Cardinal Points Coffee and Ollie's Bakery Team Up for Pop Up Event

Cardinal Points Coffee opened its doors last month, offering Del Rio in house roasted beans from all over the world. Located at 115 E. Greenwood St.

As the weather cooled down on Saturday, October 19, dozens of locals headed to Del Rio’s newest coffee shop, Cardinal Points Coffee located at 115 E. Greenwood Street to enjoy fresh, in-house roasted coffee from all over the world, and some homemade, hearty treats courtesy of community staple, Ollie’s Bakery. 

The two local favorites hosted a pop up event that successfully showcased the unique and increasingly popular products that each of these small businesses has to offer. Lines for both Cardinal Points and Ollie’s Bakery were quickly growing when Connect Del Rio arrived around 10am and were nonstop for the rest of the afternoon.

Cardinal Points Coffee, Del Rio’s newest coffee shop, opened last month and is already off to a great start. Owner Angela Garcia, started the business after years of research and a lifelong interest in and passion for coffee. “It really started as a hobby, I’ve loved coffee since I was three,” Garcia began. “My dad was a ranch hand so every morning, he’d get up at 3am to round up the animals and I could hear the pot, and I was like, okay it’s coffee time, dad’s leaving, I’m gonna get up.” “Those are my fondest memories of coffee growing up.”

Fast forward to Valentine’s Day years later, Angela’s husband John, gifted her a coffee roaster and the journey began. “I started by ordering Costa Rican coffee, then Qatar coffee, not really knowing much about it yet, just following the guide of the machine, and venturing more and more into other roasts,” she told us about the start of her roasting venture. “After a few years of roasting, my husband and I had found this building and were after it for about three years, and every time we called the owners they weren’t quite ready to sell, and we weren’t sure what we were going to do yet either, we just liked the location.” 

Once the owners were ready to sell, Garcia and her husband brainstormed ideas, finally landing on the idea to roast their own coffee and open a coffee shop with the knowledge that she had gained in the last few years. “I wasn’t sure if Del Rio was really interested, there’s Starbucks and Momo’s, I didn’t know if there was room for another coffee shop,” she told us. “Especially one not offering specialty drinks like frappuccinos and things like that.”

However, the community response has been overwhelmingly positive. “Del Rio has been super supportive, the feedback has been amazing,” Garcia told us about the response to Cardinal Points. “I honestly didn’t expect it because it was something different but we do need different ideas, Del Rio is evolving.” 

Cardinal Points is unique in that they roast in-house coffee beans from around the world, showcasing the various continents their beans are from on a large map of the world inside their shop, as well as offering a small, straightforward menu that makes it easy for new customers to navigate. 

“The way I taste my coffee is I’ll roast it and taste it black, just a simple americano to get the essence of the bean and that’s how we serve our coffee here,” Garcia told us about her method of roasting and serving at Cardinal Points. “We serve in-house roasted coffee, and the easiest way to get the best experience is to come in, pick the roast you’d like from the board, and then you can add milk, sweetener, we’ll tweak it to your liking, and hot or cold, it’s as simple as it gets, it’s not gonna get anymore complicated than that.” 

Customers can look forward to an expanded selection of beans, a specialty tea from the dried husks of the coffee bean coming soon as well as signature coffee drinks from various countries and continents, coffee flights, gift cards, holiday gift baskets, merchandise, a loyalty reward program, and more as the holidays approach. “I’m very excited for the winter, I’m sure it’s gonna be even busier but I have no complaints,” she shared. “People have been so accepting and willing to try us out even if it's not what they’re used to.” 

Garcia also told us that she’d love to collaborate with Ollie’s Bakery again and other small businesses for more pop up events in the future. “It’s great for both businesses and I’m super excited to do it again.”

You can find Angela Garcia and her family serving up their in-house coffee Monday-Friday from 5am-3pm and Saturdays from 8am-2pm. 

Ollie's Bakery has been a local favorite since 2023 with its array of sourdough based breads and pastries. They can be found online or at local pop up markets and events across Del Rio.

Ollie’s Bakery was born from the owner, Carlyn Wehle’s lifelong love of baking, named after her son, she began the business in 2023 after settling in Del Rio and starting a family. The baked goods are mostly sourdough-based products but there are a variety of sweet and savory treats available. “We do mostly sourdough but we do have some things that are not like the cinnamon rolls, we have sourdough scones, sourdough donuts, cookies, rolls, we have such a large variety that I can’t name it all but we have a rotating menu that changes weekly, whether online or for pop up events,” Wehle told us. 

She also listed a few of the health benefits of consuming sourdough and some of the ways that her products have made a difference in the health and wellbeing of many of her customers. “One of the things that I love about sourdough is that it eats a lot of the gluten and sugar out of the wheat so you’re just getting a really clean and digestible bread,” she began. “I have a lot of customers that are sensitive to gluten or diabetic and they can eat this bread.” 

“That’s probably the best part of this whole baking journey, is them coming back to me and saying, “Wow, I can eat your bread because it didn’t bother my stomach, or it didn’t raise my blood sugar,” she continued. “It’s just a really great product, it’s really gut-friendly, with lots of microbiomes.” 

Although the bakery has a large social media following and number of customers already, Wehle shared that doing pop-up events and markets helps them connect with their customers face to face and reach those who may not have social media. “Pop ups help both the other businesses and us because we end up meeting people that don’t necessarily use social media, like older people that might not be on Instagram or Facebook,” she stated. “I also want to give an option for anyone who doesn’t want to order online, to find me at different events.” 

For anyone interested, you can find Ollie’s Bakery on Facebook, Instagram, and place orders through their website on www.hotplate.com/olliesbakery and sign up for text/email notifications and reminders for future orders. Ollie’s Bakery will also be present at the Pop-Up DRTX x Val Verde Winery Fall Sip and Shop on Saturday, October 26, 2024 from 12-6pm at the Val Verde Winery and at Russell True Value on Saturday, November 9, 2024.