Coffee lovers in Fort Worth have a new place to get their fix. Dallas-based coffee shop Ascension heads west to open its first store outside Dallas County.
“Dallas made us what we are. It was incredible the way they welcomed us to the city. And I knew Fort Worth could do the same,” said Daniel Velez, who grew up in Fort Worth and is the general manager of the new location in the Westbend development on University Drive just south of Interstate 30.
“We try to make everybody feel at home, a part of the family, and there’s no better place to do it than here in Fort Worth. It's a perfect cross between coffee culture and southern hospitality. So, it’s a recipe for a great time,” Velez said.
Ascension is an Australian-style coffee shop and café, and Velez is quick to point out it serves the top 2% of coffee produced in the world.
“We source all our coffee from around the globe but we roast locally in Dallas,” Velez said. “We don’t accept any coffee that’s below 84 points on the grading scale. So, it’s always going to be the finest coffee you’re going to get, in my opinion, in the state of Texas.”
Velez steps into the role of general manager after achieving the status of certified coffee master at Starbucks, then joining the Ascension team two years ago. He also credits a family that raised him “to be a little bit coffee-obsessed. My dad being Puerto Rican, we grew up on Cuban, Guatemalan, some of the finest coffees we could get hold of, and it was always something embroidered into my DNA.”
The Ascension store in Fort Worth will incorporate other local favorites: fresh pastries from Black Rooster Bakery which now supplies all locations; beer on tap from Martin House Brewing Company and vodka from Black Eyed Distilling.
“What we’re trying to do is show everybody what we’ve been working so hard on and what we’re so proud of, then being able to celebrate the craft of Fort Worth as well,” Velez said.
The new shop at Westbend marks the brand's sixth location in North Texas.
