It took more than two years for non-profit organization-meets-coffeeshop A 2nd Cup to relocate and find permanent digs, finally opening its new set of doors last October on 11th Street at Studewood. It’s fitting (and maybe poetic) that the philanthropic coffeeshop has found its second home, since the organization’s mission is to help victims of human trafficking receive their second shot at life.
The original location – which served coffee on Tuesday and Sunday nights for a year inside The Height’s church The Houston Vineyard – closed its doors in 2013 due to church renovations. A 2nd Cup founder Erica Raggett has been on the hunt for a new and permanent location since then.
Well, she finally found it, and the improved 5,000-square-foot coffeeshop boasts new hours, too. Open daily from 7 am to 10 pm, there’s now more time for espresso, coffee and breakfast tacos. And more hours of operation mean more sales.
Profits from the coffeeshop will help fund after-care support – housing, counseling, mentoring and job-skills workshops – for victims of human trafficking. The new location is also equipped with a space for anti-trafficking organizations to use for meetings.
According to a January 2013 fact sheet from the Center for Public Policy Studies, nearly 20 percent of all trafficking victims in the United States travel through Texas, usually on the Interstate 10 corridor. It’s an important statistic for Houstonians to consider, since the highway runs straight through our city. Raggett has devoted herself to spreading awareness about human trafficking one cup of coffee at a time in a city that surely needs the education.
We suggest you change up your morning coffee routine, because there’s much to be enjoyed at A 2nd Cup. The shop gets its beans from local roaster Boomtown Coffee; they make their specialty syrups in-house; and all of their sweet and savory provisions are made onsite, too.
Breakfast is served all day until 7 pm and features smoothies, a daily breakfast sandwich and taco plate, daily quiche and frittata, muffins, scones and granola. Lunch starts a 11 am, with options like curried chicken salad sandwich, Southwest veggie wrap, daily soup and grilled cheese.
The taco plate comes three per order, and this Monday each was stuffed with cheesy pepperjack eggs, fried and spiced sweet potato, smoked sausage, roasted poblano and onions (photo above), served on a gluten-free corn tortilla. The plate of three costs $7.50, and a staffer will cheerfully foil-wrap the ones you don’t finish to take home for breakfast the next day. (The staff – a mix of volunteer and paid employees – are friendly and assisting.)
Gluten-free homemade granola (with a touch of cinnamon) was sprinkled atop a bowl of honey yogurt and topped with mixed berries (photo above). It was lovely, as was the blueberry muffin with a sugary crumble (photo below). We were amazed that our total for two lattes, three tacos, a yogurt-granola parfait and a muffin came to just $24.
It’s quiet inside a 2nd Cup – music doesn’t play over the speakers – and maybe that’s so you spark up conversation with your coffee companion, whether it’s about your week of work or the eye-opening trafficking statistics that embellish the walls. Either way, it’s peaceful inside, and we were very okay with that. It’s a concept well done … for a much-needed cause.
A 2nd Cup, 1111 E 11th St, 832-962-7656, a2ndcup.com