We Found Dallas' Best Cup of Coffee at a New Spot on Garland Road

If you've driven down Garland Road just a couple of miles south of I-635, you may have noticed a splash of citrus orange among the drab buildings. Clean new concrete wraps around an orange and white building with one of those wind socks in the shape of a cup of coffee bobbing around in front.

It's highly advised to swing on through.

Remote Coffee comes from Mike Donlon and Joel Roland, the latter of whom founded (and eventually sold) Toasted Coffee and Kitchen before opening Yellow Rosa Cocktaileria. It's one of our favorite Deep Ellum haunts — and not just for the snow globe Christmas show but for the big plates of traditional Mexican fare.

We stopped by Remote Coffee on a cold, windy morning and started with a café de olla, a Mexican coffee traditionally made in a pot with cinnamon and raw dark sugar, piloncillo. They're making it from scratch here and breathing in the steam is almost as satisfying as the first sip. A small is $2.65, and we'd mainline this if we could. It's the golden retriever puppies of cups of coffee — I don't know who could not love this. This is worth the trip if nothing else (but wait, there is more).

The drink menu has all the big hits found at most coffee shops: drip coffee, lattes, tea lattes, a nitro cold brew and hot tea. But some specialty drinks set it apart, like from-scratch agua frescas — and that aforementioned café de olla. They're roasting their own Guatemalan beans. Many of the add-ins and juices, like horchata, are made in-house. The chef from Yellow Rosa created the taco menu and runs the kitchen. Everything is made to order here — nothing is prepackaged or premade. We love that they have a simple bean and cheese taco on the menu for $2.75, but we went with The Perfect Passenger ($5.25). A warm tortilla is stuffed with scrambled eggs, crispy-on-the-outside tator tots, avocado, carne asada and shredded cheddar. Squeeze some house-made green salsa over the top for a perfect pop. This taco is a full meal. With a cup of coffee, it set us back less than 10 bucks. That's winning.

We also tried a horchata latte. As mentioned, they're making as much as they can in-house, which pays off here with this light and creamy drink; the flavor is subtle and pure. Lattes start at $5.05 and work up to $6.25.

We're excited about more left turns around Remote Coffee, especially when summer hits and we can start digging through the frozen menu. But no matter the season, the café de olla will have a vice-like grip.

Remote Coffee, 10999 Garland Road. Daily 7 a.m. – 3 p.m.