Somewhere just south of Denton, Texas—or perhaps in the sprawling Ft. Worth suburbs, depending on how you look at it—sits the city of Northlake (population 5,000). It’s home to Function Coffee Co, a new coffee bar rooted in the North Texas coffee scene. From roaster to pop-up to a brand new cafe, let’s learn more about the story of Function Coffee.
The 2026 Build-outs of Coffee is presented by DONA, Pacific Barista Series, and La Marzocco.
For those who aren’t familiar, will you tell us about your company?
Function Coffee Co was really a dream 13 years in the making. Opening a cafe is inherently risky, so my wife Devin suggested I start by roasting coffee, building the brand and community first, and seeing where it went.
So, while I was still working my corporate job, I launched Function Coffee Co as a coffee roasting company. Not long after, we started taking a coffee cart to farmers markets and pop-ups, selling our bags of coffee alongside canned iced cold brew lattes that we made and sealed right in front of the guest.
By our third pop-up, the line wrapped around the market, and that was the moment we realized this might be bigger than we originally thought. The community was getting behind Function Coffee Co in a way we never could have expected.
From roasting our first bag of coffee to opening the doors of our cafe was just 435 days. I documented essentially the entire process on social media—the wins, mistakes, construction, equipment, everything—which allowed the community to be part of building Function Coffee Co alongside us. Their support has been pretty wild to experience.
Can you tell us a bit about the new space?
Although we love a stark, minimalist coffee shop every now and then, we knew that wasn’t Function Coffee Co.
We wanted the space to feel rich with color, whimsy, and comfort—somewhere you can look around a few times and continue noticing things you missed before. There are little “Easter eggs” hidden throughout the cafe, unexpected details, color-drenched walls, plants, and maximalist-vintage influence.
We were also really intentional about not having a drive-thru, and in fact haven’t even turned on mobile ordering yet. From a business standpoint, we understood what we were giving up, especially in the suburbs, but we wanted our first cafe to be a place where we could actually connect with the community.
We wanted to know the people coming through the doors, learn their names and their orders, and create a place that felt like it belonged to the community rather than simply being another place to grab coffee on the way through.
What’s your approach to coffee?
Our approach is really about removing the pretension without removing the quality.
We source and roast specialty coffee ourselves, and we care a lot about how each coffee is expressed. At the same time, we never want someone to feel like they need to know coffee terminology to order from us—and our menu reflects that. You can get a straight espresso or a great batch brew, but we also put a lot of energy into creative signature drinks. We want the coffee to remain the foundation of those drinks rather than getting buried underneath everything else.
Ultimately, we want Function Coffee Co to be the kind of place where “coffee-coffee people” can appreciate what we’re doing, but everyone else can just think, “That’s a really good cup of coffee.”
Any machines, coffees, special equipment lined up?
Our espresso bar is built around a three-group Rocket RE Doppia, paired with Mahlkönig E80W GbS and Mahlkönig E65W Grind-by-Sync grinders.
How is your project considering sustainability?
One of the biggest sustainability decisions we made actually happened before we opened the cafe.
We roast on two full-stack Bellwether electric roasters. They’re all-electric and produce nearly 90% fewer emissions than traditional gas-fired coffee roasters.
For us, sustainability isn’t something we wanted to tack onto the cafe afterward. It’s built into one of the most fundamental parts of our business: how we produce the coffee we serve every day.
What’s your hopeful target opening date/month?
We officially opened the doors to our first brick-and-mortar cafe on May 16, 2026.
Are you working with craftspeople, architects, and/or creatives that you’d like to mention?
My wife Devin and I designed the space and brand ourselves, which made the project especially personal for us. We worked with Riverwood on the build-out and Kline Hardin as our architect. My dad and I also did a lot of the finish-out.
Thank you!
The 2026 Build-outs of Coffee is presented by DONA, Pacific Barista Series, and La Marzocco.
