By Jonathan Nassar

The Best Part of Waking Up

When I met my wife, she told me she didn't like coffee. So naturally, I repeatedly took her to coffeeshops. Now, coffee is a part of every weekend for us, and our most useful coffee shops also have some food offerings (more than the basic pastry options) so we can make sure the kids get something decent too. Just about every direction we drive, we go by a coffeeshop, so I thought I would share a few we like.

These are casual places where you wouldn’t feel obligated to order a full meal if you visited - but you would certainly have that option if you wanted. By and large, these are establishments where you order your food and drinks at the counter, pick up the drinks at the counter, and your food will be brought to you. Don’t expect much in the way of wait staff — you’ll probably have to get your own water, forks, and napkins.

My wife and I are fans of Slowpokes, on 34th, one light east of Ella. Whether we get a sandwich or the molletes, we can find something to snack on while us parents get some caffeine. They also have a great beer and wine selection, a small assortment of board games, and periodic events. If you stop by for chess night, you’ll likely get invited to sit down and test your strategic thinking.

Then there’s Boomtown, in the 19th St shopping strip. Boomtown is well known for their roasted coffees around Houston, but I also love their BLT and their salad, though I’ve liked all of their food options that I’ve tried. They don’t have a ton of space for the kids to run around, but walking around the shopping center is usually enough to burn a little energy anyway.

More out of the way, there is Paper Co, housed in Ecclesia Church at the back of the neighborhood east of Houston Ave in the Washington Corridor. We visit Paper Co when we want to go a little out of the way to some place we don’t go to too often. Aside from having great coffee and tea, they have excellent breakfast and lunch options, and some of the proceeds go toward funding some of their charitable activities. Consider checking it out!

A new entrant in our neighborhood is Tea + Victory - we were delighted to find out they have some excellent coffee as well as their food options! It sounds like it will be another fun option to go to with the kids, so we’re excited to add another local place to our rotation. There are so many great places like this around Houston, I have barely scratched the surface. As summer gets closer and closer my family is going to be spending more time retreating to these air conditioned oases. Have fun!