Author: coffeeandbookssa

This is actually the first place we visited when we started our coffee shop journey. We instantly fell in love with this place because of it’s uniqueness. It is located on the West side of San Antonio on Culebra and when you first drive up to the shop it looks like and old house. Then you walk inside and it reminds me of an old tavern.

There is a bar where you can sit and drink your coffee and watch the barista work. There is also a lot of comfortable seating inside and plenty of seating outside. There is also Wi-Fi so you can work or just sit and just people watch. It’s nice and relaxing with music playing in the background and on the weekends seems to be pretty busy. They have plenty of drink options to choose from but best of all they have an awesome food menu to choose from as well. Their serving sizes are huge.

The owner of Barrio Barista, Mr. De Hoyos is a very sweet man he walks around and talks to customers to make sure they are doing okay. He has stopped by our table when we are there with my children to make sure they ate all their food. He has even given them cookies for finishing their food. He is super sweet as well as all the staff we have encountered at the shop.

The kids and I love this place and I’m sure you will too. Hope to see you there soon!

 

Barrio Barista

3735 Culebra Rd.

San Antonio, TX 78228

 

Title: The Other Side Of Everything

Author: Lauren Doyle Owens

Jacket Summary: Bernard White is a widower who has lived in Seven Springs, Florida, for decades. When one of his neighbors is murdered, Bernard emerges from his solitude to reconnect with his fellow octogenarians, forging literal lifeline as a second, and then third, elderly woman is murdered. “The originals,” as they call themselves, realize that they are being targeted. Amy Unger is an artist and cancer survivor who emotional recovery has not been as successful as her physical one. After the woman next door is killed, she begins to paint imagined scenes from the murder in an effort to cope with her own loss. But when her paintings prove to be too realistic, her neighbors grow suspicious, and the murderer seeks to silence her. And then there’s Maddie Lowe, a fifteen-year-old waitress struggling to keep her family together in the wake of her mother’s abandonment. As Maddie tries to maintain the semblance of a normal teenage life, she finds herself drawn to the primary murder suspect. As they navigate their increasingly dangerous and tumultuous worlds, Bernard, Amy and Maddie begin to uncover the connections between them, and the past and present, in a novel that ultimately proves the power of tragedy to spark renewal.

My thoughts:  To be honest when I first started reading this book, I was so fascinated at the description of the murder. I was captivated really, but then when I continued reading and the author didn’t continue talking about the murder I was really disappointed. I wanted to know all the details about the murdered woman so I can figure out who killed her before the author even told us who did. As an avid crime show watcher, I thought I can figure this out just tell me about who her friends were, what happened the night that lead up to the murder, and I can figure this out. So when the next chapter was about her neighbors and what was going on in their lives I was a bit frustrated because I wanted to know more about Adel and later on Helen! But as time goes on you see how they all become part of each others stories. What I also took away from this book was how little we actually know about what is going on behind close doors of every character’s lives. Their personal struggles, how they fight their personal battles. Whether it be their health, their marital relationships, or their relationships with their parents or lack thereof. We truly don’t know what goes on in people’s lives behind close doors.

Mudsmith

If you are in Dallas, TX you need to try this coffee shop! This cool coffee shop on Greenville Ave is a must try. They do have a second location in Dallas on Welborn.

They have coffee, tea, smoothies, and even a good food menu! We had a Breakfast Sammie, classic croissant and it was delicious! They have a great staff, plenty of parking in the rear of the building and most importantly plenty of indoor and some outdoor seating!

It’s a great place to work for the day. They provide outlets at the tables indoor along the wall and they also have a big seating area in the rear for large parties so feel free to bring a group of friends to hang out and have a good time! This is definitely a place we will be returning to whenever we are in Dallas which will be quiet often since we have family there now!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lucky Dog Books

Also while in Dallas we were able to visit a used book store in East Dallas called Lucky Dog Books! It was an amazing bookstore with a knowledgeable staff. We go to the bookstore a little early so while we were waiting we started talking to a gentleman outside the store who was also waiting for the store to open and he had nothing but good things to say about the store and the staff.

 

The store itself was really neat and there were plenty of clearly posted signs and even a bookstore map which made it easy to find what you are interested in. The store is big with plenty of books to choose from. If you visit their website it will inform you of any sales going on at the time or anything upcoming.

This place is nice and cozy. The building itself is phenomenal! I can’t wait to go back there when it’s raining, I bet it’s gorgeous. It’s a nice place to just sit and work, read or have a moment to sit back relax and listen to the great music they have playing in the background.

The staff is very nice, they bring your drink to your table instead of just yelling your name into a sea of people. They have plenty of seating inside and outside as well. The day we went it was nice and cool so it was perfect sitting outside weather. They do have accessible outlets throughout so you can plug in if you are there to work. They also have plenty of parking around the shop.

