Hello my fellow coffee lovers! I am here to tell you about 5 coffee shops in Fort Worth that you HAVE to go try. Coming from the city of coffee (aka, Seattle, Washington), coffee shops make me feel at home when I am away at college. The atmosphere, the friendly conversations, and most importantly the drinks… coffee shops are a good tool for escaping from work or school life, and they are great places to catch up on unfinished business. As we walk through these shops together, I will take these 5 small businesses through 3 points of criteria!
- Interior Decoration/Layout – What does the interior design look like? Is the space open enough for tables, and is there enough room between the pick-up counter and the tables? Does it feel cramped or open?
- Coffee Quality/Drinks – Are the drinks good? Do they have good quality coffee? How are their non-coffee drinks (good chai tea lattes)? What milks do they have?
- Music/Acoustics – Is the music loud? Does the music fit the atmosphere? Is the coffee maker loud? Is the street loud if they open up the doors or a window?
- Community – Are they connected to the community in some way? Do they have fliers or signs of events or volunteer opportunities in the community? Do they show community outreach on social media or online?
Fort Worth Coffee Co.
This coffee shop is one of my favorites. The people that work there are amazing, and their drinks are just as great (bonus points for it being right across the street from my go-to plant shop in the area, Grow).
The Fort Worth Coffee Company is quaint, and the interior color palette is one of my favorites so far. Modern chic with navy blue, light pink, sage green, and white paint on the walls in block color style, with wooden seating and marble countertops. Gives a very urban vibe and speaks to the hearts of productive city life. The space is really small, and there is limited seating, but the tables have enough space between them, the bar, and people ordering drinks. The space appears open and spacious, no matter how cramped, because of the windows facing out to the street.
Fun Fact: my favorite drink isn’t even coffee or a latte! A spicy Chai Tea Latte is my favorite morning and afternoon drink, and Fort Worth Coffee Co. has one of my favorites. Their chai is super light, and their almond milk-to-chai ratio is perfect, as it is not too heavy on the milk. On the occasion that I do want a coffee, their espresso is very rich and pure. They don’t water it down at all, and it tastes amazing! Their lattes are simple, very flavorful, and not too sweet, and their pastries/food are really great too. If you visit, I highly recommend getting their quiche. It is so cute and small, but very good!
The music in the shop is really quiet, but the coffee machines can be a little loud sometimes. They are not to blame or anything, just having a small space is really hard sometimes. Other than that aspect, the road is close, but can’t be heard within the shop, and people’s voices don’t echo. If you are someone like me who needs a little noise to get me through writing or studying, the noise level won’t be a problem for you!
What is really special about the layout here is the owners of the coffee shop added a reserved workspace for small businesses or single workers to have meetings or rent out for the month. They are able to have an away-from-home, working-from-home workspace atmosphere to separate work from their home lives. This shows their connection to the community and their passion for supporting small business owners.
I love Fort Worth Coffee Co. Their community, coffee, and interior decoration and layout are great, and I highly recommend visiting!
Avoca Coffee Roasters
Avoca has been my recent obsession lately. I really enjoy the atmosphere and bringing my roommate for little work sessions after class. They’re creative with their coffee, and it is relatively good quality.
The layout flows really nicely with two levels to the actual shop itself. You walk in and immediately face the counter and are greeted by those working there. There are a couple tables up top, a good few feet away from the counter and the tables next to each other, but down a couple steps is more space, with different table sizes, couches, and countertops so you are able to collaborate, work alone, or just have a nice coffee date with friends or your partner. The interior is very dark, with dark wood finishes and black pleather couches. Along the walls are artists’ murals and posters for events happening in the community. This feels very homey and relaxed, juxtaposed with the large garage-door windows lining the front of the building. I really enjoy this atmosphere for a cozier vibe.
What stood out to me during my first few visits to this coffee shop was the creative lattes they make. They put out coffee features each month and they are all really good. The one that I had most recently was their Spicy Pumpkin Spice Latte in the fall, and it genuinely was really spicy. I have no idea what they put in it, but it was really good. Not for people who don’t prefer spicy foods or drinks, but definitely worth a try!
The music in the building is super nice and soft. They frequently play indie music, which is my favorite genre at the moment, so I’m a huge fan of that. The interior is large, so the machines and conversations from the baristas get a little loud sometimes. After putting on headphones, it gets a bit better, and the atmosphere of productivity stays the same. Like I mentioned about Fort Worth Coffee Co., if you like louder environments for working, this is a great place!
Their connection to community is through fliers posted on the wall when you come in, and the large pride flag in the window, making everyone feel welcome in that space. Making their coffee shop welcoming to all types of people seems important to them, so they know their demographic.
Avoca Coffee is a great place to work if you don’t mind a little noise, a darker, edgy, artsy vibe, and an open and welcoming community base.
Roots Coffeehouse
I visited Roots Coffeehouse for the first time this past week, and I really enjoyed what I experienced! The interior of this space was perfect for studying, and they really made the most of their small space. The coffee was great and the atmosphere was very nice.
