Everything at Brew@602 is on track for a Thursday opening, including the coffeehouse itself.
Since guiding two train cars to the top of Kleeb Loop, just outside of Soldotna, Mary Krull has been working to transform the locomotives into a local destination for coffee and more.
Brew@602 is housed in a bright blue rail car overlooking the Sterling Highway and is open for business starting this Thursday at 7 a.m. The coffeehouse will be open seven days a week until 5 p.m. and serves an assortment of coffee sourced from SteamDot Coffee Roasters in Anchorage, all while maintaining the ambiance of a rail car. Customers can order a selection of drinks with thematic names, like a ‘Casey Jones,’ or choose from a savory or sweet waffle before choosing from one of the authentic rail car seats which are equipped with power and USB outlets.
“I’ve taken this vision that was in my head and now it’s real,” Krull said. “Not many people get to do that and I got to take this idea and make it reality.”
Krull said Brew@602 is designed to give people a unique experience. Unlike other coffee shops in the area, Brew@602 doesn’t offer a drive up order window, instead inviting people in to sit and stay a while.
“I imagine people staying,” Krull said. “I think that is the biggest thing is come and sit in the rail car and to experience the rail car. A lot of people have never been in a train and I want to give them that experience without actually riding on one.”
The coffeehouse is just the first piece to what Krull has dubbed ‘Whistle Hill.’
Brew@602 will share an entrance way with Frames and Things, the Soldotna-based picture framing store, which will open in early 2018.
“This has been one of the smoothest developments that I’ve been a part of,” said Krull. She said most of the credit goes to her construction company, Batir Construction, who worked diligently on Brew@602 and is continuing work on the second train car, called Addie Camp, which Krull said is slated to open for business before summer.
“We are rolling right into the second train car,” Krull said. “(Addie Camp) will be a full restaurant and a beer and wine garden. That should be open May or June.”
And although the train doors haven’t, officially, opened yet, the staff at Brew@602 are ready to go full steam ahead.
“This week has been all about training,” said Assistant Manager Elan Krull. “… And we’ve had some random people walk in and we’ve served them. We’re just trying to work through the flow.”
Reach Kat Sorensen at kat.sorensen@peninsulaclarion.com
Alyeska Krull puts the finishing touches on a coffee drink during the final days of training before the grand opening of Brew@602, a coffee and waffle shop located on Kleeb Loop Road. The shop will be serving Steam Dot coffee from Anchorage. (Photo by Kat Sorensen/Peninsula Clarion)
