Moto & Latte churns fuel out of station
The old gas station on Liberty Street in Pilot Point had traded the smell of gas for that of fry oil as the Old Magnolia Station and now for the scent of fresh coffee beans with its new tenants.
Dominique and Yulia Manning of Moto & Latte have breathed new life into the building with their roastery and coffee shop, Moto & Latte.
“When I saw the gas station, it fit our look perfectly,” Dom said. “The owner [of the station] is a hot rod guy, so he was into it.”
The young couple from San Diego said they were looking for a small venue to house their business plan when they moved to McKinney.
“Everything in McKinney and Frisco is huge,” Dom said. “It’s all 1,000-2,000 square feet. We didn’t really want anything like that for a small coffee shop, so I narrowed the search down to under 1,000 square feet and it was here at the gas station or one way out in Sherman.”
He said the old station was perfect for the brand, complete with the original mobile gas pumps, which the owner had recently restored.
“He tells me he has the original mobile gas pumps, had them in storage but at first, he’d just had them restored and was like, ‘I don’t know if I want to have them out in the sun,’ but after we had the building all done up, he was like ‘I think you have to have the gas pumps there. They complete it.’” Moto & Latte started as roasted beans available online, but the physical location complete with limited seating has given the owners more inspiration to provide an alternative to Pilot Point Coffee House or Elevated Grounds focused on grabbing a quick drink and more.
“We also have a mini market in the back,” Dom said. “Even though it’s tiny, we were able to maximize the space. It’s a fast enough service that you don’t have to have a ton of space inside.”
The market, Dom explained, will be stocked with specialty ingredients, “something nice to pick up for dinner.”
“We like good quality food, small ingredients and everything’s American except our pasta,” Dom said. “We import our pasta because [the Italians] make better pasta. We found some really awesome vendors and started sampling stuff, and I think we’re going to rotate products.”
The business has received positive local reviews and has already gathered a following, so the couple are thinking next steps.
“I like having the small thing, but growth wise, my idea right now is to figure out some sort of drive-up or app situation,” Dom said. “Then, depending on how things grow or how things happen, ... potentially down the road doing some kind of drive-thru situation that would help take care of the volume issues without having to sacrifice the small space and the look of the actual spot.”
Lunch options and alternatives to coffee for the kids are also in the works as summer begins to roll around.
He and Yulia are also excited to tie into their namesake with bike and classic car and track-day meetups.
“We’re doing the commute right now,” he said. “Our goal is to move to Pilot Point or one of the surrounding towns. It’s an awesome area, and all the people we’ve met have been genuinely kind people.”
