Coffee and culture are brewed in a network of coffee houses that dot the landscape in and around Richardson’s old downtown area.
Along the storefronts and cafés along the corners and corridors of Richardson’s Main Street-centered “Core District,” the aromas of cardamon, cinnamon and clove waft with the swirling grind of coffee beans.
Inside one café, the taste of Yemen is being crafted. Head to the north, you can grab a traditional Japanese seiza booth and sip on rich green matcha tea, or relax in the backyard of a 1940s house, known for community conversation over latte or chai.
“Richardson was somewhere where I want to be, somewhere super diverse,” Nicole Gregory, owner of Staycation Coffee, said while serving a small line of regulars inside the former residential home reimagined into one of a variety of coffee shops in the downtown core area. “I think eyes turned to Richardson as a place to be to create culture and community, and we see that growing here with the coffee shops.”
Within a quarter-mile radius, you can visit Shiham Coffee, Arwa Coffee, La Souq, Okaeri Café and several others, all infused with specialty offerings that highlight nations of origin, or cultural coffee and tea delicacies.
The Core district was touted as a city section known for small restaurants with big followings for Pakistani biryani, Chinese dim sum and the city’s oldest restaurant, Kel’s Hamburgers.
The coffee houses are deemed as locations of comfort and familiarity for residents who yearn for a sense of homeland.
Grant Tran owns Okaeri Café, a spot decorated with contemporary Japanese décor.
“We want to show our culture, what we like to drink. It happened to gather in Richardson, and I think it’s really cool,” Grant said.
Inside La Souq Coffee, the owners are the newest coffee addition to the Core District array of shops.
“We bring a taste of the Mediterranean. We chose the area because of the culture and diversity here. A lot of the coffee shops are here because there’s demand for it here,” owner Hira Sidiqqui said.
From Main Street, east of Central Expressway to Greenville Avenue, the Richardson Core district’s main artery extends north and south. At last count, there were at least seven coffee houses blending ethnic diversity in and around the Core, and plenty of customers seeking them out.