Shops & Markets

From the outside, the Nest Cafe in Frisco looks everything like you’d expect a cafe in Frisco to look like. It’s part of an unremarkably designed beige retail strip beneath an apartment complex, and the matter-of-fact branding on the exterior doesn’t scream of raised expectations. When you step inside, however,…

As I made a trek to Whataburger to savor their new coffee shake, I had no clue what to expect from the cold, mysterious stranger. Would I have to choose between 40 different flavors? Would it taste like mocha? Would it be dense enough to hold its own upside down…

Four years ago, brothers Daniel and Corey Harmon opened up Stupid Good Coffee. While the name might seem a little less than creative, it turns out “Stupid Good Coffee” isn’t such a stupid name after all. “It’s the model that we live by; we want it to be stupid good…

While coffee shops in days of old could get by with a solid coffee menu and a pastry case haphazardly strewn with croissants, lately more cafes can be seen expanding their programs to include more food offerings and ample booze, and many newer cafes are boasting full bars and full…

In Dallas proper, there’s no shortage of specialty coffee. Between imports from other cities, new indie cafes and established local brands expanding with second and third locations, the city’s craft coffee scene is in the midst of a serious boom. As Dallas coffee culture grows, it gets easier to get…

For consumers trying to eat seasonally, the quest often stops at produce — but coffee, too, can change with the seasons, and Ascension Coffee recently launched a new program to celebrate the variations between seasons. When considering seasonality in coffee, most people tend think in terms of winter-time holiday blends…

In East Texas, an unremarkable-looking plant with bright red berries grows wild — and it grows everywhere. Used for landscaping filler by some and considered a nuisance plant by others, these plants are hardy enough to withstand even apocalyptic Texas drought. “The best we can tell is that they enjoy…

“Zakti is not a concept, but rather a way of being,” says Janeil Engelstad, co-founder of Zakti, a Dallas-based specialty tea purveyor. The company’s name is a nod to the Sanskrit term that translates to “positive energy.” This ethos permeates every aspect of the brand’s culture. “Holding and projecting positive…

The new building near the corner of FM 407 and U.S. 377 in Argyle looks as if it could have been built by elves. The round window and unusually crooked roof bring to mind fairy tales of princesses in hiding, adventure-shy hobbits and Santa’s workshop during the off-season. Kimzey’s Coffee,…

Early in the morning, before I’ve had coffee, is not usually the time of day when I feel most adventurous. I cannot even begin to relate to the sort of people who pop out of bed, bright-eyed and ready to take on the world without even so much as needing…

In 2013, Plano was introduced to specialty coffee when the doors opened at 1418 Coffeehouse, a homey hangout on K Avenue, and for years the cafe remained unchallenged in that market. Two weeks ago, that changed when XO Coffee Company opened nearby — 371 feet away, to be exact —…

In an unassuming office suite nestled into a field of tall grass, brambles and scraggly trees, there is a room with a table. Wooden, bar-height and with a shiny varnish, the table is surrounded by eight tall metal chairs. You can see all this for yourself, but what you can’t…

If you have an internet connection or eat out at least once a decade, you realize food trends change frequently. On top of that, people in the U.S. care about what they’re consuming in terms of quality and health more now than at possibly any point in history. It’s easy…

Coffee is a ritualistic beast. While they’re often subconscious, we all have our own coffee ceremonies — the places where we drink it, what we dress it with, the brands we are loyal to — and for many, straying from these comfortable regularities can range from a minor frustration to rendering oneself literally unable…

Coffee shops are many things to many people — but for the most part, they usually stick to coffee, food and perhaps a little booze. But in recent years, we’ve seen the rise of the hybrid cafe, a place where coffee is still a central focus but where you can…