Once upon a time (current day) there were Dominican and Haitian
families living in poverty in the Dominican Republic, whose children
had little or no access to a good education. At the same time, on the
same island, there were coffee farmers growing one heck of a good
coffee bean but not getting paid enough to support their families.
Enter Makarios
- a non-profit dedicated to helping pull
families out of poverty by providing their kids with a quality
education - and an idea that would help support the school and the
community of farmers. What if we bought this high grade coffee (now
certified by the Rainforest Alliance) directly from the farmers using
fair trade practices, imported it to the US, and sold it here in order
to raise money for the school? Brilliant!
With this idea in mind, Dominican Joe Coffee Shop was birthed in Austin, Texas and Café
Makarios coffee (under the Dominican Joe label) made its way into the
hearts and homes of caring people all over America who want to help
make a difference. It really is possible to change the world by
drinking coffee!
Learn more about our coffee and how we make a difference at the
Coffee link above.
Our History
The Dominican Joe concept was born in early 2005, as a partnership between
Mehul Patel (local entrepreneur) and Sharla Megilligan (founder of Makarios).
Our goal was simply to make a difference in the world. The question we faced:
could we provide Austin with a high quality coffee shop in a way that made an
impact in the world through our coffee partnership? The vision took shape in early 2006, and on
September 19th, after about 18 crazy months, we opened our doors in the heart of Austin at the corner
of South Congress and Riverside Drive. Yay us! We breathed a sigh of relief and celebrated and then
realized that was the easy part...
Have questions? Email Us or check out our Common Questions page.
