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Cafe Dhibs is nearing its planned Nov. 23 launch date at 918 W. Commercial St.
Photo provided by Cafe Dhibs
Cafe Dhibs is nearing its planned Nov. 23 launch date at 918 W. Commercial St.

New C-Street cafe plans opening this month

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The ownership behind a Commercial Street business is on the verge of launching a new venture next door.

Date Lady Inc.’s Colleen and Ryan Sundlie are finishing up infill work at 918 W. Commercial St., with the goal of opening Cafe Dhibs on Nov. 23. The micro-cafe, at approximately 400 square feet, will feature a menu including date shakes, espressos, baked goods and charcuterie trays.

Everything will be made from scratch, using only gluten-free products with no white sugar, said Colleen Sundlie, noting prices will range from $3-$15. The couple’s Date Lady started in 2012 and makes a line of date-based products such as syrup, sugar, chocolate spread and caramel sauce. Dhibs is another word for molasses, Sundlie said, and is commonly known as date syrup.

Cafe Dhibs also will serve as a retail outlet for the company, as it doesn’t sell items out of its commercial kitchen site at 900 W. Commercial St. That was part of the appeal of buying the building next door from Gary Walker, Sundlie said, declining to disclose the purchase price.

“We’ve always had it in the back of our mind,” she said of opening a cafe featuring date products. “We thought this would be a great way to have a nice little space in close proximity.”

The two buildings are not adjoining, she said, noting the 918 W. Commercial St. space had operated as various barbershops since the 1950s.

“It was pretty much an empty canvas,” she said of Cafe Dhibs’ home.

Declining to disclose startup costs, she said interior work has mostly been decor, as no food preparation will be conducted in the space. That work will remain in the Date Lady building, she added.

Sundlie said Date Lady has been located on Commercial Street since 2014 and sees the new venture as a place to be more consumer oriented. That would be much like when the couple started selling its line of date-based products several years ago at Farmers Market of the Ozarks, she said.

“We always like to have direct contact with our customers,” she said. “But part of it is we’re really into food and coffee and this seems like such a fun, creative outlet for that.”

With such a small space in which to operate, Sundlie said the cafe will focus on to-go orders.

“As you can imagine, there isn’t much seating, so there will be no table service,” she said.

Sundlie said she’s hopeful the cafe also will provide an opportunity to expand Date Lady’s product line, which earlier this year added barbecue sauce and sweet chili sauce to its offerings.

“Who knows what new products will come about from this?” she said. “It’s kind of the perfect way to do research.”

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