In 2020, Seth Holmbeck, and his wife Lindsey, purchased property on Hwy. 46 where they planned to build a coffee shop to celebrate Seth’s love of coffee and Lindsey’s skills as a baker.
“We were in the middle of permitting, submitting our plans to the city ... and COVID[-19] hit,” Seth Holmbeck said. “It kind of totally derailed our plan of building because the process took so much longer.”
By the time the permitting process was complete, Holmbeck said that construction prices had increased significantly, stalling their plans to build the shop.
As the couple was reevaluating their plans, they were presented with an opportunity to operate the cafe space at the McKenna Center. The space gave them room to bake pastries, offer lunch items and cater locally.
In addition to indoor seating, the location boasts a large covered patio, and guests do not have to visit the museum to get a taste of the shop’s offerings.
“We want to be able to provide something that's just going to make somebody's day that much better,” Holmbeck said. “Everything is scratch-made when possible; everything is locally-sourced when possible. Everything is a small batch. So we're putting out the freshest product that we can.”
The cafe sources its coffee from a roaster in Austin, Holmbeck said. The beans are responsibly sourced, organic and fair-trade, and they are grown in Mexico on a woman-owned and -operated farm, he said.
Eventually, the Holmbecks hope to open their second location at the property on Hwy. 46 and Seth said he would like to expand to more locations in the future.
“Jokingly, I always tell my wife, I'm like, ‘I would love to be the Starbucks of Texas,’” Holmbeck said. “I don’t want to over saturate the community with coffee shops but we definitely want to look to get into some other markets as well.”
The coffee house is open daily for in-person dining and pick-up. 830-865-6068. https://forty-six-coffee-house-and-bakery.square.site