The coffee of course was amazing. I had the Mocha Chai Latte and Alexis of course had her usual regular Latte. They have a variety of non-dairy milk as well, I usually have the oat milk. They also have a good amount of sweet and savory snacks to choose from. They also have a limited variety of salads and small lunch snacks available in the deli cooler.

This shop is a must try if not for anything else other than to sit and sip coffee in this awesome structure.

PRESS Coffee

4035 Broadway

San Antonio, Texas 78209

 

This place is gorgeous!! It’s very comfortable in here! Besides the horrible Southtown parking situation, the atmosphere is great. The service is great, the staff is super sweet. 

The coffee is AMAZING!! I had a hot Hazelnut Latte with oat milk and Alexis had a cold Carmel Latte and the hubs had a hot chocolate. They all tasted great. They also have a breakfast menu with a nice variety of breakfast sandwiches and breakfast tacos. Alexis and I shared the breakfast sandwich. It had bacon and eggs w/cheese on a buttery Texas toast. It tasted great!! 

They have plenty of indoor seating and a couple of tables outdoors. They do have lots of outlets to plug into if you plan on staying a while and working. They also have free Wi-Fi, the password is written on a little chalkboard in front of the register. I say this because I’m super anti-social and I don’t really like to ask the staff for the password. I’m sure there are a lot of other people out there who are just as anti-social as I am. It is nice and quiet so you can read a book, study or just sit here and relax. They have nice soft music playing in the background, it’s super relaxing. It’s a nice place to just get away from the hustle and bustle of your day.

I’m excited to return. This place is a must try!

 

Don Martin’s

540 S Presa St

San Antonio, Tx 78205

Title: Before We Were Yours

Author: Lisa Wingate

Jacket Summary: Memphis 1939. Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family’s Mississippi River shantyboat. But when their father must rush their mother to the hospital one stormy night. Rill is left in charge-until strangers arrive in force. Wrenched from all that is familiar and thrown into a Tennessee Children’s Home Society orphanage, the Foss Children are assured that they will soon be returned to their parents-but they quickly realize the dark truth. At the mercy of the facility’s cruel director, Rill fights to keep her sisters and brother together in a world of danger and uncertainty.

Aiken, South Carolina, present day. Born into wealth and privilege, Avery Stafford seems to have it all: a successful career as a federal prosecutor, a handsome fiancé, and a lavish wedding on the horizon. But when Avery returns home to help her father weather a health crisis, a chance encounter leaves her with uncomfortable questions and compels her to take a journey through her family’s long-hidden history, on a path that will ultimately lead either to devastation or to redemption.

Based on one of America’s most notorious real-life scandals-in which Georgia Tann, director of a Memphis-based adoption organization, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country-Lisa Wingate’s riveting, wrenching and ultimately uplifting tale reminds us how, even though the paths we take can lead to many places, the heart never forgets where we belong.

My Thoughts: This book was an easy read for me it only took me two days to read it and I simply couldn’t put it down. The topic of the book is very real and to think about what happened to those children long ago is very heartbreaking. But what is even more heartbreaking is that some of this is still happening today. Maybe not in the exact same way but children are still being taken from their families everyday. I found myself getting teary eyed about not only what was written on the page but what wasn’t written. There were a couple instances where the author didn’t tell you exactly what happened in the children’s home but if you read between the lines and figure it out and it was just devastating to thing about what these children went through. What was even worse was when she finally did get back to her family it wasn’t the life she had remembered it to be. This is a must read!! Keep the tissues handy.

 

 

 

 

Estate Coffee Co. is a nice little quiet shop just outside of downtown San Antonio. It has a lot of table and chair seating inside and a couple of tables outside if you like to enjoy some nice fresh air in the morning preferably unless you like sitting outside in 100 degree Texas heat. It’s a good place to get some work done, it is very small so if you are having a conversation with someone everyone can hear you. There isn’t music playing in the background so it would be a nice place to enjoy some quiet time and get some reading done or catch up on emails. There are a lot of windows so you can sit at the bar style table and just people watch. It’s not in a super busy part of town so it’s not super hard to get in and out of the parking lot.

 

 

They have a regular menu on the wall and then they have a seasonal menu of coffee on the counter in front of the register. We like to try new things so we always order off the seasonal menu. We absolutely love the Honey Lavender Latte and the Dirty Chi Latte, you can get these hot or cold of course, and if you are in the mood for something other than coffee the Sparkling Lavender Lemonade is amazing for the summer months as well. They do also have a small food menu.

 

 

 

Estate Coffee Company

1320 East Houston St A101

San Antonio, TX 78205