Snider Plaza Coffee Shops: Where to Sip After Starbucks Closed

"We know this may be hard to hear — because this isn't just any store. It's your coffeehouse, a place woven into your daily rhythm." That line comes from the letter now posted on the door at 6733 Hillcrest Avenue, where the Snider Plaza Starbucks has closed. People Newspapers reported the closure on September 29. By September 28 the store no longer appeared on Starbucks' website.

The closure leaves a familiar gap on Hillcrest. It does not shorten the plaza's coffee day. A new specialty café opened a few doors away earlier this month, and the cafés still operating cover the hours from 6 a.m. into the evening. Most of what is left on Snider Plaza is set up for sitting down, on a plaza the city finished rebuilding less than a year ago.

Why this store closed

This closure came from a company-wide decision. In a September 24 letter, Starbucks Chief Operating Officer Mike Grams said the company would close about 250 North American coffeehouses. He described them as locations "where we do not believe we can consistently deliver the experience we want for customers and partners or where we don't see a path to acceptable financial performance." That is roughly 1% of more than 18,000 stores, and the company has not published a full list.

The Park Cities has seen this before. The Highland Park Village Starbucks closed after a 2023 announcement. At the time, Highland Park Village Chief Marketing Officer Victoria Snee said the company's shift toward to-go and mobile orders "isn't conducive to our shopping environment." If you want the familiar order, the Starbucks at 6407 Hillcrest Avenue is still open.

The newcomer at 6600 Snider Plaza

Kilo Coffee opened in early September at 6600 Snider Plaza, Suite 110, next door to Sueño. PaperCity covered the opening on September 7. Co-founder Alex Vu's family runs V's House, a Vietnamese restaurant in Bedford. The name refers to the café's precision equipment and its slow bar.

At most cafés the slow bar is a side menu. At Kilo it is the main draw. When we checked, its slow-bar menu listed single-origin coffees from $11 up to a $50 pour-over, including a Costa Rican Las Lajas Natural and a California Gesha. PaperCity reported nine slow-bar offerings at opening and the same $11 to $50 range, so the lineup appears to rotate. The regular menu has more everyday options:

• Signature drinks: the Kola .018, made with house cola, espresso and lime zest, plus matcha drinks such as the Yuzu Berry .007
• Morning food: breakfast sandwiches and burritos from 7 to 11 a.m.
• Afternoon food: steak-and-cheese and chicken sandwiches from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., with savory pastries all day

The room has several seating areas. The most talked-about is the Atrium, which gets natural light and has a live tree. Kilo is open daily from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The building matters too. Sueño Coctelería Mexicana opened at the same address in June, along with Alma Agave, a small tequila lounge. PaperCity described the location as a partnership with the Bellomy Group. Sueño is run by cousins Julio Pineda and Cristian Lujano, with Cristos Andrade as executive chef. Kilo's 7 p.m. close comes right as evening service begins next door, so 6600 Snider Plaza now has something going on from breakfast until late.

Who opens first now

The Hillcrest Starbucks was one of several early stops. Here is when the remaining places open, using each business's posted hours:

White Rock Coffee is the earliest espresso on the block, and it sits on the same stretch of Hillcrest as the store that closed. It moved in during late summer 2022, taking over the former Pearl Cup space. The Advocate reported a soft opening set for August 29 of that year. Back then, the Advocate's headline placed it "near the Snider Plaza Starbucks." Four years later, White Rock is the long-standing coffee shop on that stretch of Hillcrest.

Kilo's 7 p.m. close is the latest of the dedicated coffee bars. Sweet Paris opened at 6632 Snider Plaza on July 7, 2025, and stays open the longest. It serves coffee alongside breakfast, brunch, crêpes and waffles until 9 p.m. Bubba's starts serving breakfast at 6:30 a.m. every day, for anyone who wants a full plate before work.

For something quicker from a counter, two small shops share an address on Hillcrest. JD's Chippery is at 6601 Hillcrest, Suite A. People Newspapers has called it a Snider Plaza staple for cookies and muffins. Mustang Donuts is at Suite D. María Andrée Boutique Bakery is at 6906 Snider Plaza, at the south end.

A plaza rebuilt for staying

This mix of tenants arrived on a plaza that had just been rebuilt. The City of University Park's August newsletter says the Snider Plaza improvement project started in May 2024 and finished in November 2025. It added a new fountain, sidewalks, lighting, landscaping and new infrastructure. The project also created the Rankin Lot, with more than 50 new parking spaces. New signage went up at Daniel and Hillcrest in August 2026.

So Kilo, Sueño and Sweet Paris have all opened in the year and a half since construction started, onto wider sidewalks and a redesigned fountain. A café with an atrium and a menu built around slow brewing fits that setting.

Nearby, the city's Lovers Lane "Miracle Mile" project ran from May 2025 to summer 2026. It covered sidewalks, ADA access, parking, the Douglas and Lovers intersection, landscaping and underground utilities. The city is also looking at parking from another direction. At an August 18 work session, staff and council discussed an Uber grant of up to $50,000 for an on-demand ride program for retail employees, which would cut down on employee cars in shopping areas, including the Miracle Mile. The council decided to keep considering it.

The fountain changed the holidays, too

The new fountain also explains a change on the holiday calendar. University Park's tree lighting is moving back to Centennial Park this year. People Newspapers reported that the 2025 celebration was held in Snider Plaza. That year, four smaller trees replaced the traditional large tree over the fountain because of the fountain's new design. The 2025 event ran on November 30 and included a Snider Plaza ribbon cutting at 3:30 p.m. Performers included Dallas Youth Strings, Texas Ballet Theatre and the Lads and Lassies, and the tree was lit at a finale with Mayor Thomas H. Stewart.

City staff told the council they still plan to decorate the shopping area, including around the new fountain. They also discussed adding food trucks and whether to use a live or artificial tree. The plaza's community calendar lists these fall dates:

• October 24: Fall Festival at Holmes Aquatic Center, 5 to 7 p.m.
• October 25: Eggtober, with no venue posted yet
• November 29: Centennial Park Holiday Tree Lighting, 3 to 7 p.m., as listed on the plaza calendar

Still on the way

One more addition is planned for this fall. Parlor's Ice Creams lists a shop at 6722 Snider Plaza as "Coming Fall 2026!" An earlier plaza post said late summer, so the timing has already moved once, and there is still no opening day. Once it opens, the block will have a dessert counter to go with the cafés, and the plaza will have a place to sit from White Rock's 6 a.m. opening until Sweet Paris closes at 9 p.m.

Adrienne Brown keeps track of small changes like this one, because a new café or a closed corner store shapes daily life on the streets around Snider Plaza as much as any listing does. If you'd like to talk about how these blocks are changing, or what that means for a home nearby, Adrienne Brown would be glad to hear from you. Let's Connect.