Alamo City's favorite coffee shop is heading to the Big D. Local Coffee, founded in San Antonio in 2008, is opening not one but two cafes in Dallas in the hot neighborhoods of Deep Ellum and Highland Park.

The Dallas locations will be branded as Merit Coffee, which aligns with Merit Roasting Co., the companion coffee roasting facility. Merit's expansion into the Dallas market follows a successful launch in Austin in 2017.

• The Deep Ellum location is at 2639 Main St., #140. Construction will begin in November, and they hope to open in early February.
• The Highland Park location is at 4228 Oak Lawn Ave. Construction will begin in December and they also hope to open that one in February, too. Hope springs eternal.

The Deep Ellum location will be the first shop to feature a full training center where employees will learn the ins and outs of coffee, how to prepare the perfect espresso, and more.

"Entering the Dallas market is a high-water mark for the Merit brand," says Robby Grubbs in a release. "I started my career in the coffee industry in Dallas over two decades ago so launching in Deep Ellum and Highland Park is a major point of pride. We’re looking forward to bringing the Merit Coffee experience to the Dallas community."

According to the release, expert knowledge and gracious service in a fresh modern setting at Merit Coffee has become the hallmark of the Local Coffee brand in San Antonio.

Austin firm Michael Hsu Office of Architecture designed the two Dallas locations to be modern, light-filled spaces with white powder-coated steel, warm natural wood, and navy blue accents.

“Like in San Antonio and Austin, we selected these Dallas locations because they offer dynamic daytime foot traffic and vibrant culture all week long,” said Bill Ellis. “We don’t aim to blanket a city, but to find the very best real estate for Merit Coffee and we found it with these two locations.”

There are six locations of Local Coffee in San Antonio. The company opened their first location outside of San Antonio with the 2017 opening of Merit Coffee at Seaholm in Austin.

Grubbs and Ellis launched Merit Roasting Co. in the Southtown neighborhood of San Antonio in 2014 to bring a higher quality coffee bean to their shops. Merit Roasting Co. beans are brewed at all Local and Merit Coffee shops, as well as restaurant and retail wholesale accounts in Chicago, New York City, San Diego, San Francisco, and throughout Texas.