Family and fresh food are at the top of the list of the most important things to the owners of Forty Six Coffee, Cafe & Catering in New Braunfels.

The backstory

Husband and wife Seth and Lindsey Holmbeck opened the cafe as Forty Six Coffee House and Bakery inside the McKenna Center in October 2021. “Forty Six” comes from their original plan to open on Hwy. 46 in New Braunfels.

In the end, Seth Holmbeck said it didn’t make financial sense to build new property, and that they stumbled upon the cafe’s current home in the McKenna by “dumb luck.”

“We have a great home here,” Seth Holmbeck said. “This is our first place. McKenna gave us the opportunity to be here, and I will be forever grateful to them, and I want to stay here as long as I can.”


The Holmbecks moved to New Braunfels in 2008, but Lindsey Holmbeck’s family has lived in town since the 1970s. After a 13-year career in law enforcement in Seguin and Schertz, Seth Holmbeck wanted a more “upbeat” career change, so he and Lindsey Holmbeck opened the cafe. Seth Holmbeck works at the cafe full time and Lindsey Holmbeck part time on the “behind-the-scenes” business operations.

“We always wanted something that was like a family-first, family-oriented business, so we just said let’s take a shot, and it’s worked so far,” Seth Holmbeck said.

Seth Holmbeck said it was a slow start to get the cafe up and running with customers, but the timing of opening at the tail-end of the pandemic brought in a customer base that was eager to get back outside and into public places.

Staying local


Seth Holmbeck said he wants the community to know that Forty Six is a family-first, locally focused business. He and Lindsey Holmbeck have two kids, and most of their customers are parents, grandparents and family members who bring their children to the McKenna Children’s Museum.

The customer base is also made up of nonprofit organizations also located inside the McKenna Events Center as well as people who discover the cafe through social media and word of mouth.

What’s on the menu

Forty Six is open Monday-Saturday from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. For breakfast, coffee and pastries—including muffins, croissants and their most popular breakfast items, sausage kolaches—are made fresh every morning.


The coffee is sourced from Barrett’s Coffee in Austin. Seth Holmbeck said the beans they selected for the cafe are from a woman-owned farm in Mexico.

For lunch, pizzas, sandwiches, soups, burgers and kids meals are available. Bread is baked in-house, and all deli meat is sliced fresh to order. The sandwich and soup combo is a popular lunch item, Seth Holmbeck said, but the classic burger and fries can’t be beat.

“I know I'm biased, but like our burger for being a regular burger, I think it is the best burger in town outside of like if you’re looking for a specialty burger. ... ,” Seth Holmbeck said. “If you’re looking for just a good straight-up burger, I think this is the best burger in town.”

What else?


A large portion of Forty Six is catering. Seth Holmbeck said they have built up a strong catering clientele that includes the city of New Braunfels as well as nonprofits and businesses inside McKenna.

He said they are always striving to provide quality food and customer service to anyone who gives them a call.

“It's a level of service that I really feel is unmatched to a lot of other places,” Seth Holmbeck said. “We just feel that we will go above and beyond to make sure at least the food portion of your event is stress-free, worry-free and your guests are happy.”