A new coffee-and-drinks drive-thru is wedging itself into a former bank teller stall on Cincinnati Avenue, giving downtown Tulsa workers something the neighborhood has never had: a place to grab a quick drink without leaving their car. Bebēda plans to open during the second week of November, offering nearly 50 drink options ranging from coffee to boba tea to agua frescas.
The idea took shape after founder LauraAnn Freyre scouted several downtown venues before a friend pointed her toward the teller stall parallel to The Vault on Cincinnati Avenue, according to Tulsa World. Despite sitting right next to the restaurant, Bebēda has no association with The Vault, the outlet reports. Freyre, a former barista, is Bebēda's founder, and the shop's name is a phonetic spelling of the Spanish word bebida, meaning drink or beverage.
A Former Bank Teller Stall Reimagined
The site itself carries decades of downtown Tulsa history. The building now known as The Vault was constructed as the First National Auto Bank, among the first downtown banks to feature a drive-through, and it was designed by McCune, McCune and Associates, according to The Vault. The Tulsa World reports the bank was built between 1958 and 1960, matching The Vault's own history — an account that also describes the bank as the world's largest autobank with six drive-through lanes.
That scale checked out in daily operations. When the First National Autobank opened, employees handled more than 2,000 customers a day across six drive-up windows, a pedestrian walk-up window and five teller windows inside the main banking area, according to Tulsa People. The bank operated for roughly 60 years before downsizing to drive-through-only service and closing in the late 1990s, per the same history from The Vault. In 2012, Tulsa native and OSU Culinary School graduate Libby Billings opened The Vault restaurant inside the renovated space.
Two Lanes, A Handheld Device, And Nearly 50 Drinks
Bebēda will use a two-lane ordering process designed to divert traffic away from The Vault's parking lot, the Tulsa World reports. Customers will order outside using a handheld device that relays tickets to baristas working inside, a setup Freyre described as letting customers order outside while baristas prepare their drinks and pastries. The shop is set to operate Monday through Friday from 5:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
The menu leans into fresh preparation, with drinks made on-site using fresh ingredients and packaged in plastic cans sealed by a machine, according to the Tulsa World's reporting. Drink prices start at $4.50 and pastries start at $3.50. Beyond coffee and tea, the lineup includes agua fresca, boba tea and soda, with a range of other drink options. Pastries are also available.
A Menu Built Around Family And Personal Taste
Freyre described the menu as carrying a twist shaped by her own personal preferences, per the Tulsa World. She said the concept grew out of her love of the beverages themselves and a wish to bring them to customers, and she wanted Bebēda to feel comfortable and inviting once people pulled up. Freyre holds a bachelor's degree in entrepreneurship with three minors — in nonprofit management, event management and marketing — from OSU. She said she moved to Tulsa after selecting and working on a business idea centered on helping women find the right bra; she had also talked through her aspirations with her parents.
Family runs through the backstory, too. Freyre described her father as someone who started multiple businesses while her mother managed several others, a lineage she pointed to in explaining her own entrepreneurial leap, according to the Tulsa World.
Tulsa's Wider Taste For Horchata And Boba
Bebēda isn't the only Tulsa-area shop putting a Hispanic-inspired spin on boba drinks. At Boba Go, located at 9938 Riverside Parkway, owner Emanuel Sauz added new boba choices with Hispanic touches, and the menu there includes a tres leches matcha drink, a horchata latte drink and an horchata latte slush, according to Tulsa Flyer. Boba Go's menu adds several Hispanic-inspired choices to Tulsa's boba scene.
For now, downtown workers eyeing a faster caffeine run will have to wait for Bebēda's second-week-of-November opening to see the drive-thru in action. The business describes itself on its website as a one-stop shop for coffee, boba tea, agua frescas and sodas, and is located at 620 S. Cincinnati Ave.
