Houston’s next Slowpokes is ready to make its debut. The coffee shop and cafe will open its eighth Houston-area location in Sawyer Yards this Friday, March 20 (1501 Silver St. Bldg. B).

As CultureMap reported in January, Slowpokes claimed the former Maven Coffee space when Maven decided to exit the cafe business to focus on coffee products such as its cold brew concentrate. Slowpokes owner Mazen Baltagi tells CultureMap that the cafe made some key changes to give the space the proper look and feel.

“The flow of the restaurant is different. We pulled the bar back from the front door. The point of sale location is different,” Baltagi says. “Aesthetically, we put our Slowpokes touches on with different tiles. The upholstery is different. The lighting is different. We added cedar wood and lowered the ceiling a little.”

Even though he swapped out Maven’s granite countertops, the initial feedback from friends has been that it still feels a little fancier than the typical Slowpokes build out.

“It looks a little more refined than our other locations, but that’s because the space was already beautiful. It definitely has a Slowpokes appeal to it,” Baltagi says.

While the decor may be a little more upscale, the food and drinks will be familiar to anyone who’s visited the cafe’s other locations. Slowpokes serves coffee, beer, and wine that are paired with a diverse food menu built around sandwiches, flatbread pizzas, and breakfast items. Those three beverages are represented by three mascots: a turtle named Mash (beer), a snail named Tasker Alexander (wine), and a sloth named Patches (coffee).

First opened in Garden Oaks in 2016 by owner Mazen Baltagi — a Houstonian hospitality veteran who’s a partner in establishments such as Christian’s Tailgate and Winsome Prime — the all-day concept has grown to locations at Levy Park in Upper Kirby, Spring Branch, and West University Place. It opened a location in the East End last year.

“When a good opportunity presents itself, sometimes things just end up working out how they’re supposed to,” Baltagi added in a statement. “We strive to create environments where people can gather over great coffee or wine, and we look forward to meeting all our new neighbors.”