I was in Salt Lake City for Mother’s Day Weekend. My sister recommended Alpha Coffee shop. It also happened to be on the way to where we were heading. I didn’t do much research, so I wasn’t expecting anything, but the coffee turned out better than I thought. It’s the first veteran-founded coffee shop I’ve been to, and I really like the owners’ mission!
Brief Background
Based solely in Salt Lake City, Alpha Coffee has two locations:
This review is for the Cottonwood Heights location.
Alpha Coffee was founded by veteran Carl Churchill and his wife, Lori. They donate 10% of their profits to meaningful causes through their Grounds For Good program. They give back to the troops by selling coffee – for every order of coffee they ship, they send a cup equivalent to troops deployed oversees. That’s awesome!
And their mission statement pretty much says it all:
“Awesome Coffee. Be a Warrior. Have Fun and Give Back”
Décor: 6/10
I’ll be straight up. It’s not the most artistic or unique design for a coffee shop (the downtown location has a more modern updated look). The interior feels a little dated…kind of like a cozy log cabin you’d find just outside the woods. But that sort of works, since it’s right by the canyon.
The space has a fairly open layout. One half of the shop is dedicated to the coffee bar while the other is dedicated for the customers.
Coffee: 8/10
Their coffee was great! I got a traditional Vanilla Latte. They use a medium roast for their lattes, which I’m finding to be pretty common. This one had a full-bodied profile to it, which I enjoyed. The coffee taste sticks around in your mouth longer.
They roast their own beans and create their own blends, which I always appreciate, and source most of them from South America
Alpha Coffee’s menu is pretty big.
My sister’s boyfriend got one of their specials called The Amazonian, which has espresso, oat milk, almond syrup, and cinnamon. It’s pretty heavy on the almond syrup but it’s not overly sweet. I actually liked it better than my Vanilla Latte.
Pastries: N/A
They also serve pastries here, but I had just eaten breakfast so I wasn’t hungry for one.
I will say this though – their pastries are HUGE. So you do get your moneys worth.
Productivity: 7.5/10
There’s plenty of tables for studying or working, which is good. Most of the tables are small, so if you want to sit and study with a friend, you’ll want to snatch one of the bigger tables! If you need to power your laptop, you’ll have to sit along the wall or near the windows.
The Wi-Fi was surprisingly fast. I usually need to hotspot from my phone when I work in cafes, but not here!
The one small issue I have is that the nice views of the mountains can be distracting when trying to study.
Parking: 10/10
There’s plenty of parking. They have an upper and lower parking lot. If those are full, you can park along the street.
Overall, Alpha coffee is a solid spot – good coffee and great mission. I’m definitely curious to check out their downtown location next time!
If you have any other Salt Lake City coffee shop recommendations, let me know in the comments below!
