CHRISTOVAL, TX — Christoval has a coffee shop and you’ll want to visit it. It’s called the Concho Coffee House, 19930 Main St., and it’s not like what you’d expect to see in old Christoval.
Every morning, in addition to the fresh brew, owner Katy Capron prepares a healthy dish for busy parents and those passing through to get quickly. Located in an old, historic building with a State of Texas historical marker denoting the establishment of the community of Christoval, the building has been freshly renovated.
The day we stopped by, patrons could enjoy a portion of a healthy quiche with their coffee.
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Above: Quiche for sale at the Concho Coffee House. (LIVE! Photo/Joe Hyde)
The coffee shop is an addition to a popular new business in Christoval called Rootbound Food Company. Rootbound prepares pre-cooked meals for busy families. It’s located across the street from the coffee shop for now, at 19955 Main St. Soon, next door to the coffee shop, and catty-corner across the street from the old café where meals are prepped for Rootbound right now, new construction is underway for Rootbound’s new, larger facility.
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Above: Rootbound's new building, with construction almost completed, next door to the coffee shop. (LIVE! Photo/Joe Hyde)
New construction in Christoval is a big deal. The sleepy bedroom community 20 miles south of San Angelo has seen somewhat of a revival over the past 10 years.
County Commissioner Bill Ford has successfully pushed through his agenda for cleaning up the county parks, two of them near Christoval: Pugh Park along the South Concho River, and Mineral Wells Crossing, also on the South Concho. The parks have become popular destinations again.
In addition, on the west side of U.S. 277 from Christoval’s downtown Main St., a bed and breakfast, Concho Christoval River Retreat ($115 per night via AirBnB.com), and Drex and Nancy Vincent’s Christoval Vinyards Winery have blossomed along the same river. Along U.S. 277, the family who started the popular Cooper’s barbecue in Llano opened up last year.
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Above: Coffee made to order at the Concho Coffee House. (LIVE! Photo/Joe Hyde)
Back to Rootbound.
The prepared meal business has legs, Capron said. She started the food prep business on a whim, to help her clients she was coaching on healthy living— she is what they call a “health and wellness coach.” She would publish a menu on Facebook, her clients would order the meals, and come pick up the meals the next week.
“We’ll always sell out,” Katy said. The pre-cooked meal business was extended beyond just her early clients. Now, those meals are enjoyed by anyone with social media access.
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Above: Rootbound's meals, ready to pick up. (Rootbound Facbook page)
Rootbound posts the menu on Wednesday usually before 9 a.m., on Facebook and Instagram. Patrons will order their meals in the comments section below the post, right on Facebook or Instagram. When capacity is reached, Katy posts a comment in the thread, “The menu is now closed!”
“I know exactly what food I need to purchase over the weekend,” Katy told me. On Monday, bright and early, Katy and a small crew prepare and cook the meals. When the meals are ready Monday, she posts a status update on Facebook and Instagram. “Meals are ready!”
Then, over the rest of the Monday, and sometimes into the next morning, happy patrons make the trek to Christoval to pay for and pick up their pre-cooked meals for the week.
“You can order as much or as little as you need,” Katy said.
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Above: Rootbound's new building, with construction almost completed, next door to the coffee shop. (LIVE! Photo/Joe Hyde)
The food is healthy, but Katy doesn’t give the vibe of an Austin hippie organic foods health nut. She’s a wife and mother just like many of her patrons. I interviewed her at the Turnpike Troubadours concert earlier this month, and this should explain everything about her. That is, she’s all west Texas, having grown up in Midland. She said her mom was cooking healthy before cooking healthy was cool in the oil patch.
Katy calls the food “Whole 30 Compliant.” Without getting into the nitty-gritty details about Paleo and gluten-free diets, think of this as homegrown, and more fulfilling, meal plan than Nutrisystem.
The meals being prepared for today (March 19) includes Texas chili stuffed baked potatoes, Mediterranean chicken salad, blackened fish, and a Hawaiian grilled chicken bowl. The latter offers the option of caulirice (made out of Cauliflower) or regular rice. I’d prefer the latter, so I’m appreciative she gives us that option. This is, after all, west Texas!
Katy said the building where the coffee shop is today was empty and she thought Christoval could use a coffee shop. Meagan Yarbrough was working the counter when I dropped by on my way to a trial in Eldorado. “Business is good. There’s tons of traffic,” Meagan said, She attributed the popularity of the new coffee house to the school district there. Behind the shop is Christoval Elementary. About a mile down Toe Nail Trail is the middle and high school. There is also through traffic from people turning off the main highway onto Loop 110, Main St. And it helps that the U.S. Post Office is right across the street.
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Above: The Texas Historical Marker at the Concho Coffee House. (LIVE! Photo/Joe Hyde)
You can order your meals at Rootbound on Wednesday (see their Facebook or Instagram). But hurry, they’ll sell out quick. Then the next Monday morning, when you travel there to pick up your meals, stop by the Concho Coffee Shop and say howdy.
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