EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — A former El Paso bilingual teacher opened up a second coffee shop location in the Lower Valley and is hoping to grow her staff with coffee lovers who enjoy serving the community.
The Hive Java Lounge, located at 1505 George Dieter Drive #115, and now also located at 8100 North Loop offers a cozy atmosphere with a bee-inspired theme.
Zoraida Dobard, aka Zoe, owns the lounge with her husband and hopes to grow her staff with people who enjoy serving the community and also hopes to create a space where the community can have a great cup of coffee and a good conversation.
Dubard says she decided to decorate the lounge with a bee theme because a bee hive symbolizes community and connections, which is exactly what she wants for the Hive Java Lounge.
Dobard says the shop offers homemade ingredients like flavored syrups to give its coffee an authentic flavor.
“So I think that’s one of the things that really helps us stand out. So I do my own lavender syrup, rose syrup, we do pistachio syrup, banana syrup, you know with actual bananas, with actual pistachios. So we do a lot of homemade stuff that I think you’re not going to find elsewhere,” Dobard said.
Dobard says the coffee shop is known for its “Queen Favorites” menu selection, which includes a dulce de leche latte, lavender latte, coconut latte, and tres leches. The shop is also known for its matcha drink, which is also organic, and its chai lattes.
Dobard says they initially opened Glitch Gaming Center on George Dieter in East El Paso and ended up opening Hive Java Lounge next door to serve those who were at the gaming center. The coffee shop has since been around for about eight years.
“My husband really wanted to open a gaming center and it kinda started off with that. It was only going to be the gaming center, but then we decided let’s bring in drinks and stuff to get the gamers going and it literally turned into two businesses,” Dobard says.
After managing the two businesses with her husband for a while, Dobard decided to open another location in the Lower Valley.
“We came to my old hood, the Lower Valley and I saw the space and I was like ‘Okay. I need to do it,'” Dubard said.
Dobard shares that she is a proud El Paso native and went to Bel Air High School. She graduated from NMSU with a degree in bilingual education and went into the teaching industry.
Dubard taught at Gadsden ISD and then continued her teaching career at Clint ISD. She eventually decided to enter the coffee business after her husband decided to open the gaming center.
“I just jumped into it really knowing, having no background in coffee whatsoever. I didn’t know anything about coffee. So I went from that to learning everything quickly and I’m very proud,” Dobard said.
Dobard says she also used a lot of her knowledge in teaching and implemented that into her coffee shop.
Dubard says the shop is currently open from 7 a.m. through 3 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 9 a.m. through 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The shop will be holding a grand opening on March 22.
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