The interior of the space had a very open and airy feeling but was very small and intimate. Walking in, I immediately fell in love with the green couches, rose gold metal chairs, plants hanging from the lights attached to the ceiling, and the artistic details of the wall art. The layout was honestly great for making the most of the space. The counter was separate and a good distance from the tables, and it gave the customer enough room to move around where it was needed. I’m really obsessed with the color palette. It has to be one of my favorites, and I really enjoyed that aspect of this space.
I ordered a chai tea latte with their in-house “magic mylk”, which is an almond/cashew milk blend. Very interesting combination of flavors, but it grew on me. I’m not sure what chai they used, but it really could have been better in my opinion. Maybe if they added more chai? They also had very creative seasonal drinks, and my friend ordered a latte called the “peanut brittle” latte, and wow, was it good! They have great coffee, and the drink was very nicely made and very different, but tasty.
In this coffee shop, I don’t remember them playing music, but on this nice day, they opened up the front door, which was very welcoming. It brought fresh air in, and the road was perfectly audible, setting a busy but soft background. The space was small but the machines were really quiet in the back, which was super nice. If you’re someone who doesn’t mind some noise but needs to have quieter noise levels, this place is for you.
There wasn’t a whole lot of obvious engagement with the community, but the wall hangings seemed to be made by members in the community, and are being sold there, which is really neat!
Roots Coffeehouse was super quaint and tiny, but they made the most out of their space. The people working there were wonderful and the drinks were creative and unique! This coffee shop was super fun to visit and is definitely somewhere I see myself having coffee/study dates with friends.
Cherry Coffee
I had a busy but great first impression of Cherry Coffee last week. I loved the layout of the space, and the interiors were funky and different from most I have seen. I ordered an iced chai with almond milk and a vanilla latte as I left.
The interior design of the place was very unique and kind of all over the place, but in a good way. There were two sections to the shop which gave you options of how loud or quiet you wanted your space to be. The front with the coffee machines and the baristas was loud and had a lot more foot traffic than the back section. The back section had tons of seating and expanded on the traditional coffee shop setting by including wooden bookshelves and dark red chairs to enhance the feeling of warmth and productivity. This space gave off dark-boho-meets-mysterious-library, and it was very intriguing to me.
I really enjoyed the chai tea latte, but it wasn’t anything I hadn’t experienced before. The milk-to-chai ratio was good and well-balanced. The vanilla latte was very good and creamy, but not too intense to block out the taste of the coffee. I liked the coffee a lot and would definitely go back to try it again.
The acoustics were kind of frustrating to me. I ended up having to sit right next to the counter where the bar was, and it was just too loud. If I was in the back room, it might have been different, but I wasn’t, and it was a bit distracting having to hear the barista’s conversations. I’ll definitely have to go back and try sitting in the back room so I can get a better feel of the environment.
Their community connection and outreach weren’t very evident within the coffee shop itself, but I might need to do some more digging into their social media to get a better representation. The people working there were friendly and seemed to be loved by the community!
Cherry Coffee was definitely a fun place to see for myself and experience. The interiors were super funky and had so much character, and I really liked their coffee drinks. Would definitely consider Cherry, but try and go when it isn’t as busy!
Black Coffee
Leaving the best for last, this might be one of my new favorite coffee shops. Besides the fact that it is more of a drive than the others listed here, its drinks are some of the best I have had, its food was great, the atmosphere was quaint but spacious, and the community outreach is insane. This Black Woman-owned business was right down my alley, and I really enjoyed supporting them.
Black Coffee welcomes us with a quote on the front door, saying “you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be,” and is housed in a black building on the street corner, with black and yellow interiors. The amount of tables is quite low, but there still seemed to be a good amount of tables open. They include Black artists’ work on the walls, from murals to paintings, and they create an open atmosphere for their guests.
I have finally found a place that has absolutely amazing chai tea lattes! It was so so good, I don’t even know how to describe it. The milk-chai ratio is amazing, but the chai they use makes it 10 times better. I was really shocked that a chai could get any better, but they really proved me wrong.
The music was filled with soft, ambient songs that were very nice and helped me to write. The machines weren’t too loud, and I got to focus on my work without many distractions. The space was nice and open, but soft and calming, juxtaposing the extreme contrast of harsh black and yellow.
They aim to assist the migrant and marginalized communities of Fort Worth, especially in places like this where some groups get treated differently than others. They include food resources and community support for marginalized groups in the area, and support local artists of color and their exhibits.
Being so welcoming and supportive of all types of people and communities is not something that you normally think about when buying coffee, but I believe it is important to recognize small businesses that are doing the most to help the people around them, especially those in poverty.
I loved getting to experience these different coffee shops in my area so I am able to see what small businesses I can support and how they benefit from my business! Supporting local is super important to me, so I hope you feel inspired to try the coffee shops listed here, or visit the small businesses in your hometown!
As always, make today great!
-K