Serving up pizza, coffee and beer in the scenic downtown Seneca, Brews on the Alley provides patrons with as many options as one would expect from a coffee bar merged with a craft beer pub.

Started in 2013 in Anderson, the Brews family has expanded to three different stores alongside their mobile bar. Their Seneca location has been open since 2015 and has continued to provide quality coffee and drinks to the town and beyond.

The vibes of the Seneca shop were about what you’d expect from a beer and coffee joint. It was pretty open and gray and had cozy, dim lighting. This isn’t a place where you go if you want the quaint experience of relaxing at a normal coffee shop. That’s the frustrating thing when combining two commodities in one location: you can’t embrace the typical nature of their usual shop. Not to say that the atmosphere at Brews is bad, but just that they can only achieve a partial fulfillment of the bar and cafe vibe. 2.5 out of 5.

For the food, we’re just going to be looking at the variety of baked goods they had available on their coffee bar. I’m sure their bar food is impeccable, but we’re still in college here at Coffee Corner, and the funds are tight.

That said, the pastries they do offer are worth it if you can splurge. We grabbed a white chocolate muffin that hit all the right notes, and they had a few other flavors that looked just as good. The food gets a 4 out of 5.

Now, as with the vibes, when you attempt to serve two different specialty drinks, sometimes the quality of both can suffer. We can’t say much for the beer, but as for the coffee, Brews thankfully does not have this problem. We tried some of their fall specials, grabbed the hazelnut latte and were happily met with some tried-and-true good coffee. They’ve got a big menu with options for everyone, and you won’t regret your choice. 4 out of 5.