Folklores Coffee House is closing its Beacon Hill location at 106 Michigan Ave. after nearly two years, the punk-rock-inspired coffeehouse announced via Facebook and Instagram posts. The San Antonio staple says its flagship shop on Grayson Street in Government Hill will keep pulling espresso shots and serving customers as usual.
Folklores opened the Beacon Hill shop to the public in January 2025, sharing the space with local charcuterie business CheeseMé Charcuterie Boards, according to SA Current. The location officially celebrated its grand opening on January 11, 2025, making its run just shy of two years before shutting down. Folklores called the decision to open the Beacon Hill spot a leap of faith, and the coffeehouse expressed gratitude to its regulars, friends, staff, and supporters in the closure announcement, as reported by MySA.
A Familiar Pattern for a Beloved Local Brand
This isn't the first time Folklores has opened, closed, or consolidated a satellite location while keeping a core shop running. The business was originally founded in October 2018 at 5009 S. Flores St. on San Antonio's South Side by Joel “Tatu” Herrera and Emilie Herrera, per the San Antonio Express-News. Folklores opened its Government Hill location in July 2020 near Fort Sam Houston, a site that stayed open even after the original South Side shop closed later that year due to pandemic-related financial pressures, the paper's earlier reporting shows.
The Government Hill location, now situated at 1943 N. New Braunfels Ave., remains the anchor for the coffeehouse. Folklores also announced that the Government Hill shop will close at 1 p.m. today due to construction, though it will otherwise continue serving coffee as usual once work wraps up.
Fall Flavors and Spooky Season Still on the Menu
Despite the Beacon Hill closure, Folklores says fall flavors are returning to its menu as the coffeehouse gears up for what it calls spooky season. The shop's drink lineup has long carried the punk-rock sensibility of co-owner Joel “Tatu” Herrera, a former chef at the Grand Hyatt San Antonio who applies culinary progression techniques rather than standard café recipes to originate signature items like “The Siouxsie” and the “Vato Rudo” cold brew, according to background reporting from Texas A&M University-San Antonio.
Emilie Herrera, a Folklores co-owner alongside her husband, has helped build a brand that goes well beyond typical coffeehouse fare. During the initial COVID-19 stay-at-home orders in 2020, the Herreras temporarily shifted operations from selling coffee to assembling and delivering food packages, feeding an estimated 73,000 elderly and vulnerable residents by the end of that year, according to SA Current. That effort earned the coffeehouse and its owners an official resolution from the Texas House of Representatives in March 2021 commending their civic contributions and pandemic relief work.
Community Ties Run Deep for the Herreras
The outpouring of support for Folklores isn't new. In August 2022, community supporters organized a fundraising drive for the Herreras after a severe car crash hospitalized Joel “Tatu” Herrera and totaled the couple's vehicle, temporarily disrupting shop operations, the same outlet's reporting noted. Since 2020, the coffeehouse has also hosted an annual Barista Appreciation Day every December, donating 100% of that day's shop profits directly to employees as holiday bonuses.
Herrera's profile in San Antonio's culinary scene has only grown since then. In July 2025, he was named one of six official Chef Ambassadors for San Antonio, representing the city's culinary heritage under its UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy designation, Hoodline previously reported.
The Beacon Hill closure also lands amid a broader wave of pressure on San Antonio's independent food and beverage scene. Local hospitality coverage found that the summer of 2024 saw a severe spike in San Antonio restaurant and bar closures driven by post-pandemic economic shifts and rising operating costs, according to CultureMap San Antonio. Whether CheeseMé Charcuterie Boards will continue operating out of the Beacon Hill space or seek a new home of its own remains unclear, as does the specific reasoning behind the timing of the closure. For now, Folklores says its Government Hill location remains ready to serve customers as the coffeehouse turns its attention to fall.
