Coffee in Dallas

Coffee in Dallas

Stupid Good Coffee

One of espresso shops we visited on our round-trip-coffee-florida-to-texas-trip was Stupid Good Coffee in Dallas. It’s on the second floor 1910 Pacific Ave, Ste 2060, Dallas.

We were apprehensive to go “up there” to try it when we looked up at the sign from the street. Maybe we both assumed it would be a low volume cafe because of the location. Low volume often means lousy coffee. But we looked at each other and decided to give it a try. We’re glad we did.

There was a really cool sign outside of the cafe – down the hall actually from the elevator – that said simply:

Stupid Good Coffee.

We both smiled and liked the creator of that sign immediately. It made us want to try it more than before we saw the sign.

It was a tiny little place and we met the proprietor. Very pleasant, matter of fact lady who seemed artistic – sort of a non-conformist. Not sure why I got that vibe but it’s a quality I have always admired in artists.

It was particularly slow still recuperating from the Covid lockdown. She seemed tolerant but not particularly happy about it. But she was like able.

The coffee was quite good. It was smooth with a nice front end and finish. We both had a double espresso – which is both our standard evaluation tool when sampling espresso and our favorite form of coffee when operators use good beans and extract them properly. In this case the craftsmanship was quite apparent – although the beans were not as fresh as they should be – it was really good coffee.

We didn’t stay long because we were hungry and it was getting later in the day with much left to see in Dallas.

It was worth the effort and worth the stop. 

You can read more about Stupid Good Coffee here.

Christmas Time in Dallas

The evening between Stupid Good Coffee and Ottos, we toured the area on foot – dinner and then exploration about a five-block radius.

This was the first time we had been to Dallas downtown together and the last time Google (our tea-cup poodle) would be with us. We had a nice dinner several blocks away. It had been a pleasant and warm day for a November, but it got cool quickly when the sun went down.

Here is a Christmas display we couldn’t pass up – near the hotel.

Ottos Coffee and Fine Foods

We were on foot in Dallas after visiting the location where Kennedy had been assassinated. We had been walking several miles and were coffee hungry by then.

The espresso bar was on the ground floor inside the Adolphus Hotel with good visibility from the street. It was appealing through the glass.

The espresso bar itself was beautiful – a bit ornate – but really high end. It had an interesting shape with granite or marble counter tops (can’t remember). The whole venue suggested and implied luxury.

This element created palate anticipation.

You can see an Ottos virtual tour here. 

It was really a stunning venue but it was not the friendliest place we visited in Texas.

The discussion with the barista led me to the early conclusion that she was a “coffee snob”.

As a coffee lover this can be either good or bad. Sometimes a “coffee snob barista” is like that because the coffee they serve is so darn good.

Sometimes it is that they really are very knowledgeable about coffee.

Other times it means that they want to sound like experts when they aren’t.

In this case it was the latter – a lot of coffee huff and puff. The coffee was pretty good, not exceptional. It took too long to make my drink and it was overpriced. 

There was a little too much pomp and circumstance for my taste. As a barista in my shop, my primary objective was to:

• Dazzle new customers with the best espresso drink possible in the shortest amount of time possible.
• Demonstrate my ability and attention to detail by service and an excellent espresso drink – promptly – not by talking about it.
• Let the coffee do the talking
• Get new customers to become repeat customers

It wasn’t really like that at Ottos. There’s an old adage in the food business:

“People Eat with Their Eyes.”

The venue was delicious – the coffee not so much. I’d give it a 3.5-4 out of 5. My wife didn’t care for it.

If you’re staying nearby – and you’re coffee hungry – it’s worth a visit.

It was probably our first and only visit.

About Coffee in Dallas…

There are probably dozens of wonderful espresso cafes in Dallas. We have an itinerary that includes coffee exploration visits to San Antonio, Austin and Dallas. Each will require several days.

Our visit to Dallas was hurried and almost an afterthought. We don’t know the neighborhoods or communities in Dallas yet – but we’ll know a lot more after our next discovery tour. 

The massive road construction made getting around Dallas a real “cluster” for us. First off, we don’t have people there for tips and tricks for getting around the city – or suggestions for coffee.

The road construction often screwed up our GPS routes with detours and delays. This was compounded by the massive waves of traffic.

Commuters dislike new-bees who are confused and interrupting the flow. We get that.

In our Dallas experience, we were the new-bees. It was frustrating for the locals, but more so for us. It kind of felt like getting dumped into a white water rafting situation without enough people to steer the raft correctly. We got to shore but we were stressed out doing it – and coffee-hungry.

A Google search provided an informative and well written piece with excellent photojournalism about espresso in Dallas.