After eight years, San Antonio’s Folklores Coffee House has a new owner. Neighborhood advocate Dr. Erica “Nikki” Martinez has taken the reins of the East Side café from Emilie and Joel “Tatu” Herrera.

The sale follows a whirlwind year for the Herreras. In August, the couple weathered power outages at their second Beacon Hill location, deciding to close the shop by the end of the month.

Meanwhile, Tatu was pursuing new ventures. The longtime San Antonio chef opened The Desert Spoon in Spring Branch in 2025. Earlier this year, he took a consulting gig with River Walk staple, Casa Rio, where he started his culinary career.

Emilie was navigating her own hectic schedule. In a since-deleted social media video, she said running Folklores, working her corporate day job, caring for family, and tending to health issues all had become more difficult in the last couple of years.

Tatu, formerly a chef at the Grand Hyatt San Antonio, spent two years hosting food pop-ups to save for Folklores, debuting at 5007 S. Flores St. in 2018. He drew inspiration from the San Antonio punk and new wave scene of his youth, filling the space with ‘80s posters and an equally ‘80s soundtrack.

When the pandemic shut down the shop in March 2020, the couple turned their energy to feeding seniors, delivering tens of thousands of meals. That July, they opened what was intended to be a second location at 1526 E. Grayson St. The original South Side flagship shuttered for good in September.

In the subsequent years, the business wandered through several locations, including a return to the South Side in 2022 and the Beacon Hill outpost. The current space, at 1943 N. New Braunfels Ave. in Government Hill, has been serving lattes since 2024.

Although the decision to sell a coffee house that had persevered through so many challenges was bittersweet, Emilie says the business is in good hands with Martinez.

“Nikki is a beautiful human being, and what makes this even more special is that she’s fulfilling a dream of creating opportunities and a future for her autistic son,” Emilie wrote. “After eight years, knowing Folklores will continue to be a place of love, community, and opportunity means everything.”