By Isabel Vander Stoep
isabel@chronline.com
Michael and Bria Perozzo and business partners Levi and Sarah Althauser opened the highly-anticipated Centralia taphouse “The Juice Box” Friday evening at a ribbon-cutting event held by the Centralia-Chehalis Chamber of Commerce.
Both the Perozzo and Althauser families hail from the Centralia area and wanted to bring something new to the downtown area with their beer bar. Sarah Althauser keeps a busy schedule in Centralia, including running for Centralia City Council and serving as the vice president of the Centralia Downtown Association. This summer, she has been the lead on the Pine Street Plaza project. Chamber Executive Director Alicia Fox said the chamber was “very excited” to have the local families opening a new business downtown, citing their care for investing in their own community.
“This all started because we knew we needed a place to create community, and I don’t know anything that creates community better than beer,” Levi Althauser said at Friday's event.
And community beer it will be. The tap list will include brews from Talking Cedar in Rochester as well as beers from Raymond, Olympia and White Salmon.
“This is where I grew up, we left for a while to the Portland area where I got involved in the industry, the beer industry that is,” said Michael Perozzo, adding that while living elsewhere, he felt “I’d love one day to bring something back home to downtown Centralia that is awesome and that breeds community. And when we’re talking about that community thing I think what you’ll find inside The Juice Box is a very open space … We don’t care if you come in here and spend four hours and drink one beer.”
According to its Facebook page, The Juice Box is still working on its kitchen, and will be open to people of all ages when they have food options available. In the meantime, the location will be open only for folks ages 21 and over.
Built in a location on Tower Avenue that has been home to many businesses and organizations, owners and staff put in months of work to modernize the space. Hanging from the ceiling are blown glass fixtures by Central Glass Works.
“All of our staff, we love all of them,” Althauser said. “The reason why they’re hired is not just because they know about beer and because they love beer but because they’re really good at creating that community.”
The Juice Box
Address: 216 S. Tower Ave., Centralia
Hours: Monday through Thursday, 4 to 10 p.m.; Friday through Sunday, 2 to 10 p.m.
Instagram and Facebook: @thejuiceboxcentralia
