Salvador Castaneda has got A LOT brewing in Eldridge.
The passionate owner of The Granary, 219 N. 1st St., Eldridge, has created a place with all things craft: craft coffee, craft beer, and some lighter tapas-style food items, which are similar to appetizers and popular in Spain. The Granary (named for a storehouse for grain), a new coffee house and brewery, is excited to provide the community with the “best of both brews” — craft coffee and beer.
A 47-year-old native of Mexico City, Castaneda works in IT (remotely), and runs The Granary with his wife Jessica. He also has six children (including five boys under 14 with Jessica). He grew up in Moline, graduated from Moline High School and is an Air Force veteran.
They bought three buildings (totaling 6,500 square feet) on the 1.3-acre site last December, and renovated the former office building for the new business, which opened in late May.
“For a long time, I wanted to have a nightclub,” Castaneda said Tuesday, adding he later wanted to get into real estate. “We thought it was a great location. My neighbor told me about it, before it hit the market. We rezoned it to commercial.”
He’s wanted to open a coffee shop for years, and also got into home brewing beer.
“I really liked craft beer and really liked craft coffee,” Castaneda said. “When we were traveling, we always had in the back of our mind that we wanted to open a coffee shop or a brewery. So everywhere we traveled, we tried different things to see what we liked.”
That included in Guatemala, Mexico City, all around Lake Michigan, the Pacific Northwest and California.
They have lived in Eldridge for seven years, and decided to open the combo coffee house/brewery, because they didn’t want to have a business open just half the day if it were one or the other. Castaneda also offers homemade breakfast sandwiches and lunch sandwiches as part of the menu, and has a drive-through window.
The Granary hours are 6:30 a.m.-11 a.m. Mondays, 6:30-11 a.m. and 5 p.m.-9 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 6:30 a.m.-1 p.m. and 3-9 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 6:30 a.m.-2 p.m. and 3-9 p.m. Saturdays, and 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Sundays.
They sell the breakfast sandwiches, coffees and beer all day long. The specials are only in afternoon and evenings. Castaneda said Mondays are not busy, so he likely will close that day to give himself a break.
The menu also will rotate, with pizza specials this week on naan bread. While Castaneda has equipment to brew his own beer, that will start in about a month. In the meantime, The Granary is selling Bettendorf-based Nerdspeak Brewery beer, starting with an IPA, Hefe and Saison.
“I want to share,” he said. “It’s not just gonna be Nerdspeak. I reached out to Contrary, to other breweries, to have some of their beers. My goal is to have three of mine on tap and three of other local breweries.
“For coffee, we are brewing coffee out of Chicago, but I bought a roaster, and we’re gonna start roasting some of our own beans as well,” Castaneda said, noting he’ll also start selling wines from around the world and top-shell liquors.
Since Visit Quad Cities has the QC Ale Trail and QC Coffee Trail, The Granary hopes to be part of both of those promotions.
One of his specialty drinks is called “Marvin Mule” an organic tequila mule, named after a donkey that used to live on the property when it was a seeding company, Castaneda said.
He plans to play around with combination coffee-beer beverages, after the fact. One will be called “Cremer,” a double shot of espresso in an IPA. “It is so good,” Castaneda said, noting he also makes a hibiscus or lime Michelada, a Mexican beer.
Other buildings on the property are envisioned long-term to be transformed into a tap room and event center. For more information, visit The Granary’s Facebook page.
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