“I was always a coffee shop hanger-outer,” jokes Tiffani Kocsis, founder of East Dallas Middle Ground.
Kocsis, a Lake Highlands resident, has lived a life of sipping and stirring, fueling her way through parenthood and a career as an educator. With so much time spent in coffee shops, she’s decided to create her own.
“The one thing East Dallas is missing, there’s no slow coffee experience,” she explains. “You don’t have anywhere that feels like your living room, where you can meet up with a friend and spend a couple hours just chatting.”
East Dallas Middle Ground was conceived to fill that neighborhood void, filling a physical void at the White Rock Shopping Center. Kocsis says the shop is slated to open in early 2024 featuring two work private work rooms available for booking, as well as a children’s area filled with toys and puzzles. The shop already has its first employee.
“My 10-year-old daughter has insisted on working,” Kocsis says with a laugh. “I’ll have her sweep or something.”
It’s as much of a family affair as it is a community one. East Dallas Middle Ground’s coffee will be come from Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters, to be enjoyed with a selection of Lubbies Bagels and yogurt from Milk & Patience. Most notably, the shop will feature a specially curated menu from former RM 12:20 owner and chef, Erin Willis
“It was important to me to have only local vendors,” Kocsis says. “We’re lucky to have so many great options.”
Her shop is beginning to take shape as a Dallas mosaic. For a community-oriented establishment, it’s exactly how Kocsis wants it.
