Photography by Kathy Tran
Photography by Kathy Tran
Photography by Kathy Tran
Photography by Kathy Tran
Noah Irby and Trevin Willson felt the Dallas coffee scene was missing something — a space where great coffee, a welcoming environment and a positive company culture came together.
Wayward Coffee Co. originally began out of a Volkswagen bus with a built-in espresso bar, and they did pop-ups in Bishop Arts.
“It was a special, iconic, cool, little bus, and we still have it, but basically we did that for a few months. It was really fun,” Irby says. “And we were like, ‘OK, this is cool. It’s not very sustainable.’ We had to either jump ship and stop doing it, or take a risk and try to find a place to build back better. And so actually, the bus broke down a few months before we eventually found this spot.”
To make it work, Irby and Willson decided to DIY portions of the shop, including the furniture. Then, COVID hit about a month after they signed the lease at their new spot on Davis Street.
“Most of 2020, it was very slow, obviously, because of COVID, and we were new,” Irby says. “But basically since then, it just slowly has gotten better. We’ve been able to add on some awesome people. We’ve been able to renovate a lot of the furniture that we initially built that started falling apart, we added some more space which is really wonderful, and it’s been awesome.”
Irby and Willson had been working in coffee for six years and didn’t always have the best experiences. They both knew that Dallas had a good coffee scene, but something was missing. So they decided to start their own venture.
“Dallas was definitely missing a special place,” Irby says. “We didn’t have anywhere we loved going to to hang out, like the go-to shop.”
Irby knew plenty of people in the coffee industry who had bad experiences with their employers, and he wanted to create a positive space.
“We were just like, ‘OK, we know exactly our ideal place to work, what that would be like. How can we create that?’ It starts with people that you have, and then they create that environment for others and for guests to come in, and then everything else follows.”
Most of the people that come in are neighbors and regulars, and Irby says nowhere feels quite like Oak Cliff.
“It’s cool getting to know a lot of friends and special people through Wayward,” Irby says. “I think it’s very important to recognize that (Oak Cliff) is small community, but it’s such a big neighborhood with all these different little, small neighborhoods in it. It’s just the most connected, fun neighborhood, and we love it here.”
Their menu features all the classic drinks for coffee lovers, and they try to appeal to everyone.
“We wanted to be approachable to everybody and not feel pretentious,” Irby says. “We make sure there’s something for everybody to enjoy, like if you want a sweeter drink, we’ve got plenty of options for that, but doing that without sacrificing the quality and integrity of the coffee itself.”
Wayward opened a second location in the Design District, and Irby says the success they have had since taking the leap after running out of a bus has been wonderful to experience.
“We want to be able to expand a little bit, but not too much, because the goal for us was never, and won’t ever be, to open a ton of shops,” Irby says. “It’s by far the busiest shop that a lot of people who work with us have ever worked at. So it’s really cool.”
Additionally, they opened Outpost Fine Goods next door to the Oak Cliff location. The next big step for Wayward is diving into doing their own roasting.
While the name of the shop originated from “talking through cool-sounding words,” it’s easy for Irby to attach meaning to the name.
“Our goal is to be a place for people to find community. So if you feel wayward,” Irby says. “We were trying to create community, trying to let everybody feel like they have a place to come along.”
Wayward Coffee Co., 1318 W Davis St., 214.613.6193, waywardcoffee.co
