A veteran in the Dallas coffee scene is opening a new shop. White Rock Coffee, the revered coffee shop and roaster in East Dallas, will open a fourth location at the prime North Dallas intersection of Preston and Royal roads.

The shop will open at 5930 Royal Ln., in a former Subway shop, with a target date of late summer, according to owners Nancy and Robert Baker.

The couple were trailblazers on the local coffee scene when they opened their first location 13 years ago, at 10105 Northwest Hwy., at the corner of Ferndale — predating an entire third wave of indie coffee shops that have opened around DFW.

They serve coffee and espresso drinks, plus pastries, cookies, muffins, snacks, and sandwiches, which they make at their own bakery. Signature treats include quick breads such as their zucchini pecan loaf, and sweet tea cupcakes.

They also specialize in small-batch, micro-roast coffee, and are also proactive on educational initiatives, including their opening in fall 2017 of a training facility next-door to their Northwest Highway store.

They regularly hold classes on coffee topics. On July 7, they'll be hosting a class on "coffee brewing basics," to show people how to make the best coffee at home.

In 2010, they opened an express store at Hillside Village, at the intersection of Abrams and Mockingbird Lane, focusing on the convenient drive-through for commuters.

They also host live musicians, and support charitable causes such as a recent golf tournament pairing golf pros with wounded veterans. Their charming outreach includes posting photos on their Facebook page of drive-through customers who happily pose, often with doggie companions.

In other words, they're pretty much the perfect engaged neighborhood coffee shop — one that even endured an incursion into their turf on Northwest Highway, where in 2017, a Starbucks rather ruthlessly opened a store two doors down.

Preston Road is a favorite location for Starbucks, which has five stores in the span between Northwest Highway and Frankford Road.

"We are very excited about the new location," Nancy says. "We sell our coffee beans at the Central Market store at Preston-Royal and that has received has so much interest, that we decided a local coffeehouse was the next step."

"As a native Dallasite, I know that Preston Hollow has fabulous restaurants, and the residents have a refined palate, but have been underserved in coffee," she says.