San Antonio-based Merit Coffee is growing in Dallas.
Merit’s fifth shop in Dallas proper opened Oct. 20, 2023 in Lakewood, a neighborhood near White Rock Lake. It’s the 13th Merit in Texas.
Although all Merit Coffees share DNA — and coffee beans, all roasted in the same San Antonio facility — the Lakewood shop is “the most beautiful cafe we’ve ever done,” says Charlie Paulette, vice president of sales and marketing.
The shop took over a former nail salon at the southeast corner of Mockingbird Lane and Abrams Road, next to Hudson House. The cafe has exposed concrete floors and high white ceilings, with ocean blue tiles on the wall. It’s easy to soak up the “good energy,” a phrase branded in the concrete near the checkout counter. For those who want a photo opp, and many will, there’s a blush-pink logo outside.
The coffee company moved into Dallas in 2019, first in Deep Ellum and then in Highland Park. The shop now serves lattes, matchas and the like in two more Dallas spots: at Preston Road and Forest Lane, near Whole Foods; and at Walnut Hill and Central Expressway, near Trader Joe’s.
Paulette couldn’t say where Merit will brew next in D-FW, but the company is considering Fort Worth and McKinney. And maybe an airport.
Notably, Merit Coffees don’t have drive-throughs. They’re not going after the typical Starbucks or Dutch Bros. customer, Paulette says. “We really work hard to make sure we’re creating a community space that’s unique. And to that end, no two cafes are the same,” he says.
CEO Bill Ellis, standing in the Lakewood coffee shop the day before its opening, agrees. He says the cafes were designed to be a regular stop for members of the neighborhood.
“It’s our job to be the light in our community and the bright spot to our customers,” he says.
They know those customers have options — more than ever. White Rhino is Dallas’ fastest-growing local coffee company today. Ask a coffee aficionado, and he or she might mention a different favorite: LDU, White Rock, Fiction, Full City Rooster, Noble Coyote, La Reunion, Ascension, Window Seat, Eiland and so on.
As Merit grows, Paulette says the idea is to reach “everyone in the state, but we don’t want to lose its identity.”
He came from a craft beer background, with 20 of his 25 years in beer spent at Texas’ historic Shiner brewery. He likens it to the Merit story.
“A lot of people think about Shiner as this big Texas brand, but when I started on it in the ‘90s, there were only about five places that carried it in San Antonio. And five or less in Dallas,” he says.
“I am astounded at the parallels between the rise of craft beer and third-wave coffee.” Third-wave coffee is the effort to serve high-quality, “serious” coffee, as the LA Times reported in 2019.
Merit, similar to craft breweries, is distributing its beans to grocery stores like Central Market, Whole Foods and Sam’s Club in Texas. It also sells beans to hotels and restaurants.
The focus in the cafes is on coffee, which means the food is made by other companies, all local. At the Lakewood coffee shop, bakery items like the hand pie and the “hippie bar” come from Bisous Bisous Patisserie in Uptown Dallas. Tacos are the work of Tacodeli, an Austin-based company with two shops in Dallas. Bagels come from Starship in Lewisville and downtown Dallas. Croissants and other goodies are delivered by La Casita in Richardson, one of the busiest bakeries feeding indie coffee shops.
“Coffee is our No. 1 priority,” Paulette says.
Merit Coffee is at 4124 Abrams Road, Dallas. It opened Oct. 20, 2023.
