Two men are looking to bring Anaheim a coffee shop like never seen before.
Co-owners Gabriel Stempinski and Kris Irons are building Requiem, Coffee, Tea & Fantasy is a gaming-themed cafe set to open in late October.
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The idea was born almost 10 years ago with a 17 year old Irons who was at the time homeless.
“I was working at Color Me Mine. I wanted to go college. I had ambition...I was working three to four jobs, 80 hours a week. I wasn’t wrecking my own life with bad choices. I was desperately trying to claw myself out of this situation.”
To pass the time before he returned to his "home" in his 2006 Prius, he hung out late at night at cafes.
Years later, he now works as a respiratory therapist but is now finally making his coffee shop dream a reality.
Partnering with Stempinski the two are taking inspiration from those late night drinks and daydreams for what he says will be “the Disneyland of coffee shops.”
Stempinksi says there is definitely a demand for a shop like this, as nerd culture is becoming more mainstream in downtown Anaheim.
“It’s a great central location. Disneyland is down the street and there are plenty of comic conventions and other conventions just a $5 Uber ride to here.”
The massive fantasy coffee shop will have four fantasy-themed sections: science fiction, medieval, a magical forest and steampunk.
The middle of the room will have a “nuclear core reactor” where people can plug in their electronics and games.
Televisions will be running Twitch, a video game platform and a mead hall-style table is being custom built for people to play fantasy trading card games.
As tech heavy as the shop sounds, Irons really wants it to feel like home for customers.
"I wanted to create a comforting place where they can escape problems in their life. Be open really late and give it a very fantasy vibe that truly embodies escapism.”