Hot Coffee
New Plano shop Local Good Coffee serves coffee and community
Iced coffee from Local Good Coffee
There's coffee and a whole lot more at Local Good Coffee Co., a coffee spot now open in Plano at 201 Legacy Dr., across the street from the Mitsuwa Marketplace Asian shopping center just west of US-75.
Although initially funded by Chase Oaks Church, which is located in the same center, the shop is not a "church coffee shop," but instead an initiative to make a positive impact in the community without being too church-forward.
"We are doing things through the community for people that don’t want to go through the church," says Local Good Coffee Co. director Ashley Khastehdel. "We want to help connect people to good coffee, good conversations, good local flavors, and good causes every day of the week."
That includes serving as everything from library area, meeting space, to quiet time. There are also outdoor pickleball and volleyball courts, an extended covered patio, and indoor and outdoor playgrounds for children.
It's a large, cool modern, industrial-style space brightened by floor-to-ceiling windows and exposed ducts painted a creamy white, with mix-and-match furniture that's minimalist yet inviting, and the occasional faded vintage Oriental rug to warm up the polished cement floor.
"We built the space to be comfortable, inviting, so people can stay," Khastedel says. "It’s not about a transaction. It is about the experience."
But also, coffee. They get their beans from Lemma Coffee Roasters, with drinks such as espresso, cold brew, cappuccino, Americano, and flavored lattes. They also do seasonal drinks including mocktails such as The Dirty Palmer, a combination of cold brew and lemonade, and The Nojito with lime juice, club soda, and mint.
Their food menu features goods from acclaimed local purveyors such as pastries from Bresnan Bakery in McKinney; soups and salads from Hugs Café; sweet and savory empanadas from Empanada Cookhouse; and Local Creamery ice cream, offered as scoops as well as in affogatos.
Local Good Coffee Co. is a non-profit shop that supports numerous programs and services such as barre and painting classes, a silent book club, and educational classes on topics such as financial and state planning, English as a Second Language (ESL), and job readiness. These services are provided by their partner organization, Local Good Collective, which also has an advocacy program for kids aging out of the foster care and the juvenile system..
“Customers might come in for ESL lessons, but they might join for the cooking classes," says program director Joanna Williams. "We want to promote a healthy lifestyle, education for kids, holistic and wraparound services."
They open Monday-Saturday at 6 am, closing at 5 pm every other night on Monday-Wednesday-Friday, and opening until 9 pm on Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday.
Oh, and they have Sunday hours, too: 7 am to 3 pm. "If we are trying to engage with the community beyond church attendees, we want to be open on Sundays," Williams says.
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