New coffee shop in Downtown Fresno inspired by city's history

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The coffee and the history are drawing customers to Dale Brothers Coffee Shop.

"I love Fresno history. When I found out Dale Brothers was coming back to Downtown and just restarting as a company, I just thought that was super cool and we had to come and check it out," said Chris Rocha, customer.

Rocha was one of the customers that got a cup of joe during Dale Brothers Company's grand opening. He even has old coffee tin, ones that sit on store shelves.

Pictures taken by Pop Lava of Dale Bros. line the walls, telling of the company's history as a coffee roaster.

"The original Dale Brothers opened in Fresno in 1917 as a general store and became locally famous for their coffee blends, and they closed the store and opened a roaster in Downtown Fresno," said Melanie Unguez, Store Manager.

Unguez's husband and one of the grandsons of the Dales opened the business.

"Brennan and Mike have always talked about how the one thing Dale Brothers never did was have a coffee shop and how great that would be."

Their idea became a reality when a business owner needed to fill a space in the historic Fresno Consumer Ice Company Building along P Street. The store sells a variety of tea and coffee drinks.

One of the popular items is nitro cold brew. The coffee is brewed cold 24 hours overnight, then infused with nitrogen and just like beer comes out of a tap, cold and strong.

Opening day was busy with customers trying out the new shop and taking a look at their merchandise, some of it Fresno inspired.

Unguez believes more growth will happen on her side of Downtown due to new businesses and a future Bitwise expansion. Next door to Dale's, Quesadilla Gorilla has plans to open up a storefront.

"We're just really excited and everybody from the surrounding businesses. They all seem excited to have something so close," said Unguez.

Dale Brothers Coffee will be brewing coffee Monday through Friday seven to three.