I want my staff to feel a genuine sense of ownership in the shop, but I also want to shield them from the terrifying financial risks that come with actually owning a business. That’s why we treat our baristas like real financial partners: for every quarter that we hit our profit goal of 1% growth, every single employee gets a 1% raise. On top of that, we distribute 4.67% of our total profits right back to the team annually. In a hyper-competitive city, our equity is what subsidizes our values, and keeping our ecosystem local allows us to pour love into every single cup.

Opening a coffee shop that caters to creative people has been my dream ever since I moved to Austin back in 2002. But for years, I searched for a commercial space and kept hitting a brick wall. The market was brutal, and I watched local business owners drowning in rent. To make Dear Diary a reality, I had to take a massive leap of faith: I sold my house in South Austin and used the equity to buy our little space on Chicon Street. It was terrifying, but because we aren't throwing money into a bottomless pit of commercial rent every month, we have the financial breathing room to protect our eco-friendly values.

A typical independent coffee shop goes through about 40 to 60 gallons of milk every single week. From day one, I knew Dear Diary wouldn’t be contributing to that. We abstain from animal milk entirely, and we never charge you extra for plant-based alternatives. To be transparent, this is an incredibly expensive choice—plant milk costs us four times as much as dairy, and we lose those easy margins. But to me, the financial math doesn't matter compared to the ethical math. No amount of profit would ever make me feel okay with selling cow’s milk.

Las aplicaciones para aprender idiomas son útiles, pero nada reemplaza una conversación real. Sentarse a tomar un café, charlar y reírse con otra persona es la verdadera forma de dominar un idioma. Nuestro Language Club semanal está diseñado para ser totalmente relajado, acogedor y solidario. No necesitas hablar con fluidez; de hecho, ¡ser principiante es parte de la diversión! Ven a practicar tu inglés, ayuda a alguien con su español y construyamos un vecindario más conectado todos los viernes a las 6:00 PM.

Language apps are great, but nothing replaces the real thing. Sitting down over an oat milk latte and laughing through a conversation with a real human being is how language actually sticks. Our weekly Language Club is designed to be entirely low-pressure, supportive, and welcoming. You don’t need to be fluent—in fact, being a beginner is half the fun! Come practice your Spanish, help someone with their English, and build a more connected neighborhood with us every Friday at 6:00 PM.

An especially rainy summer has our East Austin neighborhood practically dripping with wild Mustang grapes. They are climbing up fence lines and wrapping around telephone poles in the full Texas sun. Raw, they are incredibly tart and mouth-puckering—but cooked down into a syrup, they transform into pure culinary magic. It hits that perfect, nostalgic balance of sweet and tart, remarkably similar to a grape Jolly Rancher. We are so incredibly excited for you to stop by the shop and literally taste the neighborhood!

If you’ve stepped outside lately, you know that Austin’s summer air has officially transitioned from 'humid' to 'hot soup.' When it’s this brutal out, a crisp, iced drink isn't just a morning ritual—it's survival. And because navigating a Texas summer is hard enough, we refuse to make it harder on your wallet. While most places slap you with a penalty charge just for choosing a sustainable alternative, we have a strict zero-milk-tax policy. Your refreshing, ice-cold plant-milk latte will never cost you a penny extra to beat the heat.