Gorge Local - In Business: Alleyway Café offers ‘health-conscious indulgence’

In The Dalles, The Alleyway Café aims to provide not only a safe and warm environment while enjoying your daily indulgence, but to make it both environmentally and health conscious for you too.

Located on Federal Street, The Alleyway Café, part of the new Farm Stand in The Dalles grocery store and deli, is a coffee shop offering natural and organic handcrafted coffee, teas, pastries and other goods.

“Being able to give people and the environment around us natural and healthy products is pretty important for us,” Alina Brewer, operator of The Alleyway Café, said.

Offering classic coffee shop staples including lattes, americanos, mochas, chai, matchas and a variety of teas, including GMT loose-leaf herbal teas, Brewer’s goal with the menu is to offer simplicity and comfort to customers when they come in. “I want to keep it pretty simple, so people just know what they’re getting,” she said.

She also noted that the products they use in their shop —  syrups, teas and the like— can all be found at The Farm Stand. Currently, they are working on developing a new roast of coffee, which will also be found in the store.

“You can pretty much find anything you taste – like Costco, you know?” Brewer joked.

Along with some seasonal specials — most recently the autumnal classic, Pumpkin Spice lattes — The Alleyway also offers products such as their new Tibetan Infusion Boosters, which are drink infusions promoted to offer various health benefits and can be added to any drink. Brewer also noted that The Alleyway also offers gluten free pastry options for anyone with sensitivities or dietary restrictions.

With the desire to offer a “happy, bright, refreshing [and] recharging” atmosphere, Brewer’s goal is to give anyone in the community a safe space to enjoy indulging in a treat.

“I always knew that coffee or creating things that make people feel happy or safe … was a passion of mine since I was really young,” she said. “This is my second business that I’ve helped start in two years, so I’m pretty excited about learning and growing … just creating as safe space for people is important to me.”

Brewer’s goal is to eventually operate The Alleyway as a coffee shop by day and open it up as a cocktail bar in the evenings.

“We’re pretty excited that people and families can come during the day, and then at nighttime, people [one day] could come and have date nights and picture times and just a safe space for not just kids, but adults as well for the community around us,” she said. Brewer hopes to open as a cocktail bar in the next year or so.

With it’s “celestial” aesthetic of brick, ivy and gold accents, the hope is customers will be drawn to the shop for photo shoots, especially with their “Paper Moon” mural, encouraging people to “linger, interact and create lasting memories.”

Overall, Brewer is excited to offer customers and the community the option for “a health-conscious indulgence” and hopes they take away a sense of peace and happiness when they visit.

“People start their day to out with coffee and if they’re having a good day … it’s like they treat themselves,” Brewer said. “If they’re having a bad day, they come in and that’s their little pick me up.”

The Alleyway Café is open Monday to Sunday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., and is located at 315 Federal St. in The Dalles.