Slowpokes is coming
Sawyer Yards cafe closes as Astro-owned Houston coffee brand pivots
Maven Coffee's interior will be renovated to reflect Slowpokes' style.
A Houston hospitality group is shifting from operating cafes to selling coffee products to as many people as possible. Rex Hospitality’s decision to focus on products such as cold brew concentrate means that Maven Coffee in Sawyer Yards has closed, but the space will soon reopen as the newest outpost of a growing Houston coffee shop.
Rex partner Juan Carlos de Aldecoa tells CultureMap that he and his business partners, attorney Jimmy Doan and Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr., have turned over the property to Slowpokes, the growing Houston coffee shop with locations in Garden Oaks, the East End, Levy Park, and more. While Rex is still operating Maven Coffee’s shop at the Thompson Hotel, the company is actively searching for a new operator who would keep the location open as Maven but free it from day-to-day oversight. The future of Maven’s coffee and cocktail stands at Toyota Center and Daikin Park has yet to be decided.
“The cafes are brand plays for us,” de Aldecoa says. “We’re shifting that a bit. We still have more locations coming, but they won’t be operated by us. They’ll be licensing deals in different developments. That’s our new model.”
Instead, the company will focus on growing Maven Coffee Company, which sells cold brew concentrate and other coffee products to both restaurants and directly to consumers. “We’ve had a record month-over-month. If we put the right amount of time and effort into this project, we can make a big impact. I feel that’s where our resources are best utilized,” de Aldecoa says.
Later, he adds, “We’re in 14 different metros. We’d like to increase that to about 50 through our concentrate and having different sorts of products such as RTDs.”
Rex opened Maven at Sawyer Yards in October 2024. Intended to be an all-day cafe, it served coffee and breakfast in the morning as well as a sophisticated dinner menu that included everything from roast chicken and spicy rigatoni to steak and octopus.
Coming Soon to Sawyer Yards
Slowpokes owner Mazen Baltagi tells CultureMap that, after building a friendship with de Aldecoa, he welcomed the opportunity to bring his coffee shop to Sawyer Yards. Having assumed control of the space on January 1, he’s optimistic that the new Slowpokes will open in March. Plans call for replacing the current interior with more homey fabrics and installing vintage speakers that are more in line with Slowpokes’ other shops. He thinks the location is ideal for Slowpokes, which has built a devoted following by selling coffee, beer, and wine that are paired with a diverse food menu built around sandwiches, flatbread pizzas, and breakfast items.
“If you look at all of our locations, most of them aren’t necessarily in high-traffic areas. They’re in underserved areas — besides [nearby] Catalina Coffee, which we’re huge fans of, but they don’t have food [other than pastries] or Wi-Fi,” Baltagi says.
In particular, Baltagi thinks Slowpokes will appeal both to area residents looking for a coffee shop where they can get a little work done and to people exercising at nearby gyms such as Orange Theory and Momentum Climbing Gym. Slowpokes will also build on some of Maven’s existing events, such as the monthly Cars & Coffee gathering and a weekly run club.
“I think it’s a phenomenal brand that can get to 25-plus locations in the Houston area and throughout the state,” de Aldecoa says about Slowpokes. “I think they do a great job. They’ve figured out how to do it at scale. I’m excited for them, and they have a great model.”
