Grab a coffee, beer or bite when new cafe opens in Tacoma’s Opera Alley

Before the world discovered coffee, tired souls drank beer and wine with breakfast. Some historians posit we can thank the jolt of non-alcoholic caffeine, more intense than tea, for giving way to the Enlightenment.

A new all-day cafe in Tacoma wants to combine these two historic beverages — and two of the Pacific Northwest’s most beloved cultures — under one Opera Alley roof.

“Those things make people happy here in the Northwest,” said Diamatris Winston, a longtime Tacoma resident who will open Rusty Goat early next year at 712 Opera Alley with his wife Heidi.

It will be the couple’s first hospitality venture. He comes from an accounting background, and she works in health care administration. In addition to personal affection for neighborhood haunts like The Parkway, they were inspired by the success of one of Winston’s old friends, who opened a cafe at Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands.

“If I can build community, put people together, curate a good coffee list, a good beer list, it would just make me a happier person,” he told The News Tribune in a phone call last month.

“I’m not gonna wait until I’m 70 years old,” he joked.

Despite the setbacks of the coronavirus, he still believes “now is the time” to nurture community — with each other, with other business owners, with brewers and coffee roasters.

Rusty Goat will showcase regional beer, cider and wine in a comfortable space with seating for about 50 people at the bar and at a variety of tables and lounge chairs. What will set it apart, hopes Winston, is working with several coffee brands.

“If I had to pick just one coffee,” he laughed, “I wouldn’t because I want to work with more than one.”

It’s an unusual approach because businesses often agree to exclusively sell a single roaster’s beans.

Winston wants the cafe to become a “hub” for both drinks, much in the same way beer fiends flock to taprooms like Peaks and Pints or Edison City Alehouse to mix and match, revisit old favorites and sip new releases.

People want to enjoy these great regional products with great service, he said, while encouraging people to connect through conversation and camaraderie.

“Beer is already doing it. Can coffee do it? I think it can,” Winston said.

He hopes to complement the beverage program with a simple but satisfying food menu, as Pint & Pie has on St. Helens Avenue. Perhaps sweet and savory pasties or empanadas — something handheld and easy to serve on-demand.

WHAT IS THE RUSTY GOAT?

The name links to coffee’s origins and Tacoma’s gritty nature, which Diamatris Winston believes will live on, even as the city he calls home continues to evolve from the one he learned to love as a kid in neighboring Puyallup.

According to the National Coffee Association, legend holds that an Ethiopian goat herder named Kaldi noticed his suddenly energetic animals grazing on the berries of a certain tree. They wouldn’t go to sleep. Kaldi shared this discovery with the local monastery, where the abbot brewed a drink with the berries.

News of its invigorating effects traveled to the Arabian Peninsula, from which coffee blossomed into a regional and soon worldwide addiction. By the 16th century, coffee houses had become epicenters of information, ideas and the arts.

Winston hopes Rusty Goat can become just that for downtown Tacoma.

He and his wife planted the idea of opening such a business last January, before we knew the COVID-19 pandemic would upend all of 2020. A friend showed him the rental listing.

“‘Oh, this is a no-brainer,’” Winston recalled of seeing Union Salon’s former space for the first time. “This is a good vibe down here.” (The salon moved to a larger space on the same block.)

With McMenamin’s Elks Temple and numerous theaters down the street, he said, “It makes sense people would come here,” to Opera Alley.

Each business on this strip north of 7th Street is special. Over the Moon Cafe has hosted first dates and anniversary dinners since 2001, and Devil’s Reef has slung some of the best cocktails in town since 2018. Most recently, The Press Room events venue opened in the restored historic building that printed the city’s newspapers for most of the 20th century.

The Winstons look forward to being a part of this colorful corner.

RUSTY GOAT

▪ 712 Opera Alley, Tacoma, instagram.com/rustygoat4beerandcoffee

▪ Details: targeting early 2021 opening

This story was originally published October 6, 2020 at 5:00 AM.