Half Price Books in Dallas scores coffee shop, bakery, dinner spot, tiki bar in one

One of Texas’ best bakeries, La Casita, will expand into Dallas with a new restaurant, coffee shop and bar attached to the flagship Half Price Books.

The location was a “dream scenario” for co-owner Maricsa Trejo.

“I grew up in libraries,” she said. “I was a nerdy kid. So it’s cool to be inside a Half Price Books.”

It’s the Half Price Books: The 50-year-old company was born in Dallas, and the headquarters is upstairs from where La Casita will soon pull espresso shots and hand out croissants.

La Casita Coffee’s exterior sign went up on the building a few days ago, and Trejo said on Feb. 13, 2024 that she plans to open the shop in two to three months. La Casita will replace Black Forest Coffee, Half Price Books’ casual cafe open for more than 20 years.

“We wanted to create a space for people to come during the day for coffee, pastries and lunch, and a fun dynamic tiki bar with a patio to enjoy drinks and great food in the evening,” said Half Price Books CEO Sharon Anderson Wright in an emailed statement. “With Maricsa being an award-winning baker, Alex being a great chef, and our exciting in-store events, we are creating something really special here.”

La Casita Bakery has seen a “rapid rise” since Trejo started making some of the city’s best croissants in a tiny Richardson strip mall, Dallas Morning News food reporter Claire Ballor wrote in a 2023 story. In the bakery’s seven-year history, Trejo’s shop has been nominated for three James Beard awards, she’s baked in a competition TV show on the Food Network, her Richardson shop has more than quadrupled in size, and she’s expanded to Rowlett and to a wedding venue in Frisco.

Go to most of the independent coffee shops in Dallas-Fort Worth, and those glistening pastries in the case might have come from La Casita. They deliver to more than 150 shops in North Texas.

When the La Casita opens near Half Price Books, it’ll be the company’s first all-day restaurant and first bar. Staffers will sell Counter Culture coffee and pastries in the morning; brunch midday; and dinner and tiki drinks in the evenings.

“Everything we’ve done [so far] has been just breakfast, because we’re a bakery,” Trejo says. That’s about to change, with the help of her husband and La Casita co-owner Alex Henderson and their friend, Dallas bartender Benj Pocta.

Henderson’s dinner menu plays off of Trejo’s tiki theme. They’re excited about a shareable plate of chicken pibil served with pickles and tortillas. Henderson’s menu also includes smaller bar snacks that utilize La Casita’s baked goods. Expect sourdough with bone marrow compound butter, za’atar pretzels with whipped feta, and little cheeseburgers on Hawaiian rolls.

Pocta, known in Dallas for his drinks at the shuttered Small Brewpub in Oak Cliff, is concocting fruity, booze-forward tiki cocktails.

“Tiki drinks are strong, so we’re trying to make the food filling and salty,” Trejo said.

For those who have been smart enough to try the newish brunch menu at La Casita in Richardson already, the menu will be similar when La Casita opens in Dallas. Brunchtime praline banana pancakes and chilaquiles are popular, Trejo says. Her favorite is the French toast soaked in yesterday’s coffee — one of the ways they try to cut down on waste.

Expect coffee and brunch to open first at the Half Price Books location. Dinner and cocktails will be added once Trejo and Henderson secure their first liquor license.

La Casita Coffee will be at 5801 Northwest Highway, Dallas. It’s expected to open in late spring 2024.

For more food news, follow Sarah Blaskovich on X (formerly Twitter) at @sblaskovich.

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