In this episode of The Frisco Podcast, host Scott Ellis and Kevin Carswell talk about what’s new at Mochas & Javas, business in the time of COVID-19, and online ordering now available in Frisco.
SHOW NOTES:
[02:21] Business amid a pandemic
[04:12] Changes & improvements to M&J
[10:01] New menu items
LINKS & RESOURCES:
- Mochas & Javas on Lifestyle Frisco | Website | Facebook | Instagram
Connect with Lifestyle Frisco on:
Transcript
Machine-generated.
Welcome to the Frisco Podcast. I’m your host Scott Ellis. This week, we’re talking again to Kevin Carswell, the owner of Mochas & Javas, uh, a favorite coffee shop location here in Frisco, located at the corner of Legacy and Eldorado, that is, on the southeast corner of Legacy and Eldorado.
Yeah. So I was thinking in my head, but yes, that was correct.
Yeah. I always have to, I’m looking at it from the opposite direction. So I also have to turn the map in my head and make sure I get that right. But, uh, welcome to the show and thanks for joining us again.
Thanks for having me. I really enjoy it. Enjoy what you guys do up there in Frisco for us
Appreciate it. So yes, thank you very much. And we love supporting the local businesses as much as we can, yours included, but you’re not in Frisco at the moment. It sounds like you’re, uh, probably down in San Marcos,
I’m in San Marcos, um, was up in Frisco last week, just overseeing operations. Things are running very well through. We have a really good team in place right now and things they’re really happy with, with our, um, staff up there. We’re still hiring. Uh, I think that’s something that I think every business Frisco seems to be doing, especially in the restaurant industry is hiring all the time. So we’re open to UNT campus comes online here. Eventually allow us a little bit more staffing for the hours that we need which is typically 8 to 5, 6 to 5, Monday to Fridays. But, uh, it’s we enjoy, uh, the Frisco area very much it nice to be up there. And it’s, um, I was telling my daughter, we did, um, doing more t-shirts um, and my daughter and one of our staff are doing more of the designs and she does a great job of design. So they’re just more solid after- the nice thing is the thing that I’ve noticed. The last been there three and a half years now, the nice thing I’ve noticed the last 12 months is more of our customer are buying our shirts and our tumblers cause they have funny bought into our brand up there, which is really nice.
Well that’s good. You guys do have a solid brand and I will say you have, I’ve always noticed that you have an excellent staff in the Frisco location. Um, we’re always very friendly, very knowledgeable. Um, they’re really good at remembering people’s faces and drinks. I’ve just always been impressed by the folks you’ve had in there. You guys are doing a great job. So with that said, as you mentioned, uh, you know, we’re in a time when people are, you know, especially restaurants are always hiring, but, uh, right now things have been a little up and down for a lot of folks in your business. How are you guys handling? How has business been, I should say amongst or amids the, uh, the COVID pandemic?
Initially. I mean, initially when it first started and right at spring break, pretty devastating, especially in San Marcos, we’re next to Texas State University. It happened, it started on spring break the first spring, a week of spring break, and everyone already had plans to go somewhere else for spring breaks. They all left, went home and 38,000 students never returned.
Yeah, that’s, that’s brutal
Plus staff and everybody else. So with, uh, we had a greater impact, uh, and a longer impact in San Marcos and we’re still not back to last year’s numbers. However, the Frisco store, we saw a big slowdown in March, April. We started seeing a business turning to pick up in May, June. Uh, summertime was moderate. We make some staffing changes in August. We have a really nice strong team in right now. Um, and we’ve actually been growing over the last year still since we hit September, partly because we have a drive-thru. I know we have great product and our timing has gotten better and we have a better supply of product on hand at all times, too. We were having some issues where sometimes, or we just weren’t stocking as well as we could or not preparing as well. We’ve done a much better job now of keeping our products in stock and with increased volume, we turned those products that were very quickly, so we’re constantly baking fresh items all the time. So invite helps a lot of things. One is it helps product movement and we just stock it more. And so we’re able to fulfill our customer’s orders and the needs a much better, which I think is a part of a reason why we’re growing.
