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Update, July 20, 2026, 6:10 p.m.: Mudhouse Coffee contacted The Alexandria Brief to clarify that the Alexandria location will open this month, not this week as the company's Instagram post originally stated. The post has since been updated.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A Charlottesville-based coffee roastery that got its start with a cart on the Downtown Mall is days away from opening its newest location on King Street in Old Town Alexandria, according to the company's Instagram page.
Mudhouse Coffee Roasters announced Sunday that it will open at 1119 King St. this month. The company initially posted it would open "this week" before contacting The Alexandria Brief and updating the post to reflect the new timeline.
"Something new is brewing in Alexandria," the company posted. "We're putting the finishing touches on our newest location, and we can't wait to welcome you through the doors."
The opening marks the latest chapter for a business that founders Lynelle and John Lawrence started more than 20 years ago with little more than a coffee cart and an idea hatched in an Alaskan van.
"We lived in an old VW van, down by the river," the company writes on its website. "That's when we decided to open a coffeehouse back in Virginia. We wanted to make a difference. People thought we were crazy. Banks thought we were crazy, but we persevered."
The Lawrences, both licensed Q Graders through the Coffee Quality Institute, built Mudhouse into a specialty roastery with six locations across Virginia and South Carolina. The Alexandria shop will be their seventh.
For the King Street space, Mudhouse hired West Workshop, an architecture and interior design firm with offices in Raleigh and Washington, to create an interior that nods to Old Town's history. The three-story building features five seating areas, Victorian-inspired wallpapers, oak paneling, marble countertops and an outdoor garden planted with jasmine, Alexandria Living Magazine reported.
"By incorporating details reminiscent of Old Town sitting rooms and sleeping porches, the design achieves a modern ambiance with historic references," West Workshop said in a statement about the project.
According to a special use permit application filed with the city, the shop will be open seven days a week and will seat 20 customers inside, with the possibility of additional outdoor seating. The owners also plan to host open mic nights, poetry readings and coffee tastings.
Mudhouse sources its beans from small farms in Ethiopia, Panama, Indonesia and elsewhere, prioritizing organic, Fair Trade and Rainforest Alliance certifications. The company became licensed Q Graders in 2014, a credential issued by the Coffee Quality Institute that allows holders to professionally evaluate and score specialty coffee.
The Alexandria location had been in the works since 2021, when the building at 1119 King St. — previously home to interior design company J. Brown and Co. — was purchased for $2.2 million, according to city property records.
As of Monday, the company's website still listed the location as "coming soon."
