Long before the city was full of cafes with Instagram walls, pink lattes and WiFi passwords, the Neffendorfs were roasting beans at home, passionate about bringing good coffee to Dallas.
Most of Shannon's inspiration came from corporate trips to Milan. In a previous interview, he explained how he was struck by the quality of coffee abroad, the culture surrounding neighborhood coffee shops in Italy and the lack of good coffee in Dallas.
Going from Italian espresso culture to what Dallas offered in the 2010s (not a whole lot) could offer a reality check to just about anyone. So, Shannon was the unmasked hero who decided he, his wife (and others) would bring the beans to Big D.
After learning and roasting, the couple started Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters out of their garage in 2008, then went on to purchase a 6,500-square-foot former auto shop in 2010.
The shop needed some serious TLC to be converted into a proper cafe. The space had previoulsy been a McDowell Grocery and Market, later Davis Street Hardware and Plumbing and Torres Auto Body until the '60s. It wasn't until the fall of 2013 that Davis Street Espresso finally opened.
The modern industrial-style coffee shop is unrecognizable from the shell it once was. There's inviting seating with warm, reclaimed wood. Outside, a patio complete with an Airstream, was once a barren grass alleyway.
Instead of going broad, the Neffendorfs chose to go deep and made the cafe about the coffee, the customers and education. To this day, they've stuck with that same mission with no plans to open a string of coffee shops.
But Davis Street Espresso has been anything but stagnant.
In 2017, they introduced Five Mile Chocolate, and a full bakery under the name, Candor. Most recently, they launched East Kiest Farms, an urban farming project that began with permaculture orchard fruit, pasture eggs and local honey that will supply the coffee shop and the small string of businesses that all make up Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters, called CliffMade.
There's beauty in simplicity (and house-made bread and butter) within the Davis Street Espresso menu.
Aaren Prody
This is a spot for genuine coffee lovers. Not that we don't relish a fru fru latte from time to time, but there's a reason why high-quality espresso and milk will always be the first five things on a coffee shop menu: espresso, long black, cortado, cappuccino and a latte.
The last menu has all the homemade bread and pastry items: cinnamon rolls, chocolate brioche and cookies, to name a few. The butter, jam and chocolate are all made in-house. They even do their own whole-grain milling.
Should you order the Van Buren because you'll look cooler than everyone else or because it's delicious? Both.
Aaren Prody
The Van Buren, named after the cross street of West Davis, is their version of a cortado made with 2 ounces each of espresso and steamed milk served in a small glass jar.
Not all coffee shops serve cortado with seltzer, so we were excited when our tray was dropped off with the full spread. The seltzer water is a palette cleanser for before (taste the beans) and after (for coffee breath). We don't know where the chocolate is supposed to fit into the ritual, but we squeezed it in somewhere in the middle.
Inside or out, Davis Street Espresso has many nooks to take advantage of the WiFi-less atmosphere.
Aaren Prody
That's not the only way they've ditched the status quo. Along with no WiFi, the shop doesn't have to-go cups. The idea is to support a space where people can engage and create community.
But if you can't make it in, you can feel the impact the Neffendorfs' coffee shop has had across the North Texas, like a small brick in the foundation of your next favorite latte.
Davis Street Espresso, 819 W. Davis St. Monday – Friday, 6 a.m. – 4 p.m.; Saturday, 7 a.m. – 4 p.m.; closed Sunday.
