About Us

Hello! I’m Alisa Frye and I’m the owner of Fryeday Coffee Roasters, a small-batch specialty roastery.  My business didn’t start as a business plan, it started in my childhood home, loving the smell of coffee drifting through the house.  Coffee was such a part of my life – even on family roadtrips. My mom had a perculator that plugged into our car cigarette lighter!  That love only grew with me, and it followed me to Santa Barbara, California where I moved to at 19. One of the first places I visited in my new city was a coffee roastery. I had never seen a coffee roaster or the roasting process and I was mesmerized. I remember thinking: someday, I’m going to do that.

It took over 25 years for “someday” to arrive. At around 50, I finally decided it was time. I started small…really small. I was roasting coffee in a frying pan in my driveway! From there I moved to a one-pound home roaster, sharing what I made with friends. Word got around, and I was invited to sell at a local farmer’s market. I quickly outgrew that little roaster, so I reached out to local roasters and asked if I could apprentice with them to learn commercial roasting. The generosity of the coffee community taught me more than I ever could have learned on my own.

Eventually I bought a 5kg roaster and started doing mobile events selling beans and espresso drinks out of whatever setup I could manage. It was hard, hands-on work, and after a few years being mobile, I knew I needed a permanent home.  I was in my first location for about five years before I opened a second, the one we still call home today. In October of 2025, we closed our original location and now operate solely out of Cramerton.

What started with the smell of coffee in a childhood kitchen is now a real roastery and cafe, built one small batch at a time with the help of countless amazing customers and friends!