Popular SLO County coffeehouse serves up Hawaiian food and drink in a new location
After a long wait, fans of Hawaiian coffee can once again get their fix at Red Dirt Coffee House — now at its new location in Arroyo Grande’s Walmart shopping center.
The family-owned coffeehouse, which was established in Arroyo Grande in March 2010 by Jackye and Paul Balegal, relocated to 1142 West Branch St. in June, after being closed for more than a month.
“It was daunting,” Jackye Balegal said of the move. “It was a process for sure. ... We got in here and did the painting, lay the tiles, it was definitely not an experience I would do annually.”
The Balegal family has finished up the final touches on Red Dirt Coffee’s new home, and patrons can now swing by for food and drinks, which they can enjoy sitting around the many tables inside or on the terrace.
The coffee shop is open from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day except Monday. It’s located between Sally’s Beauty Supply and Blaze Pizza.
Balegal said that the new location is “pretty much the same” as the old one, but that they now have a “much larger open patio and high ceilings.”
In addition, the coffeehouse is now serving its Hawaiian plates every day of the week and offering online orders and deliveries through ChowNow, she said.
Previously, the cafe was located in the Smart & Final shopping center, a six-minute drive from the new spot. Balegal said that the business had since “outgrown the space,” a sentiment shared by some of the patrons, who said they were happy with the new and “more spacious” location.
“Our move was much needed,” Balegal said. “We just needed a fresh change.”
Red Dirt’s old location permanently closed after May 7 in preparation for the move.
With the move and new lease finalized, Red Dirt Coffee House plans to celebrate the grand opening of its new location on September 11, said Balegal, when Paul Balegal’s father comes to visit from Maui.
Although some details of the grand opening have yet to be concretely defined, she said it take place from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. and will feature a Kanikapila, an event where people bring their ukuleles to play together in front of the coffeehouse.
Red Dirt Coffee House hosts similar Kanikapilas on the last Sunday of every month during the summer at 1 p.m. and are free to attend, she said. September’s grand opening will host the last monthly Kanikapila of the year, but the coffee house will occasionally hold more throughout the winter, according to Balegal, and will be announced on the cofeee house’s Instagram page.
The return of a local favorite
Red Dirt Coffee House has been a local favorite for years now, offering its patrons a wide variety of Hawaiian meals and beverages along with free wi-fi and ample seating.
Inspired by Paul Balegal’s time spent in Hawaii during his childhood, the Hawaiian themed cafe aims to give patrons “a taste of the islands right here in the mainland,” according to Red Dirt Coffee House’s website.
“I wanted a coffee shop. My husband wanted the Hawaiian theme because of his Hawaiian roots,” Jackye Balegal said.
With pictures of Hawaiian dancers, paintings of the island, statues of marine animals and potted tropical plants, the coffeehouse evokes an island theme, supplemented by its Hawaiian food and beverages.
Its selection of drinks includes Hawaiian Kona coffee, house coffee blends from Santa Barbara Roasting Co. and a wide selection of blended drinks, according to the website.
In addition, the coffeehouse sells Papa Joe’s Hawaiian chili pepper water, made from Maui-grown chili peppers grown by Paul’s father, Balegal said.
Balegal recommends trying the Black Sand Mocha, which has peanut butter and chocolate chips, and which she says is Red Dirt Coffee House’s most popular blended drink. She also highlighted the Li Hing Mui Mango smoothie, a fruity drink with a sweet-and-salty red powder.
The cafe also offers its customers a large list of Hawaiian breakfast and lunch meals. A crowd favorite, according to Yelp, is the breakfast burrito, a combination of bacon, Hawaiian sausage, cheddar and mango.
The Loko Moko is not to be missed either, said Balegal. This dish is made from two hamburger patties over rice, with gravy and poached eggs, topped with a pasteurized yolk sauce.
Besides full meals, the Red Dirt offers a variety of snacks that patrons can enjoy alongside their drinks, such as spam musubi and locally sourced pastries.
This story was originally published August 5, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
