Popular coffee trailer finds a permanent spot just across the street
by Lorne Chambers | Editor
Patrick Garlock says he used to dream of becoming an old man with a long, gray ponytail, kicked back, selling coffee out of a trailer on the beach. Sounds pretty chill for a former firefighter. There was only one problem with that dream. Once he and his business partner, Gavin McCutcheon, opened their coffee trailer Dead Low in a parking lot on East Ashley Avenue in the summer of 2022, it quickly became too popular. It was too good.
The unique breakfast offerings, baked goods, and specialty coffees began flying out of the trailer at such a rapid rate that it became evident that there would be no kicking back. And working with two or three people inside a 96-square-foot pressure cooker was not particularly conducive to ponytails or even hanging onto your hair at all for very long.
So, after two years of grinding it and selling out by 10 a.m. most days, Garlock started to have another dream. This one took a more physical form, and it was right in front of them the whole time. The building at 113 East Ashley had seen several different businesses come and go over the last several years. According to Garlock, the landlord had grown tired of the revolving door of tenants and was looking for one that had staying power, one with a proven concept that would work.
One particular August morning, Hurricane Idalia was bearing down on the east coast, and surfers were up early and ready to take advantage of the massive swells she was creating on Folly Beach.
“I ended up sending him a picture with 40 people in the line, seriously, it was like 37 people waiting,” says Garlock. “And I was like,’ look man, here’s a viable concept.’”
The lease was signed and it was official, Dead Low’s trailer days were nearly done. They were getting a proper brick-and-mortar space with room to stretch out and room to grow.
The brand new, permanent Dead Low café space officially opened its doors to the public last month, and again, they’re finding themselves slammed as locals and tourists pack into the shop to get their morning cup of joe and wildly creative breakfast options, like acai bowls, fancy avocado toast, chia pudding with blue Spirulina, smoked salmon bagel (pictued below) and musubi, a Hawaiian specialty that can kind of be described as breakfast sushi with Spam and an egg.
“We’re Spambassadors,” jokes Garlock, who was once a lifeguard and surf instructor in Hawaii. McCutcheon also spent some time there as well, so musubi was a no-brainer to add to the menu.
For McCutcheon, who came up cooking in high-pressure situations, having a proper kitchen to work in is beyond exciting. The Cape Cod native moved to New York City when he was 17 and worked his way up in the Big Apple’s cutthroat fine dining scene, even working for Gordon Ramsey. So, he was used to working in high-pressure situations. But trying to be creative in a less than 100 square feet with an induction burner was less than ideal.
“I’m able now to add fun things that I want to do,” he says. “It’s great also because there is the opportunity to grow. I’ll be able to have employees, so we’ll be able to step away and be able to create more stuff.”
Dead Low uses Springbok Coffee from downtown, the breads are from Normandy Farm in West Ashley, and their bagels are from Bagel Nation on James Island. Everything else is made in house. McCutchen isn’t the only one in his household thrilled to have a full-sized kitchen at Dead Low. His wife Margaret, the former pastry chef at Gnome Café, was making almost all of the baked goods for Dead Low from their home, including the massive and wildly popular “Cinny Rolls.”
“Now everything is baked, like, literally within 10 minutes of opening, which is great” says McCutchen. Although, he admits the experience of working together in tight quarters in the trailer brought them closer together, both literally and figuratively.
While having a proper kitchen is liberating, having an actual structure has many other benefits. There’s now a counter—not a window—where costumers can order. There’s also a dining room where they can sit and enjoy breakfast and even a back patio area if they prefer to sip their coffee al fresco while enjoying the expanded food menu.
McCutchen says they will soon be opening for lunch with more plans to expand hours and offerings in the future. He says he’s planning to open his kitchen periodically to allow for guest pop-up events from other chefs.
He wants to begin offering smoothies, fresh-pressed juices, and eventually beer and wine.
“We don’t want to become a bar,” says Garlock. “But I could see people on vacation wanting to have a beer for lunch or maybe eventually a spot to come for date night.”
The options are now endless for the Dead Low team. While Garlock’s dreams of kicking back in his coffee trailer in 20 years might have shifted, now he and McCutchen are free to dream even bigger. There is one other dream Garlock has. Outside the café is the old Dead Low trailer. “People always ask me, what am I going to do with it,” he says. “I’d like to have a Viking funeral. Build a float, set it on fire, and push it out to sea. But with my luck, the wind would change and it would come right back to me.” So, for now, it has a for sale sign on it.
Dead Low is open 7 days a week, 7:30 a.m.-2 p.m. It’s located at 113 E Ashley Ave. For more information, visit www.enjoydeadlow.com or follow them on Instagram: @deadlowcoffeeco