Oh, that’s good to know. Cause you have some of our favorite snacks in Frisco. So like, uh, like hearing that. So you mentioned some staff changes, obviously some changes or at least some, uh, uh, improvements with, uh, keeping, you know, the food and things on hand. Uh, what other, if any changes have been happening here at the Frisco location?
Yeah, recently, it’s about six last six, eight weeks. We added online ordering for the Frisco location. It’s something we’ve had for a little over a year in San Marcos. Uh, we implemented about six to eight weeks ago. We’re getting to the point now it’s just drinks are in the process of starting to come up with a plan to add because some of our food, we bake it all day long, sometimes scones and croissants. We’ll bake a certain number and we’ll sell out. The more we throw more in the oven. And they’re usually at about a 24 to 30 minute baking time. Some are 14. So making sure we can meet that demand when customers place orders online too. So we’re fixing to start adding more of the food that you can order all of our drinks off the menu right now. Um, it gives a 15 minute window.
So you order, it’s ready to 15 minute minutes, or you can say it your time out an hour or two or three, four hours. We have customers actually in Frisco and in San Marcos where they’re, or they’re wake up and order at five o’clock in the morning. We’re not open for another hour, hour and a half staff come in. They pull a ticket at the time that they want it ready and we’ll have it ready at that time in Frisco. We allow customers to choose to drive-thru. They can just type it in the memo section to do drive-thru. They can place the order it’s already paid for. As they come to the line to drive-thru, they say “I have an online order”, we’ll pull their ticket right up and then their items and they’re off out the door. Or they can just walk into the cafe. We’ll have the ticket right there. They can see their name on the ticket, take their items, there out the door. It’s very fast, convenient way, especially in a hurry to do online ordering.
I like that. So, uh, to order online people just go onto the website or do they need to- what’s the best way? Okay.
So we don’t have an app yet. That’s something we’re working on. So you go to our website, choose your location to online orders, then Choose Location. Of course, where you’re at, choose the Frisco location, you’ll pull up a menu. And then when you place order, it prints up a ticket that shows on one of our iPads also so we see it. It prints a ticket up, we mark it as received or mark it when it’s ready. And the only ones when it’s gone, when Mark is ready, it takes it off from there. Get done, ready to go. Okay.
Good deal. So we’ll definitely check that out. That’s mochasandjavas.com mochasandjavas, all spelled out, dot com. And just order online, choose the Frisco location. Sounds quick and easy. Yeah.
It’s picking up heavily in San Marcos. We’ve had it for a little over a year now. So we’re starting to see that same thing in Frisco. We’re starting to have more and more orders coming into their own online ordering.
Yeah. Well, I can imagine as people are getting out the door in the morning, that kind of convenience and speed is, is very welcome. So we’ll definitely make sure we make everybody aware of that. Uh, and of course, you know, it’s that time of year right now, as we’re recording this, we’re about to head into the coldest few days that we have had here in a long time. Uh, by the time people are listening to this, it there’ll be warming back up a little bit, but it’s still gonna be chilly. So, you know, Mochas & Javas should be at the front of your mind for coffee, drinks and other warm tasty things. But I, I believe you guys have made some changes to the exterior as well. So as things start to warm up, if people want to hang out and be outside, talk to us a little bit about the patio and what’s happened out there,
Well the roof, the roof line and the patio, it used to be a slatted top, but they were so far apart when the sun was out in the warmer months, it was almost like sitting in the full sun. So basically this, everything flat. It’s not rainproof, but it’s sun-proof. Puts a banners out there. A new lighting really helps and replace all the tables, too. So, we have new wood tables, uh, look really good, actually put a low ground approach in that real nice. Um, we’re fixing to replace one of our middle tables for another big table again. So when you see that they look good. So we’re slowly doing some preparation. The patio’s a really nice area just to sit when the weather’s nice. It’s a great place. And the wifi works outside just as well as it does inside.
