Merit Coffee – Deep Ellum, Dallas

Friends! I’m so excited to kick this series off and talk about my most favorite thing of all, coffee! Truly, this stay-at-home-vacation has  really given me more time to breath and enjoy the amazing local businesses that surround me in this beautiful city. I like to personally tell people that I was not born and raised in Dallas, but I would choose to live here over and over again if I had to. For my friends and family who are from Houston, I’m sure we have great things to see there but one of the best things about Dallas is the short distance between one adventure and the next.

All photos taken by me and sometimes Victor H, my husband.

Let’s start!

This past Sunday Victor and I found Merit Coffee right on Main Street across from Viddorra, Dallas. From what I have learned from their website Merit Coffee is local. The founders opened up their first coffee shop in San Antonio, Texas and now they roast their own coffee there too. Most of their coffee beans comes from Columbia, Peru, Ethiopia, and Mexico being one of the newer coffee partners. Here’s another coffee shop trying to put their stamp on improving the coffee-drinking experience.

So now lets get into the nitty gritty. The way the coffee shop looks from the outside is beautiful and pleasing to the eye. It is what all Dallas residents look for when they want to sip on some coffee because we like to drink fancy coffee oookkayy. Because this coffee shop is New & Hot, I expected a lot of people to be in there. I was right.

Place is super white, the walls I mean, and the huge window facing the inside of the coffee shops really gives the ambience a Soft & Airy type-feel. I’m not big with interior design terminology but I would say it is definitely mid-century modern with a tiny hint of modern boho.

My first impression after “wow there’s a lot of people in here!” Was, “This place is super cute.” Honestly the white walls and the open window really give the space clarity and it enlarges the space even mores than what it already is. There is lots of cute plants way up high and also way down below.

The menu always is the coffee shops first invitation to be part of something bigger than just a cup of coffee. The style of the menu, the wording, the items on it, will be the gateway into what they are truly selling. Are they simple, dry, and to the point with their names? Sometimes that is always good because not everyone who walks into a coffee shop is a coffee-bean-expert. Although, there are instances that the distinct naming of their drinks really gives character to the establishment as well as serves as a marketing technique to sell some of their “best-known-for” items. Merit Coffee has a very simple menu. Most people into midcentury and bohemian design are cut-to-the-chase and minimalistic (I assume), so this menu was definitely that. I’m the type of gal who wants to only glance at a menu at times to see what really stands out in the first few seconds. If I’m not already up at the front of the ordering line, I’ll definitely take a hard-copy of it and contemplate my options a little longer because I want the best experience. Today, I choose to glance and what stood out was the adffogato, so I had that. 

After taking the number of selfies, and coffee portraits that I occasionally take before actually enjoying anything in life, I decided to sip on the adffogato before eating it as an ice cream dessert. The reason I did this is because since I didn’t get a full coffee drink, I wanted to get a hint of what their coffee does taste like. Well, let me tell you. I’ve had a better affogato, but this was not the worst at all.  The coffee in it was not the strongest that I could have hoped for, considering that adffogato’s come with a shot of espresso. I would have liked it to have a more bitter or stronger taste to it. That is what makes an adffogato what it is. The ice cream is supposed to give it a more cold, sweet flavor to balance out, but this adffogato really just tasted like normal drip coffee with some Blue Bell ice cream (again I mean no harm… hopefully). In conclusion, the adffogato was nothing special but I wouldn’t eliminate the establishments from my bookmarks  just for it.

Wish I could say more, and I know that this review doesn’t give it justice. The place is beautiful, filled with light and positive energy. Next time, because there will a next time, I’ll to try a slow-pour coffee instead so that I can really get a feel of how good their coffee is. They also have pastries, and some looked like they could be vegan, so I’m definitely up for a snack. 

As far as the vibe of the place. Because it’s so new, so many people crowded into one room really didn’t feel like the best place to just pop my computer open and start blogging. Although there is a lot of seating which creates this really cool Zig-Zag design, there is not much table space that can be occupied or even shared amongst your fellow coffee-shop neighbor. Chairs are very comfy but the space between them are slim. Maybe the designer wanted to intentionally spark conversations between strangers here and that is why everyones butt cheeks can potentially be touching each other. 

There is Wi-Fi! Which, I did not use, but saw many computers plugged into it. Many personal and intimate conversations were happening amongst the groups of people as well, and even though it was about 90 degrees outside and the shop was almost to full capacity, there was still a cool breeze that didn’t make drinking hot coffee uncomfortable. 

Ugh, maybe this post was longer than you hoped for. This is my first review and I am a little too excited, so be kind this time. Below is the summary of what I truly enjoyed about this place and what things I didn’t find so tolerable.

Pros:

• Aesthetic
• Menu was understandable
• People were super friendly 
• Cool environment
• Love the Coffee Lab feature – gives the owners some purpose and intention
• Theres self-serve water
• Wifi
• Sparks conversation

Cons:

• Coffee was good, adffogato could be better.
• Not enough personal space
• Crowdedness will lead to no work/school productivity

Because it is Hot & New, be expecting a lot of people for the next few weeks and note that because it is in such a popular location, the New & Hot excitement might even last a few months. 

Let’s talk, I want to hear all about your own coffee addiction! And if you liked my post please hit like to this post, follow my blog and comment your thoughts. If you have time go visit my personal Instagram page, click here.

Also follow me on Yelp so that you have all the details on the coffee shops I will be visiting. Click Here for Yelp

Xo – Monica H