the slow life

Casual Houston coffee shop pokes into new Sawyer Yards location

Photo by Becca Wright

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.”

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In A Pickle

Texas-based Smoothie King spins up puckery new pickle smoothie

Photo courtesy of Smoothie King

Pickle flavored smoothie from Smoothie King.

The ever upwardly trending pickle flavor is surfacing in the unlikeliest of places: Smoothie King, the Dallas-based smoothie chain, is releasing a new limited-edition Pickle Smoothie — for those who love pickles so much they could drink them.

Smoothie King is partnering with Grillo's Pickles, a Boston-based pickle company, on a beverage that combines Grillo’s Pickles with bananas, kale, and coconut water for what they describe as a refreshingly tangy drink infused with electrolytes designed to support hydration.

The drink is $5.99 for a 20-ounce serving, and will be available through the summer. They'll be giving out free 4-ounce samples on May 16, while supplies last. A Today writer who ran out and tried it found that the banana and pickles both had an equally strong presence, and that it was "not bad." That's some reporting.

Grillo's Pickles was founded in 2008 by Travis Grillo, who launched the business as a small wooden pushcart in Boston Common, using his family's 100-year-old recipe. It has since grown into a nationwide brand, with their bottles topped with kelly-green lids sold in the refrigerator section of major grocery chains such as Walmart, Target, Whole Foods, Kroger, and Aldi.

Smoothie King is based in Dallas and is owned by Wan Kim, who opened the first Smoothie King franchise in Korea before eventually acquiring the national chain. He's also a major presence in Dallas' restaurant scene, opening the acclaimed Asian-themed Nuri Steakhouse in Uptown Dallas in 2024, and more recently debuting a chicken tenders concept on Dallas' Greenville Avenue called Flock & Fresh on May 2.

Pickles have emerged in recent years as one of the buzziest flavors, including Fort Worth's own craft beer brewer Martin House Brewing Co., a pickle pioneer that has released a number of pickle-flavored beers. H-E-B just joined the pickle party with a new Pickle Chamoy Sherbet, and national boutique grocery chain Trader Joe's is about to reprise its annual Pickle Season onslaught of pickle-flavored products such as Dill Pickle Mustard and Pickle-Flavored Potato Chips.

Beyond their flavor, pickles are a fermented item which can offer nutritional/probiotic benefits, although Smoothie King VP of R&D and Product Marketing Lori Primavera focuses primarily on the hydration aspect.

"At Smoothie King, every recipe starts with delicious nutrition in mind," Primavera says in a statement. "Pickles are not only delicious and having a cultural moment, they also offer real nutritional benefits, especially known for their enhanced hydration. That combination gave us an opportunity to explore them in a new format and push our innovation into new territory, reimagining how a beloved flavor can deliver both function and taste."

Grillo's Pickles Chief Commercial Officer Mark Luker calls them "functional benefits."

"We love to do unhinged collabs at Grillo's," Luker says. "With that, we don't always get to talk about the functional benefits of pickles. When we partnered with Smoothie King for a hydration smoothie, we knew this was a great opportunity to do both. Those who are willing to try will be pleasantly surprised (and hydrated)."

And if pickles are not your thing, Smoothie King is also simultaneously unveiling five watermelon smoothies including fan-favorite Watermelon Hydration, Watermelon X-Treme, Gut Health, The Activator Recovery Watermelon, and Power Meal Slim Watermelon.

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