Dudley Cafe Is Now Caffeinating — and Boozing Up — Dudley Square

Dudley Cafe debuted with grab-and-go pastries, coffee drinks, Mem Tea, hot breakfast options, and more at 7 a.m. today in the newly-renovated Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building. It also serves a few wine and beer options.

The cafe is the latest venture from Solmon and Rokeya Chowdhury, the couple behind Shanti in Dorchester, Roslindale, and soon, Kendall Square, as well as Moksa and Naga in Central Square. The team also includes general manager Biplaw Rai, a Nepal native and alumni of local companies including Darwin's Ltd., Hi-Rise Bread Co., and Q's Nuts. Robert Garcia is in charge of the coffee program. Garcia trained at the Counter Culture coffee lab in Somerville and is sourcing Dudley's beans from Square One Coffee Roasters in Lancaster, Penn.

The cafe is on the ground floor of the former Ferdinand furniture building at 2262 Washington St. in Dudley Square, Roxbury. With renovations complete on the six-story, renamed Bolling building earlier this year, the headquarters of the Boston Public School system moved into the building, as well as a public-private business incubator, the Roxbury Innovation Center. Retail space on the ground floor will also include a location of Tasty Burger and a new pizza cooperative called Dudley Dough, from Haley House.

Dudley Cafe has a variety of coffee and espresso drinks, herbal iced teas, Thai iced tea, matte lattes, and Arnold Palmers, along with challah French toast, oatmeal, breakfast sandwiches, and a weekend potato waffle special for breakfast. Lunch options include uncommon sandwiches (priced $6.75 - $8.50), like Malcolm's, with grilled eggplant, sambal-miso sauce, pickled cucumber, and shredded carrots; and Pacman, with pulled pork, mango chutney, Sriracha mayo, cilantro, and tomatoes.

There are also salads, like Rinda's Papaya Salad, a riff on the Thai favorite; and one with roasted beets, kale, hard-boiled egg, quinoa, hazelnuts, and tahini called Drop that Funky Beet. Rice bowls, like Shanti (sticky rice with cauliflower curry, potatoes, and green peas) and Malala's (brown rice with hard-boiled egg, kale, mushroom, Sriracha, and soy sauce) round out the savory options, and there are also a plethora of house-made baked goods.

The Chowdhurys received a beer and wine license for Dudley Cafe back in June, as previously reported. The list includes a house red and white, a Harpoon offering and Pabst Blue Ribbon on draft, and a handful of imported bottled options.

The cafe is open daily from 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. and 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. on weekends.