New dessert cafe with Biscoff waffles, crêpes, coffee opens in Tacoma’s South End

Locus Café, a new dessert and coffee shop in Tacoma’s South End — a neighborhood that could use more such fun — soft-opens today, Nov. 21.

The café took over a storefront at 4822 Pacific Ave., the original home of Erica’s Peace Love and Ice Cream, which relocated to a much larger building a half-block north last year. It was a sensible expansion for the Altameemi family — brothers Ali and Hassan have owned and operated Dania Smoke Shop right next door since 2018.

They have two sisters, Ranya and Dania, who are leading the Locus concept, design and day-to-day happenings.

The long and narrow space has been transformed into a modern, minimalist cafe with archway accents and wood-slat paneling, creating little nooks for each table. A banquette with throw pillows near the front will allow for families and groups to gather.

From behind the counter, staff will create waffles, crêpes and mini pancakes with six flavor combinations ($12.99-$14.99). In test runs, the Biscoff Mr. Locus has emerged as a favorite, said Dania, with its caramelized sauce made with Lotus Biscoff paste drizzled alongside a Kinder Bueno sauce (the Italian milk-chocolate wafer candy), all topped with Biscoff crumbles and a cookie. Others include the Ferrero with milk chocolate and Bueno sauce finished with crushed peanuts, and the Pistachio Dream with a pistachio and white chocolate sauce. Also on the menu: Dubai chocolate strawberry cups, the trendy treat with crushed katafia plus white and milk chocolate.

Signature coffees (most $4-$6.50), available hot or iced, feature more Biscoff in the Mr. Locus with sweetened condensed milk, mocha and hazelnut with chocolate syrup in the Noir, and banana pudding cream (in lieu of foam) with vanilla in the aptly named Banana Pudding. They will also offer seasonal drinks — right now a Toasted Marshmallow and Peppermint Mocha with crushed candy canes.

Equipped with a proper espresso machine, you can opt instead for a classic Americano, latte or cappuccino, and customize with flavored syrups and cold foam.

Alternative caffeine comes in the form of energy drinks (most $6.50-$7.50), such as the Oasis with watermelon, mango and cantaloupe, or the Cloud 9 with pineapple, blue raspberry and green apple.

“We focus on the detail and the portion,” said Ali. The sauces are made especially for the shop, he added.

Creating a cafe with fun drinks & desserts in Tacoma

Amid final touches of hanging the television-screen menu on the wall behind the counter and ordering more plastic cups and lids, the siblings said this week they had lightly teased the idea of opening another business over the years. Dania was inspired by travels with their mother in the United Kingdom, Turkey and Iraq, to shops serving unique drinks and colorful desserts.

One cool idea they will soon unveil: the Locus Box, a custom, bento-box-esque presentation of miniature desserts and fruit (pineapples, strawberries, bananas) with ramekins of sauces to dip.

The family arrived to the Tacoma area as Iraqi refugees in 2008, explained Ali. He, as a teenager, and his parents worked as interpreters for the U.S. military, he said, and they eventually applied for sponsorship through a Seattle-area church to emigrate. They left Iraq in 2006 and spent about a year in Jordan before receiving the news that their dream of moving to America would come true.

“It kind of all morphed,” said Dania. “It always looked so beautiful and welcoming,” in particular the late-night cafés in Iraq, where it’s so very hot during the day that such leisure occurred after sundown. “So we said, if we ever opened another business, we would open up a café.”

Then Erica’s vacated this unit to move to 47th Street in 2024. They have been working on the project for 13 months, they said. Neighbors have dropped by to share their excitement, added Dania — a sentiment with which yours truly, as a South End resident, wholeheartedly agrees.

They are hoping to grow a collection of board games and generally become a place where all ages can relax by day and hang out by night. Starting hours are 10 a.m.-10 p.m., but earlier mornings are possible down the line, as are blended drinks like smoothies and milkshakes.

No matter when you visit, you are likely to see the siblings and other family members, including Hassan’s wife Safa Jaffar, behind the counter.

Locus Café

• 4822 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253-319-8097, locuscafe.net
• Starting hours: daily 10 a.m.-10 p.m.
• Details: new coffee shop with house desserts in the South End with ample seating and family-friendly setting

This story was originally published November 21, 2025 at 5:00 AM.