Courtesy of Church Road Coffee
Looking for a new brew to keep you hopping in the morning? Lake Highlands High School grad Peter Louis and his wife, Kristi, have opened Church Road Coffee, a new pop-up at North Highlands Bible Church.
By day, Peter is founder and president of Braveheart Ministries, which serves churches and believers around the world by providing discipleship resources including books, podcasts, videos and training schools. He also founded Steadfast Capital to help fund businesses and missions designed to have a positive impact on communities. Kristi assists with the ministry.
Years ago, Peter owned and ran Oak Lawn Coffee, where he learned essential lessons about the coffee business. He fell in love with the “community aspect” of owning a coffee shop, and he and Kristi have spoken often about creating something similar in Lake Highlands.
“The dream to open a coffee shop actually began in college for me,” said Kristi. “As a student at Texas A&M, I worked at a local pita shop, and I noticed how food and hospitality had a way of making people happy and bringing communities together. I began to dream up a space where people could connect, and employees could be developed in character, service and hospitality.”
“Our vision was to have office space for our Braveheart Ministry and then have a walkup coffee bar that could serve the community,” Peter explained. “We looked for space across from Brumley Gardens next to Neighborhood Supply Company but were never able to secure a lease. One day I was driving down Church Road wondering what to do, and I pulled into the parking lot of North Highlands Bible Church, and it clicked.”
Church Road Coffee isn’t a ministry of the church, but having a great relationship with Pastor Rich Roush helped.
“It seemed fitting that our dream would be launched in this location,” said Peter. “Our vision was to create a specialty coffee experience that could serve quality coffee to Lake Highlands and help neighbors meet and connect with each other. As I drove around the parking lot, I realized it was set up as a perfect drive through. What if, instead of a brick-and-mortar location, we set up a coffee cart as a drive through? I presented the idea to Pastor Rich, and the rest is history.”
Before deciding what to serve, the couple tasted coffees from all over the world and ultimately landed on Valor Coffee based in Alpharetta, Georgia. They also plan to host events and can be hired for housewarming parties, school functions, corporate shindigs and catering.
“All we need is access to power,” said Peter. “There’s a setup fee, then events are priced based on how many people are being served. Booking can be done through our website.”
Since Peter will continue with the ministry and the capital business, and Kristi will split time between the ministry and the coffee pop-up, they quickly recognized they needed help to make their new venture successful.
“One of the missing pieces of our dream was someone to help us operate the coffee shop,” he said. “My wife and I have five kids, ages 13 down to 6, so our lives are very full. As we were praying about whether we should actually do this, we met an amazing young couple that had just moved to Dallas from Edmond, Oklahoma. After a brief conversation, I discovered that Cayden, the husband, had a dream of opening a coffee shop. He and his wife, Macy, now operate the coffee cart with active support from Kristi and me.”
A stand-alone shop (or series of shops) may be in the Louis family’s future, but for now, they are taking their plan one step at a time.
“This is a for-profit endeavor, and one day we’d like to have a brick-and-mortar shop,” said Peter. “For me, this location is perfect for two reasons. First, it is perfectly set up as a drive-through location in the heart of our community. We wanted young moms to be able to get quality coffee without having to unbuckle their little ones. Second, this location holds significance for us, because we were married at this church on June 2, 2007 — 18 years ago.”
“As dreams often do, they must be developed and honed over time, and the story of Church Road Coffee is no different,” agreed Kristi. “My husband and I spent our first two years of marriage overseas, and frequenting coffee shops and cafes became a way of life for us. We spent many a day connecting over coffee, and it was overseas that I first began to bake for a local café. I have always been motivated by a sweet tooth, and baking had been a hobby since I was a child. My American chocolate chip cookies and ‘Taste of Heaven’ chocolate cake quickly became favorites. This love for baking carried over to the States after we moved back, and I started a small baking business, Kristi’s Cakes, out of my home years later. Once we get a brick-and-mortar spot for Church Road Coffee, we look forward to re-introducing some of these home-baked treats.”
Mostly, the Louis family says they are now enjoying connecting with neighbors and friends, old and new.
“After having a couple of kids in tow, we moved back to Lake Highlands, Peter’s childhood neighborhood, and I quickly fell in love with the rich community here,” said Kristi. “You certainly don’t find this everywhere. Lake Highlands is unique in its love and loyalty to the community and its ‘throwback’ qualities of friendliness and taking care of one another. It reminds me of the old ‘Cheers’ sitcom my parents used to watch. ‘Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came.’ This heart is present already in our community, and our desire at Church Road Coffee is to create a defined space for that to continue.”
Church Road Coffee is open 7 a.m. to noon, Wednesdays to Saturdays at North Highlands Bible Church, 9626 Church Road.
Courtesy of Church Road Coffee