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In Ray Oldenburg's 1989 book The Great Good Place, he suggests that for a healthy existence citizens must balance three realms: home, the workplace, and social-gathering spots. "Your third place is where you relax in public, where you encounter familiar faces, and make new acquaintances," the sociologist wrote.
Local developer Damien Mavis, a partner at CoVelop Inc., found inspiration in Oldenburg's book when revitalizing the Creamery Marketplace in downtown San Luis Obispo from 2016 to 2019 and now has his sights set on SLO's LoBro neighborhood off Broad Street just south of downtown.
CoVelop's latest project, Duncan Alley, a collection of three buildings with 15 multi-purpose suites, is sandwiched between Duncan Road and a seasonal creek with mature eucalyptus trees.
Industrial and lively yet warm and personal tasting rooms combine with functional manufacturing space. Originally envisioned as a food and beverage hub, the project is currently beverage-heavy, with several spaces still available for lease.
If the January grand openings of Ancient Owl Beer Garden and Croma Vera Wines offer any indication of future success, Duncan Alley is destined to become a popular hangout spot, with planned food trucks and a café rounding out the food component.
The café, from Poor But Sexy Inc., parent company of Kreuzberg California, will operate alongside coffee roasting and ice cream manufacturing facilities for its Kraken Coffee and Batch Old Fashioned Ice Cream businesses.
Ancient Owl Beer Garden and Bottle Shoppe
Owned by Alanna and Marin Andruszkiewicz and Larry Duterte, "Ancient Owl Beer Garden is a true mom, pop, and Larry venture," Alanna said.
The trio opened their original beer garden in Atascadero in 2021, quickly becoming known not only for their craft beer collection but also as a venue "for local artists, food trucks, other business owners, and nonprofits to showcase what they do," she said.
"With less than two years under our belt in Atascadero, an amazing opportunity at Duncan Alley presented itself. We loved the location and the local community. We knew it would be a great fit for us," she said. "We cannot wait to engage with more local artists, nonprofits, and local businesses."
The team specializes in draft and packaged beer and other fermented beverages collected from craft brewers throughout the state and beyond. They're also a hub of activity, offering food trucks on Taco Tuesday from La Parrilla, as well as rotating food trucks on Friday and Saturday.
Guests can enjoy DJ music on Friday and live music on Saturday afternoon.
On Friday, Feb. 9, Ancient Owl is featuring permanent jewelry—custom-welded pieces—from Glenn in Gold along with food truck Wandering Eats.
Croma Vera Wines
Croma Vera proprietors Mindy Oliver and husband Chris Stein, along with winemaker Jeremy Leffert, are excited to complement their Paso Robles production facility with a tasting room at Duncan Alley.
The team's current lineup, featuring grapes sourced from the Paso Robles and SLO Coast American Viticultural Areas, includes albariño, carbonic tempranillo, tempranillo, grenache, and Revelación, their signature red blend.
"We established our winery in 2015 to make wines that are a little different, made from lesser-known grape varieties that thrive on the Central Coast," Oliver said. "We are small, producing about 500 to 600 cases yearly, and are not widely distributed."
Upcoming enhanced tasting experiences include The Black Glass Challenge on Feb. 10. Blind taste a wine from the flight in a black glass with no color hues. Winners will be posted on the winery's Instagram page.
El Lugar Wines
Winemaker Coby Parker-Garcia and wife Katie Noonan, co-owners of El Lugar, have consolidated retail and production at their new space and are thrilled to be "sharing our wines with new customers and building our following up," Parker-Garcia said.
In 2023, they celebrated their first vintage at the facility and also made their first chardonnay and sauvignon blanc, which will be released at the end of April.
The winery's 1,200 annual case production primarily focuses on pinot noir from the SLO Coast and Santa Maria Valley AVAs, with a syrah also currently available.
In celebration of Valentine's Day, the team has designed a special package available Feb. 14 to 18. Enjoy a bottle of wine, cheese plate, and flower bouquet on site or to go.
Rhônedonnée Wines
Another winery that moved its production to Duncan Alley in 2023 is Rhônedonnée, co-owned by winemaker Aaron Guerrero and his partner Kirsten Thom.
"We started our label ... in 2017 and produced about 50 cases of our mourvèdre," Thom said. "We are now producing about 500 cases and work with roussanne, grenache, mourvèdre, and syrah."
A play on the words Rhone and randonnée—French for long journey—the winery emulates Old World-style Rhones with Central Coast fruit.
"We are thrilled to be located close to where we live and consider our winery a second home," Thom said.
On Feb. 10 and 11, the winery is offering a Valentine's Tasting Menu of its rosé and all vintages of Destination: Love.
"We pulled the last of our 2018 Destination: Love from our personal cellar, and this may be the only time we can offer this special grenache tasting experience," Thom said.
Shindig Cider
"As longtime fans of cider, John Wilson and I started Shindig in 2020 as a fun little side project with the goal of making ciders that were dry, balanced, and approachable," said co-owner Tommy Valois.
The team bought a secondhand mill and press, picked apples from orchards on friends' properties throughout the Central Coast, and started pressing and fermenting in a backyard shed.
![DELIGHTFULLY DRY "We have a rotating, ever-changing lineup of flavors," said Shingdig Cider co-owner Tommy Valois. "We are also starting a wine program soon [beginning] with a pinot noir." - PHOTO COURTESY OF SHINDIG CIDER](https://media1.newtimesslo.com/ntslo/imager/u/original/14838715/foodanddrink_flavor1-1-34c96931c14fdbf9.jpg)
"The cider we made out of that first harvest was really well received by friends and family, so we decided to go for it and turn the project into a business," Valois said.
Flash forward to September 2023 when the duo opened their Duncan Alley tasting room and production space, averaging 3,000 annual cases of cans along with kegs and small-batch bottles.
"We have been getting a really great flow of SLO locals from the surrounding neighborhoods who all seem stoked that they finally have a spot where they can go out and hit a few bars on the weekend without having to drive across town," Valois said. "It's been a really fun first few months, and we are excited to see what this whole place turns into in the new year."
Shrine Brewing
Joe and Justine Florence plan to open Shrine Brewing this summer and will serve "experimental hoppy beers as well as other traditional styles," said Joe, who apprenticed at Firestone Walker Brewing Company in Paso Robles.
"Opening a brewery where people can enjoy the beer I make has always been a dream of mine, and I can't wait to share that with the SLO community," he added.
"We are incredibly excited to be part of Duncan Alley. We had become fans of Shindig Cider, and it was through them that we found this location. We're very much looking forward to the opportunity to be a part of this destination where people can enjoy some of the best craft beverages the Central Coast has to offer." Δ
Flavor Writer Cherish Whyte thinks Duncan Alley is just what LoBro needed. Reach her at [email protected].
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