Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Dahlke.
Hi Ashley, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Baking started as a hobby back home in Alaska, and I really fell in love with the process and wanted to learn more. In 2014, I moved to Austin with my husband so I could attend culinary school. After graduating with a Pastry Arts Certification, I worked in the Austin restaurant scene until moving out to the Elgin area in 2019. I started out on my own, popping up at local business, the farmers’ market, and making cakes from my home. I decided that I wanted to open a store front where we could host classes, have great coffee and pastries and really support our local creative community.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
We had many challenges getting to where we are today. We started the search for a brick & mortar during the height of the pandemic which added to the difficulty. We found our original location on Main Street in downtown Elgin in January 2023. It needed work and didn’t have a kitchen, so we decided to wholesale party from a bakery in Austin and focus on building a foundation for the creative arts and community part of the business plan. We hosted weekly workshops, pop-ups and events. After six months of driving into Austin every morning to pick up pastries, I decided that we needed to make a change.
I found another local maker who was leasing a commercial kitchen a few minutes away from our space on Main Street, and was lucky enough to be offered a sublease, which I happily accepted. In February of 2024, I started baking again, making all the pastry for the shop, and it really took off! We were selling out daily, but this also had challenges. Since I was driving to and from the commercial kitchen rental, I was limited to what I could only fit in my car. This went on for seven months until we unexpectedly lost that lease, and we needed to pivot again. With shop lease up at the beginning of the year, we started searching for a new location, and we found one just a couple blocks away, but it needed a lot of work. My husband Jason and I decided to make the move and spent the next two months working nonstop to outfit our new kitchen, while still keeping operations going at the current location. In just six weeks, we had to make a kitchen from scratch – plumbing, electrical, all the equipment, plus permits and inspections. I still don’t know how we did it, but we did! We opened our current space in January 2025 and are thrilled to be a fully operating bakery, coffee shop and community space.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m the owner / baker at Lo-Fi Coffee House & Studio in Elgin, TX. We’re most known for our French-style, Texas sized pastries, great coffee menu and community space. We offer a variety of traditional pastries as well as a robust rotating menu of pastries that highlight in season fruits or nostalgic flavors that I’m excited about that week. I’m proud that we continue to stay community-oriented and immersed in the local arts & culture scene.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
A few lessons I’ve learned on this journey are:
-How your business makes customers feel has a bigger impact that the product. Hospitality over everything.
-Never make things just because you think customers will want it. Make products that are authentically you, and you’ll be endlessly supported.
-You have to be willing to adjust expectations and pivot (sometimes hard) when things start to fall.
-The bedrock of your business is the community. You will always get back what you put in!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://loficoffeehouse.com
- Instagram: lofi_coffeestudio
- Facebook: Lo-Fi Coffee House & Stusio
Image Credits
MYLK Collective
