Unfiltered.

At Unleavened Fresh Kitchen, Self-Serve Doesn't Mean Substandard.

Welcome to Unfiltered, our weekly feature that explores the Dallas coffee scene — and how it often manages to thrive in the most unusual places. Given that we live in a time when Starbucks locations are about as prevalent as the golden McDonald's arches, when new coffee shops seem to open every other week and when almost everyone uses a ChemEx to brew their coffee, we're here to show you some alternatives — for when your coffee shop routine becomes monotonous or when you're just looking for something different in your caffeine endeavors.

Unleavened Fresh Kitchen.
1900 Abrams Parkway.
Lakewood.

As quickly as healthy fast-casual restaurants have become a Dallas norm, so have the ways in which we think of coffee how coffee is served in a fast-food setting.

No longer is an urn being filled with a dark sludge of suspicious origins a satisfactory means for coffee. And anything not sourced locally? That might as well be a cardinal sin. In fact, it's this focus on freshness and locality that have changed the way we view most consumable items — and coffee is no exception.

So when a newer restaurant like Unleavened Fresh Kitchen enters the fold, you better believe it comes with fresh coffee in tow. A selection of wraps, salads and breakfast hashes make up the menu of “fresh classics,” with self-serve bar of Noble Coyote hot or cold brew constituting the coffee side of things. Beans from that near-infamous East Dallas roaster are a natural fit for the Lakewood venture, as this spot's focus on simple, yet powerful coffee profiles has the ability to complement any food dish.

This is probably why you'll find Noble Coyote beans in just about every corner of the Dallas-Fort Worth region. But, unlike those many other locations, Unleavened is one of the lucky few retailers where you can buy a bottle of Noble Coyote's signature cold brew.

Grab-and-go culture has long been a pervasive part of our day-to-day lives, but a new emphasis on quality provides us with easier access to craft coffee in new places.

With gas stations serving single origins and keeping track of brew times and barista-less bars like Unleavened's, we're entering a new era of accessibility in a historically exclusive industry.