named Dam Roast House the best coffee shop in its 2024 Best of Boulder City awards.

Contact Dam Roast House & Browder Bookstore

Historic Downtown Boulder City, NV 89005
damroasthousebc.com

Researched September 26, 2026. Source 1; Source 2; Source 3; Source 4. This is an independent directory listing, not a claim that the owner has joined or installed a badge. For a correction or removal, contact Cody. Listings are free and badges are optional.