A coffee shop tucked inside a repurposed shipping container on Fort Worth's Evans Avenue is drawing crowds just weeks after opening, and it was built entirely by five recent high school graduates. Deloulou Cafe serves ceremonial-grade matcha, signature drinks and fresh pastries out of a 20-foot container space the teens finished building over the course of six weeks this past summer.
The cafe opened just weeks before this story was published, according to CBS News Texas, which reported that the five friends turned a shared dream into a working business. The shop sits on the ground floor of Suite 101/102 inside Connex Fort Worth, a micro-retail complex at 1201 Evans Avenue built from repurposed shipping containers in the Near Southside, according to Deloulou Cafe's own site.
A Name Built On Fashion And “Healthy Delusion”
The cafe's name merges lead founder Marielou Melchiors' apparel brand, Marieloulou, with what the team describes as “healthy delusion” — the idea that young entrepreneurs shouldn't limit their own ambitions, per a Facebook video from the shop's opening. Co-owned by five recent high school best friends, the group completely built out their container space in six weeks over the summer, the same video notes.
Melchiors is no stranger to fast starts. She launched Marieloulou as a high school sophomore after buying a sewing machine, and she later graduated high school early so she could run the clothing business full-time, according to Voyage Dallas, which reported her fashion content has reached tens of millions of viewers on social media. The same Evans Avenue container that now houses Deloulou Cafe also serves as the central office and warehouse headquarters for Marieloulou LLC, according to Connex Fort Worth's business directory.
Matcha, Yuzu Lemonade And A Legal Workaround
On the menu, Deloulou Cafe offers ceremonial-grade matcha, a Fresh Yuzu Lemonade, and Tiramisu Lattes alongside sliders, fresh waffles and pastries, according to the cafe's own listing. The building itself was designed by architecture firm MEL/ARCH as a zero-energy development, powered by 900 square feet of solar panels and featuring green roofs and EV charging stations, as reported by Dallas Innovates.
Running a food business as a teenager comes with legal complications that the five founders had to navigate. Under Section 3.004 of the Texas Business Organizations Code, people under 18 cannot serve as formal organizers of a Texas LLC, which means minor entrepreneurs must rely on adult guardians or custodial structures to register a business and execute contracts, according to Nolo.
Opening Inside A Neighborhood On The Rise
Deloulou Cafe's Evans Avenue address places it inside Fort Worth's Historic Southside, a historically Black commercial corridor where the city has invested more than $30 million in public funds and redevelopment planning, according to the City of Fort Worth. The same stretch of Evans Avenue is slated to become home to the planned 50,000-square-foot National Juneteenth Museum, a cultural facility expected to include a 250-seat amphitheater and a small business incubator hall, per Mightycause.
Between the neighborhood's ongoing revitalization and a new cultural anchor on the way, Deloulou Cafe's arrival adds a distinctly youth-driven chapter to Evans Avenue's growth. Five recent graduates spent a summer building a coffee shop instead of taking a break after high school, and the container space they built is now pulling in customers just weeks after its doors opened.
