Now brewing

New Love Field-area coffee shop brews matcha and community in Dallas

A matcha drink from Go Culture Cafe.

Instagram/Go Culture Cafe

A new coffee shop and gathering space is coming to the Dallas Love Field area. Called Go Culture Cafe, it will be located at 5606 Maple Ave., Ste. 110, near Inwood Rd., and will open after the Fourth of July.

The concept comes from Farhan Fallahi, an Iran-born fashion designer who has lived in Dallas for 11 years and owns the wedding and event planning company Wedding Erah.

The 1,000-square-foot coffee shop is designed to be a collaboration hub, he says, outfitted with benches, chairs, small tables, and a large coffee bar.

The drink menu will include traditional espresso options like lattes, macchiatos, and mochas, alongside a variety of matcha beverages. Specialty drinks will feature a saffron matcha, saffron latte, fig matcha, fig latte, and an extra-creamy matcha made with heavy cream. They will also offer a mocha latte topped with a cold matcha foam. All coffee drinks will be priced under $9.

To source their beans, they have partnered with Eiland, the Richardson-based artisan roaster.

Additionally, Go Culture Cafe will serve specialty, high-protein smoothies packed with nuts, dates, fruit, and other premium, health-conscious ingredients. The 16-ounce smoothies will retail for around $18.

An iced mocha latte topped with cold matcha foam, one of the signature specialty drinks at Go Culture Cafe.Photo courtesy of Go Culture Cafe

For food, Fallahi is partnering with several local bakeries to offer pastries such as a banana bread cookie, red velvet cookie, and matcha muffins, as well as savory items like avocado toast and cottage cheese toast. All food items will be priced below $10.

The idea for the coffee shop came up unexpectedly, he says.

“I started doing a lot of events and flower pop-ups in front of restaurants and cafes," Fallahi says. "It was cool to see how people would connect over pastries and coffee."

He initially looked into launching a coffee truck before finding the brick-and-mortar location next to a RaceTrac gas station. The building previously housed a coin laundry and a vacant storefront before the landlord divided it into smaller retail spaces.

Fallahi admittedly has no prior background or experience in the coffee industry, which is actually the inspiration behind the entire concept.

“When you start a business from the ground up, it can be very lonely,” he says.

He designed Go Culture Cafe to be a destination for anyone starting something new and seeking inspiration or motivation. The “Go” in the name is a direct invitation for people to “go for it.”

“Whatever it is you’re going after, go for it, even if you don’t feel completely ready," Fallahi says. "Nobody knows exactly what they are doing. Go Culture Cafe is a space for people to gather, collaborate, and make connections.”

Hours of operation will be 7 am-7 pm Monday-Saturday an 9 am-5 pm Sunday.

A grand opening is planned for mid-July, featuring live music, a balloon artist, and other surprises, he says. True to the cafe's roots, the space will host future pop-up events and collaborations to foster community connection.

Noodling in

Chinese noodle spot Yo! Bowl expands to Plano with full-service restaurant

Photo courtesy of Yo! Bowl

Yo! Bowl revolves around a springy, chewy rice noodle from Taiwan called mifen.

A family-owned restaurant that introduced an under-the-radar Chinese noodle dish to North Texas is expanding to Plano: Yo! Bowl, known for its customizable rice noodle bowls and Southwest Chinese flavors, will open a second location at 4701 W. Park Blvd. #105 in mid-July, according to a release.

The noodle shop debuted in Carrollton in 2024 and built a following for its mifen, a springy, chewy rice noodle from Taiwan, also sometimes called mei fun. These noodles, still quite unfamiliar to American diners, can be found on some menus in Dallas, but Yo! Bowl is the rare all-mifen concept.

In China, mifen noodles are typically offered in self-serve bars, where customers choose their ingredients. In a nod to those origins, Yo! Bowl in Carrollton offers a build-it-yourself bowl but the ingredients are mixed behind the counter. They're available in a soup form, as well as a non-soup dry option, similar to a stir fry, in choice of spicy or non-spicy.

The noodles are cooked in 20 seconds, making this true fast food, given the speed in which customers get their orders. Bowls range from $11 to $13, depending on protein.

The new Plano restaurant will differ slightly from the original. While the Carrollton location relies primarily on self-order kiosks, the Plano outpost will offer full table service.

Owner Xinran Xu founded Yo! Bowl with the goal of introducing mifen to a broader audience. Born in China and raised in Japan, Xu drew on influences from both cultures when developing the restaurant.

"When we first opened, many customers had never heard of mifen before," Xu says in the release. "I wanted to introduce a dish that I grew up with and make it approachable for everyone. Whether someone likes spicy food, mild flavors, soup, or dry noodles, they can create a bowl that fits their own taste."

Crispy chicken at Yo! Bowl.Photo courtesy of Yo! Bowl

While mifen is the centerpiece, the menu also includes Japanese-inspired items reflecting Xu's background, including chicken katsu. Another customer favorite is the restaurant's homemade yogurt, she says, prepared from a family recipe passed down through generations.

Xu says the idea for expansion came from seeing how many customers were driving from Collin County to visit the Carrollton restaurant.

"We realized many of our regular customers were driving from Plano, Frisco, and other parts of Collin County," Xu said. "When the opportunity came to open a second location, Plano felt like the natural next step."

Xu says she hopes mifen can eventually achieve the same level of recognition in the U.S. as other Asian noodle dishes.

"Japanese ramen and Vietnamese pho have become part of mainstream American food culture," Xu says. "If one day Americans recognize mifen the same way they recognize ramen or pho, I would consider that a success."

To celebrate the opening, Yo! Bowl plans to offer a limited-time promotion with select noodle bowls priced at $9.95, according to the release. A soft opening will take place in mid-July, they say.

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Luciana Gomez contributed to this story.

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