North Texas Daily

The smell of coffee greets patrons as they walk into a bright orange and white-colored café filled with light from big windows facing Eagle Drive — just south of campus.

Froth Coffee Bar’s Denton location, the first business to move into the commercial space below Epoch on Eagle Apartments, formally opened Monday, Oct. 3 after holding a soft opening on Saturday, Oct. 1.

“People really liked [the promotion],” art education sophomore and Froth barista Lauren Hall said. “It was super busy, but it definitely got people coming back. We’ve seen a lot of repeat [customers] from that first day.”

Hall has worked as a barista at several other coffee shops, including PJ’s Coffee and Sweet Paris Creperie and Café. Compared to the other coffee shops she has worked for, Hall said Froth seems to be a less fast-paced environment.

“Whenever I tell my friends that I work here or that it’s open, this is the first time they’re hearing about it,” Hall said. “It’s probably not widely known [that we’re open], but I make sure to tell people.”

Froth Coffee Bar believes food is art and specializes in custom latte art called Frothables. Customers can scan a code with their phones and upload any image they wish to be printed on top of their latte.

Also on the restaurant’s large menu are other coffee-based drinks, alcoholic beverages, grab-and-go food and made-to-order eats, such as breakfast burritos and flatbread pizzas.

During the restaurant’s soft opening, each customer could order one free drink and one food item of their choice.

Communication design senior Hope Bernard visited Froth during its soft opening and returned a few days later. Bernard lives near Froth and started following the restaurant on Instagram leading up to its opening.

She said it will likely become a regular spot for her to come study.

Froth Coffee Bar is open on Oct. 5, 2022. Photo by Maria Crane

“It’s close by, there’s plenty of drinks and it’s open until 10, I 100 percent will be back,” Bernard said.

Froth owner Mark Douglas opened the first location in Haslet, Texas amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in July 2020.

After moving to Haslet from Denver, Colorado, he noticed the lack of community gathering areas around him. Douglas had no previous experience in food service or business but saw the opportunity to start his own business arise.

“I wanted to create a place in the community where people could come and hang out […] because there definitely wasn’t one [in Haslet],” Douglas said. “It’s a small community and they embraced [Froth] like crazy.”

After a successful first run operating a business, Douglas decided he wanted to expand. He started looking for locations in Denton near the university and in July 2021, the space currently occupied by Froth became available. The lease was signed in August 2021 and preparation for opening began.

The opening date was originally scheduled for mid-summer of this year, but there were several obstacles that postponed the opening.

The Denton Froth location had a split-level mezzanine installed but because the space is below an apartment complex, the mezzanine had to be constructed using steel to comply with fire codes. There were delays in obtaining the materials and labor to build it because of supply-chain issues.

The location ran into more issues shortly before employee training was set to begin. Internet had been provided to the units occupied by apartment residents, but not the retail spaces where Froth and Cheba Hut were preparing to open, Douglas said.

Eventually, an internet service provider for the commercial spaces resolved the issue.

“We were right there at the finish line, we were trying to get open and the internet of all things was causing us to not be open,” Douglas said. “It was a little frustrating, but we made it through and we’re here.”

In December, a third Froth location will open in Northlake that will feature a full-service bakery. A fourth location will open near downtown Fort Worth with a drive thru in early 2023. 

Froth’s Denton location is open Monday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Featured Image: Barista Keelei Uptergrove adds ingredients into a blender to make a shake on Oct. 5, 2022. Photo by Bren McDonald