New coffee shop to bloom in unique setting

Trish Choate, Wichita Falls Times Record News
Updated ·2 min read

A new coffee shop will bloom this year in Henrietta.

Lillies Coffee will not only offer espresso drinks brewed with micro-roasted beans, steamy pour overs, tasty matcha beverages and more but also a cozy place where people can meet, chat, work and just hang out in a uniquely renovated historic building.

"We're very excited to be a part of this community and provide a space that's really needed," Patrick Riordan, co-owner with wife Alexandra, said in an interview.

Patrick and Alexandra Riordan will open Lillies Coffee in this building in Henrietta.
Patrick and Alexandra Riordan will open Lillies Coffee in this building in Henrietta.

About 20 miles down U.S. Highway 287 from Wichita Falls, Lillies Coffee is located at 109 West Omega. The Riordans are shooting for a mid-February opening date for the new coffee shop.

Renovating the Sinclair building, once home to an old gas station, was a project of another local couple.

"David Hooks out of Henrietta has really done incredible work there. It's crazy to see the amount of love and attention to detail that him and his wife Betsy have put into it," Patrick said.

This wooden piece in Lillies Coffee, opening later this year in Henrietta, was crafted from reclaimed bridge beams from an old bridge in Lamar County, according to the Facebook page for Lillie's Coffee. David and Betsy Hook, the building's owners put a lot of love and effort into the building before entrepreneurs and Lillies Coffee co-owners, Alexandra and Patrick Riordan, came along.

The Hooks graced the shop with unique features before it was destined to be Lillies.

A wooden piece inside was crafted from lumber reclaimed from an old Lamar County bridge. Betsy snagged an old steel-plate light switch cover at a long-ago garage sale.

Grain-augur legs on seating and a counter's wood facing were both mined from an old barn in Byers.

A piping hot pour over from Lillies Coffee, opening this year in Henrietta, seems just right in chill weather.
A piping hot pour over from Lillies Coffee, opening this year in Henrietta, seems just right in chill weather.

In addition, the Riordans decorated the shop with spirit-lifting plants.

The couple named the coffee house after Patrick's grandmother, Lillie Fay Blanscet.

“She grew up in Henrietta and lived here most of her life, really an extraordinary woman," he said.

Alexandra and Patrick Riordan got these plants for Lillies Coffee at 410 Collective + Coffee in Denison. They will open the new coffee shop later this year in Henrietta.
Alexandra and Patrick Riordan got these plants for Lillies Coffee at 410 Collective + Coffee in Denison. They will open the new coffee shop later this year in Henrietta.

Patrick, who is from Henrietta, and Alexandra, who is from Childress, moved from Wichita Falls to the Henrietta area last summer.

They also moved Mythic Roasters, their micro-specialty coffee roasting enterprise, from downtown Wichita Falls to Clay County.

Beans from their roastery are available online and from some local cafes. They will form the foundation of Lillies' espresso drinks.

Lillies Coffee will serve matcha drinks, made from green tea powder, to offer a "creamy and delightfully refreshing way to get your caffeine," according to the Facebook page for the coffee house. The new business owners, Alexandra and Patrick Riordan are working to get the coffee house open in Henrietta later this year.
Lillies Coffee will serve matcha drinks, made from green tea powder, to offer a "creamy and delightfully refreshing way to get your caffeine," according to the Facebook page for the coffee house. The new business owners, Alexandra and Patrick Riordan are working to get the coffee house open in Henrietta later this year.

When they started Mythic Roasters, opening a coffee shop wasn't part of the Riordans' plan.

"But the way things have just worked out, we feel like it can be a meaningful outlet for the work that we're already doing," Patrick said.

They aim is to open Lillies Coffee 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday and then possibly expand the hours. Besides coffee, tea, lemonade and other beverages, the shop will also offer light breakfasts.

This is one of the coffee beverages Alexandra and Patrick Riordan will serve when they open Lillies Coffee later this year in Henrietta.
This is one of the coffee beverages Alexandra and Patrick Riordan will serve when they open Lillies Coffee later this year in Henrietta.

"There's a lot of a lot of potential in Henrietta, and I think there's a lot of people trying to make it just a really nice community. It’s got a lot to offer,” Patrick said.

Follow the Riordans journey to opening Lillies Coffee on the shop's Facebook page.

Trish Choate, enterprise watchdog reporter for the Times Record News, covers education, courts, breaking news and more. Contact Trish with news tips at tchoate@gannett.com. Read her recent work here. Her X handle is @Trishapedia.

This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Lillies Coffee opening in the works