Houston Restaurants Adapting By Moonlighting As Cafes During The Day – CoffeeTalk

Houston restaurants have been turning to coffee shops as a solution to their slow business, as reported by the Texas Restaurant Association. The Kennedy, a Montrose restaurant, has seen its business decline due to a decrease in alcohol sales and traffic. However, the establishment has managed to bounce back by opening a specialty coffee shop within its respective spaces during previously-closed daytime hours.

The Kennedy, along with other Houston restaurants like Jun and Rabbit’s Got the Gun, has been able to capitalize on the challenges of having a specialty coffee program. Owner Andres Quiroz and his business partner Rajeev Yalamanchili wanted the Kennedy to become a day-to-night lifestyle brand, but it wasn’t in their wheelhouse to start a specialty coffee program. They were blessed to connect with coffee pop-up Chapola Cafe, which would take the logistics off their hands. They started on weekends in February and gradually amped up their hours.

The challenges that come with having a specialty coffee program include labor costs and expertise. Without Chapola, they would have been tasked with learning to use the equipment and prepare the coffee, along with hiring and training baristas, which is a fairly highly paid position in hospitality. Now, they also plan to add lunch. The Kennedy’s “den” room has turned into a coffee shop during weekdays, and the partnership means a percentage of revenue goes toward the Kennedy.

The Kennedy has also hosted “coffee and house” events, another method of capitalizing on its space and bringing people in. Northside bar Rabbit’s Got the Gun has also hosted daytime Latin music and coffee events since it began operating as Cariño Coffee. The next one slated for this weekend is slated for this weekend.

Owner Nathan Aguirre wanted to test out the coffee shop concept before leasing a new space, especially as rent continues to climb in Houston and has become a high stress point for operators. Evelyn Garcia, chef-owner of Jun, and fellow chef-owner Henry Lu recently opened Jun as a coffee shop called Third Place during the day to keep revenue flowing in an uncertain time for restaurants. She had always wanted to have a bakery-like concept, and decided recycling the space she already had would be most effective and create new buzz around Jun. She thinks moves like this help her staff feel more secure at Jun.

The cost of operating is much higher than two years ago when they opened, and she is now trying to bring in more revenue and bring something new to their customer base. The new restaurant concept, described as “new Asian American,” is a testament to the creative ways hospitality businesses are trying to bring in more revenue.

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