The story behind Ampersand, winner of Readers’ Choice: Best Coffee Shop in Fort Worth
For Toan Luong, opening a coffee business felt like the accumulation of his life’s work.
The TCU graduate dreamed of entering the medical field and pursuing dental school. When he didn’t get in, he was devastated given family pressure and a traditional background where education was held up on a pedestal.
He took a gamble and reached out to a high school friend, Mimi Lu, for help. Lu had worked as a barista throughout high school and college where she received a psychology degree. When she didn’t make it into graduate school, she pivoted to own and operate a coffee business attached to the church Luong attended.
“Being a barista was one of my favorite jobs,” said Lu, 33. “I thought that owning a coffee shop would be something that would happen for me whenever I’m 50 — retired — but it happened a lot sooner.”
Together they decided to open a brick and mortar coffee shop at 3009 Bledsoe St., off University Drive, in the West 7th district of Fort Worth. Now five years since the 2017 launch, with two locations and a third in the works, Ampersand has won the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Readers’ Choice poll for best coffee shop.
“We strive for a full experience for every customer that comes in — a warm place, an inviting place and a fun place,” Lu said. “We always want to give everyone that comes in the same experience and it be a memorable experience. Although it’s like a daily errand to run to get coffee, we don’t feel like it’s just that.”
Ampersand received more than 48,000 votes over three rounds in our unscientific poll, which aims to highlight and celebrate local businesses. We started with 16 reader-nominated coffee shops and counted more than 211,000 votes.
‘Rise and Grind’
Ampersand is more than the modern coffee shop it appears to be at first glance. In the front room of the Bledsoe location, a red neon “Rise and Grind” sign contrasts with black seating and monotone tiles that cover the walls. Small-framed images hang on the walls and showcase guests sipping coffee and studying with friends.
A black-fabric letter board lists a variety of specialty lattes, classic coffee offerings, coffee frappes, smoothies and specialty teas.
But Ampersand goes beyond the simplicity of an everyday trendy coffee shop. It also is a speakeasy-style night club.
In the back room behind the front counter, daytime coffee shop guests work and catch up with friends in club corner booths dimly lit by the neon blue and purple lights of the club.
The floor that night clubbers dance on is empty, save for a few lounge chairs, and the bar is fully stocked for guests after hours.
Named after the “&” symbol, the shop reminds customers they can come day or night for an experience at the coffee shop and entertainment space.
Despite its name, Luong didn’t originally plan for Ampersand to feature the nightlife business concept. After getting Lu on board, he sought the help of business partners Huy Vu, Michael Le and Daniel Le.
Michael Le had been in the bar industry for more than 20 years. When they found the Bledsoe location, the team saw the potential of the space, realized it was in the bar district and knew they had to grow the business into a bar, too. Ampersand’s second location, 3025 S. University Drive near TCU, opened in late 2018. That location near Luong’s old stomping grounds brought his journey full circle, he said.
“My old dorm room was across the street from the coffee shop now,” said Luong, 32. “It’s always a constant reminder for me of those years of really just kind of finding myself, finding my passion. I’ve been really fortunate. I think that business is serendipitous.”
Ampersand has a team of 60 employees between both coffee shops, the bar and its holding company. By leasing space next door, Ampersand is in the works of expanding the University Drive location to become a full-concept location with a bar by the fall of next year.
The coffee shop was recently awarded a contract with Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport to open a location in Terminal C near gate 36. Luong and his business partners also have a new sports lounge concept in the works. Cues Sports Club will open in the West 7th district, just down the street from the original Ampersand shop.
“The crew is very talented. We’re a multi-spectrum team of young entrepreneurs,” Luong said. “For us, it’s really important to inspire not only our team members, but other people outside the community that need some motivation or need an example to show that it can be done.”
Readers’ Choice finalists
Second-place finisher Fort Worth Coffee Co., at 4731 Camp Bowie Blvd., followed closely behind Ampersand with nearly 43,000 votes. Josh and Mary Hanna Tyer had dreamed of owning a coffee shop since they started dating nine years ago.
Though Josh graduated from college with an engineering degree, he instead chose to manage a local coffee shop to stay in Mary Hanna’s college town to date her. When the pair moved to Fort Worth shortly after, Josh grew deeper in his passion for coffee. He built out the roasting portion of a coffee company they eventually bought to own and operate themselves.
Fort Worth Coffee Co. is known in the craft coffee community for its pour-overs and pastries.
“FWCC is run by the kindest people on the face of the planet!” wrote one reader who nominated the shop for Readers’ Choice. “The owners never fail to greet everyone with a warm smile and and a warmer cup of coffee (or cold!). Not only that, the thoughtfulness and care put into the selection of coffee beans is second to none.”
The shop features a community workspace with 14 executive suites, a conference room and large area for social members. The owners describe it as “a community of movers and shakers” in a “work environment that beats the pants off your living room couch.”
“We love supporting locals and being good stewards of what we’ve been given from shopping locally to supplying the shop, to caring for our team in a way that keeps them with us for much longer than the average coffee shop,” Mary Hanna said.
The other two finalists in the Readers’ Choice poll were Main Line Coffee Bar in Grapevine and Avoca Coffee Roasters in Fort Worth.
Here is the full list of 16 coffee shops that were nominated as the best of the best for Readers’ Choice.
- Ampersand, Fort Worth
Avoca Coffee Roasters, Fort Worth
Black Coffee, Fort Worth
Buon Giorno Coffee, Fort Worth and Grapevine
Casa Azul Coffee, Fort Worth
Cherry Coffee Shop, Fort Worth
Coffee Folk, Fort Worth
Crude Craft Coffee Bar, Fort Worth
Fort Worth Coffee Co., Fort Worth
Grounds & Gold Coffee Co., Arlington
Main Line Coffee Bar, Grapevine
Race Street Coffee, Fort Worth
Sons Coffee, Fort Worth and Denton
Vaquero Coffee Co., Fort Worth
West Oak Coffee Bar, Denton
World Blend, Fort Worth
[MORE: Check out other winners of Star-Telegram Readers’ Choice in 2022]
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This story was originally published September 29, 2022 at 11:28 AM.
