LONG BEACH — A brand-new coffee spot has opened up “south of the Clam” in Long Beach that’s serving up coffee classics, crafts for kids and cool contraptions like bubble waffle cones.

Patrick and Stacy Reddy are the owners and operators of the Kraken Kafe, located at 601 Pacific Ave. S in downtown Long Beach. The cafe sits on a lot that has undergone significant renovations since the Reddys purchased it and is also home to their bike rental service, Tsunami Cycle, as well as a mix of short- and long-term rental units.

Kraken Kafe is currently open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays, and 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends. Come July 1, the cafe will be open daily from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Extensive renovationThe building housing Kraken Kafe has been used for a litany of purposes over the decades, including as a home, Mexican restaurant and affordable moped business. The Reddys purchased the property in early 2022 and Tsunami Cycle, located in the building behind the cafe, opened up shop last spring.

But Kraken Kafe’s future home required some serious elbow grease to get it up to snuff, and over the past year it underwent a dramatic transformation from being a rodent-infested enclave into the peninsula’s newest family-friendly coffee shop.

“We tore all the drywall and all the insulation out — because you have to get rid of that stuff — and we redid it basically from the ground up,” Patrick said. “New siding, new pictures, new floors, new appliances, new drywall. Just about everything.”

“Everything” includes a new pink paint job on the building’s exterior, which Patrick said elicits a “beach-y” feeling and helps the cafe stand out. “Most people didn’t like it until we put the black trim up, and it really popped.”

‘South of the Clam’The cafe has incorporated art, signage and artifacts from other peninsula businesses and buildings, including a captain’s wheel and surfboard from Castaways, the benches from the Rides at Long Beach bumper cars that are going to be restored, and an arcade game from Pit Stop, the ice cream shop that was located next to the go-kart track.

“It’s gonna continue to evolve a little bit with the old stuff, so people can remember what’s changed since Stacy came down here in the ‘80s,” Patrick said. “I started [visiting] around 2000 and we moved down here full-time four years ago, so [it brings back] a little nostalgia. Everything’s changing here. Downtown is really, really changing.”

Along with showing off treasures from other local businesses, the Reddys have also helped establish an informal network with other businesses in Long Beach’s south downtown area, which Patrick calls “south of the Clam” — the Giant Squirting Clam on the corner of Pacific and South 5th Street, that is.

Stacy pointed out that the clientele for some south Long Beach eateries and businesses skews heavily local — up to 80% — because visitors simply aren’t exploring these areas of downtown.

“If you stand right out there on the sidewalk every day, [people] get down to the clam and they either turn left or right,” Patrick said. “By bringing this brightness and an outdoor area to sit and the bikes and all that, we’re trying to get people to hopefully migrate south.”

Members of the clam clan coordinate with one another when they’re planning a trip across the river for supplies, to help cut down on the volume of back-and-forth trips that cost time and gas money.

“We’re just trying to bring more awareness and expand the downtown corridor a little more,” Patrick said.

Coffee and craftsThe Reddys said they landed on a cafe because despite the many coffee stands on the peninsula, there aren’t as many dedicated spots where you can come in, order a coffee, sit down, relax and drink it while chatting with friends and family or using the cafe’s wifi to get some work done.

“We saw a need,” Stacy put simply.

Kraken Kafe carries Caffe Umbria coffee, which is billed as authentic Italian espresso that is crafted using a blend of Arabica coffee from a variety of sources. The cafe offers all the usual hot and cold coffee offerings, such as lattes, frappes, cappuccinos, mochas, Americanos, macchiatos, mochas and drip.

But they also offer newer caffeine twists that are popular with younger crowds, including Red Bull Infusions that they offer with some 20 different flavors. They also offer half a dozen teas that are made using organic, local ingredients, such as “Northwest Wild,” which features cranberries grown on the peninsula along with hibiscus, lemongrass, hawthorn berries, linden flower and leaf, and cinnamon chips.

The cafe also serves up ice cream and milkshakes in a variety of flavors. The ice cream can be served in a bowl or cone, with perhaps the most enticing vessel being the bubble waffle cone. The thick cone has large bubbles shaped like a hexagon that is crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.

Taking note of how often it rains on the peninsula, the Reddys said creating a family-friendly indoor atmosphere is something that was important to them. The cafe includes a dedicated craft station for children, where they can do things like paint on a canvas, build a fairy, gnome or mermaid for a garden, paint and decorate a birdhouse, make pebble art or build a wind chime out of sand dollars.

Children are able to pick out their project, and they can either work on it at a craft station or pack it up to take and work on at home. Prices for the various craft project kits range from $5 to $25.

“[Families] seem to really like it,” Patrick said. “It’s amazing how quiet kids are when they’re doing something … You can sit there and use whatever you want to use, and it’s all in one package. You don’t have to worry about buying paint or little sparkly things or buttons or any of the stuff in there that you want to use on the shelves.”