If you haven’t heard, the drink of the summer is plain black coffee. August also happens to be national coffee month, but please, don’t limit yourself to just plain coffee.
There are a bunch of new coffee shops opening in neighborhoods across Dallas, and they’re serving hot and iced drinks all year long. In this weather, we won’t blame you for grabbing something chilled.
The Berni Bean Coffee Co. in Deep Ellum
A new location of the Costa Rican coffee shop opened early July to serve coffee, smoothies, and bites in the Deep Ellum neighborhood. Owner Giuliana Bernini opened its other location in downtown Dallas in 2021, and she told D Magazine at the time that she was hoping to build a customer base of office workers who were returning to the office. With the Deep Ellum location, the shop can cater to a new crop of regulars.
Its menu spans Costa Rican brews made with beans from her family’s farm, speciality lattes, and food such as toasts and empanadas. Both locations offer breakfast and brunch items, like the desayuno plate, which includes tortillas, sour cream, egg, plantain, fried cheese, and a bowl of fruit.
The Berni Bean Coffee Co., 2820 Elm St.
JuJu’s Coffee in Lakewood
UNT graduates Julia and Nick Rocha went home to Amarillo for spring break in March 2020 and soon realized that they weren’t going to go back to Denton. The couple found a 1962 airstream trailer and decided to renovate it to sell coffee. Coffee was a major part of their relationship, Nick says.
“We always studied at coffee shops, we were always around coffee,” he says. “In college, I would literally make pour-overs for my friends in my dorm and I would geek out about coffee to them.”
JuJu’s Coffee—JuJu is Julia’s nickname—sold brews out of the airstream at pop-ups, weddings, and other events throughout 2022. While their trailer (its name is Otis) served customers all over D-FW, Nick and Rocha wanted to open a shop in Lakewood. They found 6038 La Vista Dr. and opened this past May. Most of JuJu’s customers walk over to the shop with their families and their dogs on Saturday mornings, Nick says.
“I can remember my regulars’ names and know where they work and kind of be part of their family,” he says. “That’s really special for us.”
JuJu’s Coffee, 6038 La Vista Dr.
Peaberry Coffee in Elmwood
The Kiestwood shop opened its new location in downtown Elmwood earlier this month. Owner Elijah Salazar says he wants to keep his shop local to neighborhoods around Dallas, specifically in Oak Cliff. His first Peaberry location is on Kiest Boulevard on the other side of the neighborhood.
The Elmwood shop has freshly painted murals by artist Stephanie Sanz and will offer the same menu as the other location, such as the Oat Cliff and the canned Kiestwood Iced Coffees, with a few additions. Salazar says Elmwood will offer coffee flights, which will give customers a chance to try several flavors in one go. A flight can include three to six different coffee drinks and range from $8 to $14. Customers will also get to try pour-overs, which aren’t offered at the other location.
Peaberry Coffee in Elmwood, 2105 S. Edgefield Ave.
Slow and Steady in Elmwood
Down Edgefield Avenue from Peaberry is another local coffee shop that has been years in the making. What was formerly Graph Coffee is now Slow and Steady, an homage to the years-long journey owner Germán Sierra took to get to the shop’s opening due to obstacles with the city’s parking code regulations.
Sierra bought the house in 2020 and has since renovated and refurbished it. Slow and Steady roasts its own beans and will sell coffee drinks, merch, and more. The shop isn’t open just yet—Sierra says they’ll have an official opening in late August—but they’ve been testing things out with soft pop-ups since mid-July, according to its Instagram account.
Slow and Steady Coffee, 1805 S. Edgefield Ave.
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