SeasideOceanside — From the moment you step inside the newly opened Steel Mill Coffee & Records in Oceanside, you can tell it’s unlike any other trendy coffee shop in the area.
An eclectic mix of retro music plays over the speakers, a custom-built chopper motorcycle with an extended fork sits in the corner, photos of skateboarders hang on the walls, and racks of elderly vinyl records dating back to the mid-1960s are for sale.
Co-owners Riley Hawk, Shea Cooper and Chris Balingit combined all of their businesses when they opened their store Feb. 4 at 605 Mission Ave. But Hawk said they didn’t set out to just open a business for themselves and their friends.
“Those are the things we love, but we want to attract customers with different interests. We hope people come in for a coffee and maybe discover music they love. Or maybe they’re into music and they get into cycles,” Hawk said.
Hawk is the son of local skateboarding legend Tony Hawk and is a professional skater himself. Cooper also skates professionally and comes from a family of coffee shop owners in Idaho. Balingit skates for fun and has extensive experience in the coffee industry, having apprenticed as a roaster at James Coffee Co. in San Diego.
Hawk and Cooper have been friends since their teenage years, and Cooper met Balingit six years ago through coffee-making connections. All three men are 26, all ride motorcycles and all live in Oceanside. Since the store opened last week, they have worked side by side seven days a week as the store’s sole employees.
Hawk and Cooper are both music enthusiasts. Hawk played in local bands for several years and began collecting vinyl records at age 15. The store’s music collection ranges from classic rock and punk to local bands. Among the records up for sale Wednesday morning were a 1967 pressing of The Doors’ “Strange Days,” a 1968 copy of “This is Deep Purple” and a 2017 reissue of early ’70s songs by British punk band Crushed Butler.
“We thought we’d put some music that we liked out there and we weren’t sure how it would do, but the record sold like crazy,” Hawk said.
Immense black-and-white photographs with personal meaning to Hawk hang on the walls. The largest photo is of his father performing high-level acrobatics. There are also portraits of two of his skating friends who are no longer alive: Los Angeles resident Dylan Rieder, who died of leukemia at age 28 in 2016, and Encinitas resident Ian “Poods” Barry, who died at age 22 in a cliff fall in Leucadia in 2012.
The 900-square-foot store sells James Coffee Co., which Balingit says has the best roasting program in the city. David Kennedy, founder of James Coffee, also helped build all the metalwork in the store’s cafe.
Steel Mill Coffee sells a diminutive variety of coffee drinks, from espresso to lattes, as well as herbal and caffeinated teas. They also sell a selection of cakes and donuts from nearby bakeries. Prices range from $2 for a diminutive brewed coffee to $5 for a immense mocha.
Eventually, Hawk said, he and his partners would like to do some art exhibits and maybe a live band in the evenings. For now, they’re focusing on the quality of the coffee and creating a welcoming space for coffee lovers who are looking for something other than the corner Starbucks.
“First and foremost, we want to serve great coffee,” Cooper said. “But we want to create a welcoming environment for everyone.”
Steel Mill Coffee & Records
Opening hours: daily from 7:00 to 16:00
Where: 605 Mission Ave., Oceanside
Phone: (760) 208-0827
on-line: facebook.com/SteelMillCoffeeCo/
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