A longtime coffee stand in Lake Tapps is turning into something much bigger: a sit-down café with a mimosa bar, dirty sodas, and TVs for watching the game. The Coffee Vault, which has operated in the area since 2022, is expanding its walk-up location at 18215 Ninth St. E. into a new concept called The Lake Tapps Society, expected to open in early September 2026.
The expansion is the work of Chelsea Scott, Stephanie Jensen and Gina Stanhope, who run The Coffee Vault, according to The News Tribune. Scott grew up in the Lake Tapps area, and she told the paper the new café is meant to feel personal to the community it serves. “It's a love letter to the community,” Scott said, per the same report.
The Coffee Vault will keep its existing drive-thru location at 314 182nd Ave. E. running as before, while the walk-up spot next door transforms into the larger café. The space next door to the walk-up, formerly home to a clothing store called Slate, is being converted into a prep kitchen to support the expanded menu, the outlet reports.
What's Changing at the New Café
The Lake Tapps Society will keep serving the drinks and food customers already love from the walk-up, according to the report, while adding an expanded beverage menu that includes dirty sodas and additional grab-and-go food options. The café will also sell mugs, local art and jewelry made by local artists, giving it more of a retail and hangout feel than a typical coffee stand.
Perhaps the biggest shift is the addition of alcohol. The café plans to stay open later to serve beer, wine and champagne, with a mimosa bar as a centerpiece and TVs on the wall for showing sporting events. Scott described the space as designed for a wide cross-section of Lake Tapps residents — students stopping in after school, workers meeting with clients, and neighbors just looking for a place to gather, the report notes.
The Regulatory Hurdles Before Opening
Serving alcohol alongside coffee isn't as simple as adding it to the menu. Under Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board rules known as WAC 314-02-035, establishments with a spirits, beer, and wine restaurant license must maintain food preparation equipment on site and offer complete meals for at least five hours a day during alcohol service, according to the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board. That's part of why the former Slate space is being converted into dedicated prep space rather than just extra seating.
State law also requires anyone who serves or manages alcohol sales for on-premises consumption to hold a Mandatory Alcohol Server Training, or MAST, permit issued by the Liquor and Cannabis Board. The Lake Tapps Society is still awaiting final approvals from the health department before it can open, per The News Tribune's reporting. Because Lake Tapps is an unincorporated community governed directly by Pierce County, those health and safety permits fall to county-level authorities rather than a city government, according to Wikipedia.
Locally Roasted Coffee and a Growing Trend
The café will continue sourcing all its coffee from Dillanos, which provides the shop's special blend. Dillanos, located in Sumner, was founded in 1992 in Buckley, Washington, and now operates a 45,000-square-foot wholesale roasting facility serving more than 1,500 locations nationwide, according to Dillanos Coffee Roasters. The roaster earned national recognition in 2011 when Roast Magazine named it Macro Roaster of the Year, an award given to roasters producing over 100,000 pounds of coffee annually.
Dirty sodas — the custom soft drinks mixed with flavored syrups, cream and fruit juices that The Lake Tapps Society plans to serve — trace back to Utah's Mormon community in the early 2010s before viral TikTok trends around 2021 turned the concept into a national beverage phenomenon, according to Food Republic. The trend's popularity as a customizable, non-alcoholic option has made it a natural fit for cafés looking to expand beyond traditional espresso drinks.
The Coffee Vault's evolution fits a broader pattern taking shape across the South Puget Sound, where quick-service coffee stands are increasingly adding sit-down seating and expanded menus. Earlier this month, Puyallup-based Rescue Me Coffee opened a sit-down Eatonville café after operating as a single stand for over a decade. Lake Tapps itself has the demographic profile to support that kind of hybrid concept — the unincorporated community had an estimated population of 12,476 and a median household income of $148,005 in 2026, well above the broader Pierce County median, according to World Population Review.