Yeah. You guys have a real nice patio out there. So it’s definitely a, a good place. If somebody wants to get outside and get some fresh air, get a little work done outside, whatever the case may be. It’s a good comfy spot to sit, but I’m glad to hear it’s covered because as cold as it is right now, at least for, you know, this northern boy that relocated to Texas, it seems like summer always just comes up real fast and it gets hot out very quickly. So that, that shade will be very welcome.
Yes. Yes it will. Well, you talked about COVID but we did- so we did get phone calls everyday if we’re open for sitting inside, and we are, um, some of our competitors are not, but we’re doing a sit-inside. We’re allowed 75% capacity. I say most days, if you look at our actual allowed-sitting for probably somewhere in the 30 to 55% in actual seating inside. So we still have people doing work outside of their house. Some people just can’t work in their house seven days a week. It just drives them crazy. They want to get out and just be somewhere else besides your house, where they have a lot more distractions. So it’s nice to come in and just focus on work, get work done to go back to the house.
Yeah. Okay. So that’s good to know though, but you do have a 75% capacity allowed. Usually it’s a little bit less than that. So people can space out and feel comfortable that they’ve got some distance and still get their work done and enjoy their coffee. Yes. And then I assume the patio is, is open all year round, weather permitting. People can sit out there anytime as well.
Yeah. And they can sit out there on Monday when it’s four degrees. We don’t mind.
Yeah. I don’t know if too many people in Frisco are going to be doing that, but we’ll let them know just in case. Yeah. In fact, I was looking at it this morning and now they’re calling for a low of one, uh, one of those nights. So that’ll be interesting to say the least. Well, Kevin that’s, those are a great updates. I’m glad to hear you guys are hanging in there and businesses is doing well in Frisco. And we certainly want to encourage everybody to get out, grab your coffee at Mochas & Javas support these local businesses, especially right now, you know, it’s, it’s sorely needed. And uh, I’m glad to hear you guys are still up and running and fully functional.
I appreciate that very much. And if you haven’t tried, Scott, our new Tuscan Turkey & Pepper Jack-Stuffed Croissant, I’d recommend it highly.
Okay. Yeah. And I was going to mention that. I assume you guys still have the, the almost famous chicken salad that everybody’s getting from you guys and- yeah. Chicken salad’s good. And the, the, was it the Lemon Poppy Scones?
Lemon Poppy Seed Scones Scones. Yeah. We’ve also, we were doing, we’re not, we did it for the holidays. Maple Pecan. We may bring it back by just by, by demand. People will love that Maple Pecan still. So we’re more in the process of tweaking the menu slightly in both areas, San Marcos and Frisco. Okay.
Okay. Any other new food items we should know about?
Uh, the Tuscan Turkey has been one of the most popular ones that we’ve added new. We’re still doing. And we still have some seasonal items that we did doing Christmas. We are doing some holiday drinks, both North and South. And the stores on some of the holiday beverage will come up with their own names and creations for their holiday beverages. So San Marcos may be doing a little bit different than Frisco’s. So I can’t recall exactly what Frisco’s done, but they’ve done a great job of being creative and the names are very fun. Also people really seem to like. So we have for of them in Frisco. They do all of our Christmas drinks did extremely well. And our Valentine drinks are already doing really well, too. Fun names. They’re really good because we have great coffee. Great espresso. So I would definitely check out one of those too.
All right. That sounds good. And I think that goes back to the, uh, excellent staff that you guys always have working at that location. So glad to hear. They’ve got some, uh, creative juices flowing for the drinks as well.
They love that stuff. It’s fun.
Yeah. Everybody has a good time with it. Well, Kevin, again, thanks for joining us. It’s always good to talk to you and glad to hear how things are going and just to remind everybody it’s Mochas & Javas, southeast corner of Eldorado and the Legacy, uh, kind of in the front of the Target, a Super Target that’s there and lots of good food, lots of good drinks, great staff, plenty of room to spread out. If you want to sit inside and have a seat and get some work done and we’ll look forward to that patio this spring. Sounds good. Nice seeing you, Scott. You, too, Kevin. Good talking to you and we’ll talk to you again soon.
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