If it’s true that three examples is enough to start a trend, San Antonio might soon be home to a wave of goth coffeeshops.
At least three shops in town are bucking the more traditional coffee shop look by embracing a darker aesthetic, and the owners of each report an enthusiastic response to their shops’ skull-festooned decor. All also acknowledged that Halloween season amps up interest in their shops.
If you’re looking for something dark and delicious this Halloween season, read on.
Gravves Coffee
The goal really wasn’t to be spooky, said Daniel Contreras, co-owner of Gravves Coffee.
It was to differentiate their coffee truck — now a brick and mortar spot on McCullough Avenue — from all the rest. “Everyone does the same thing,” Contreras said. “We wanted to give people an experience.”
The result is a low-lit, slightly cavernous space painted black, ‘dark wave’ music playing in the background. Black-clad baristas create latte art on drinks in black cups near a small merch section that, at the moment, includes an All Hallows T-shirt featuring skull artwork. Line drawings of a pair of coffins grace the windows.
The shop’s Instagram page features moody, dark shots of its jewel-colored signature coffee drinks, baristas’ at their craft and various T-shirts for sale.
The dark aesthetic definitely draws more people during Halloween season, which is fine with Contreras. “People want to feel something … we can play the part.”
Folklores Coffee House
Tatu Herrera, who owns Folklores Coffee House in Government Hill, grew up in the punk scene of the 80s and 90s, and the aesthetic of his shop grew directly out of that. He said when he was trying to decide how to decorate his shop, he ended up displaying his old punk band posters, like Bad Brains, Circle Jerks, Misfits and Subhumans, mixed in with some new wave acts like The Cure.
“I decided, ‘I’m just gonna do me,’ and it felt like the light went on,” he said.
So many people have a connection to that subculture, with new wave and goth and dark wave growing out of punk music. He said people who come into the shop are either into that music, or their parents were — or their kids are. “The young kids today know everything about it,” he said. “Music connects all of us.”
The shop also features a set of skateboard decks that highlight some of the spooky lore of San Antonio and the region, he said, like the Ghost Tracks, the Donkey Lady and La Llorona.
“We get people from out of town and we’re telling them the haunted history of San Antonio,” he said. “It’s really cool.”
Folklores just celebrated its six-year anniversary. Herrera is opening a second Folklores Coffee House on Fredericksburg Road in Beacon Hill, and he said that shop too will have a similar aesthetic, maybe more new wave/goth than pure punk.
His wife Emilie Herrera, a new wave devotee herself, will be opening her new venture, CheeseMe, a cheese and meat charcuterie shop, in the same space. The couple just signed a lease on the property that housed Dos Hermanos coffee shop, and hope to open up within the next month or so.
The current shop on North New Braunfels has its window display decorated for Halloween, and the shop will be part of a block party there this Saturday starting at 6 p.m., with food, music, drinks, vendors and a costume contest.
“Halloween is big for us,” he said.
Brewjeria Coffee
The owner of Brewjeria Coffee, which just opened at 1900 Pleasanton Road on Sept. 21, chose its spooky name as an homage to the neighborhood.
Julián Cavazos grew up in the Harlandale ISD neighborhood on the city’s South Side, and as a kid would spend his Sunday mornings with his sister and dad, checking out the neighborhood’s coffee shops.
Today, the former tennis champ is an English as a Second Language and special education teacher at McCollum High School, where he graduated. Cavazos expressed love for his neighborhood and its residents. “It’s very cultural, and older,” with a lot of superstitious beliefs, he said of his neighborhood and why he chose to play off the word brujeria, which means witchcraft in Spanish.
The tiny shop has some witchy and spooky art on the dark walls, but it also boasts a comfy couch and chairs and a vintage Persian rug, giving it a cozy vibe. “Everything was thrifted from the neighborhood,” Cavazos said proudly. “I really wanted to keep everything local.”
He said the shop is still getting its bearings, but so far, “the community has really come out for us and is supporting us,” he said.
For those not into coffee with a side of goth, San Antonio is home to coffee shops of all vibes. Check them out in our local coffeeshop guide.