Citizens Coffee & Wine Café

09/18/2026

We asked Chef Alexis which dishes leave her kitchen more than anything else on any given day.

Three very different plates, but three that have earned their place as Citizens favorites.

Consider this your list for the next time you come see us. We’d love to know which one you believe deserves the top spot ↓

📍 Citizens | Hempstead, Texas
Unexpected, but right at home.

09/17/2026

Mark called it one of the prettiest Chicken Fried Steaks he’d ever seen, kept eating long after he planned to stop, and gave it his recommendation.

So now we’re curious.

If Chicken Fried Steak is your thing, come put ours to the test.

And if you know someone who takes their Chicken Fried Steak seriously, tag them below. We’d love their verdict next ↓

📍 Citizens | Hempstead, Texas
Unexpected, but right at home.

09/16/2026

He’s usually a black coffee guy.

But when he comes to Citizens, he switches it up.

We’ll take that as a compliment.

What’s your usual order from our coffee bar? And if you’ve never had a cup from Citizens, we’d love to change that.

Come see us sometime soon!

📍 Citizens | Hempstead, Texas
Unexpected, but right at home.

09/15/2026

The last Chef’s Dinner ended with a room on its feet.

A standing ovation for Chef Alexis and a menu she had poured herself into.

But maybe our favorite part is hearing what that moment did after the applause. It made her wonder what else she could do. What else she could create. How much further she could push herself.

And now she gets another chance.

September 27th, Chef Alexis is back with an entirely new Chef’s Dinner, and she believes this one may be even better than the last.

If you were in the room last time, you know what that means.

If you weren’t, we’d love for you to be in the room for this one.

September 27 | Limited seating
$95 dinner | Optional $45 w**e pairing

To reserve your seat:
📧 [email protected]
📞 979-999-7090

📍 Citizens | Hempstead, Texas
Unexpected, but right at home.

09/14/2026

The case is changing with the season. One of the questions we’re asked most is what’s currently waiting inside the refrigerated case, so we thought we’d let the woman behind it all give you the update herself.

Pastry Chef Leah is here with a little look at what’s staying, what’s leaving, and what she’s dreaming up next.

Tell us, which one are you most excited about? ↓

📍 Citizens | Hempstead, Texas
Unexpected, but right at home.

09/13/2026

Citizens represented last night at houseofhelp gala and we couldn’t have asked for a better evening.

We had the privilege of being part of the Best of Hempstead Gala benefiting the House of Help Food Pantry, alongside so many of the people and businesses that make this community what it is.

Paul, Chef Alexis and Elijah showed up for Citizens, served some incredible food, and got to spend the evening doing what we love most: feeding people and being part of something bigger than what happens inside our own four walls.

And having Jayce & Kayle Johnson there representing Citizens with us made the night even better.

There’s something special about a room full of people choosing to show up for the same town, support the same cause and invest right back into the people who live here.

We were proud to have Citizens on the table last night, but even prouder to call Hempstead home.

09/12/2026

Current brunch obsession? Citizens. All of the above.

• French Toast Brûlée
• Chicken & Red Velvet Waffles
• Surf & Turf Benedict
• House Cured Salmon Avocado Toast
• Monte Cristo
• Shrimp + Grits

The only thing missing from the table is you with your favorite people!

Saturday brunch | 8A–3P

📍 Citizens | Hempstead, Texas
Unexpected, but right at home.

09/11/2026

Some people read the cocktail menu. Some people just ask Paul.

A lot of what you’ll find behind the Citizens bar begins with Paul. He’s the mastermind behind many of our cocktails, but it’s rarely just about what goes in the glass. There’s usually a story behind it, a piece of history, a reason for the name, and a lot of thought behind why those particular flavors belong together.

So tag somebody you’d like to share a drink with, pull up a seat at the bar or gather around a table, and let Paul choose your next one.

And for those who already have, we’d love to know. What’s a drink Paul recommended that you absolutely loved?

📍 Citizens | Hempstead, Texas
Unexpected, but right at home.

09/10/2026

The secret is out!

Chef Alexis is taking the table somewhere new for our September Chef’s Dinner.

Sunday, September 27 | 5 PM
Dinner | $95 per person
Optional w**e pairing | $45 per person
*W**e pairing is not required to attend.*

Only 40–45 seats available.

Reserve yours:
📧 [email protected]
📞 979.999.7090

Citizens | Hempstead, Texas
Unexpected, but right at home.

09/09/2026

Something is cooking and these two are obviously very excited to tell you.

September 27th, Chef’s Dinner returns, and this one is taking us somewhere new.

Inspired by Kenneth’s recent travels and brought to the table by Chef Alexis.

Any guesses what country is inspiring the plates this time? ↓

Leave your best guess below and tell us if you’re ready for the details!

We’ll let these two spill it soon enough!

09/08/2026

Maybe you’ve driven through Hempstead a hundred times.

Maybe this is the first time you’ve been given a reason to stop.

Coffee in the morning. Lunch around the table. W**e after dark. All inside an old bank in the middle of a little Texas town.

Put us on the route next time. We’d love to have you.

📍 841 12th St. Hempstead, Texas

Citizens | Unexpected, but right at home.

09/07/2026

We came across this photo of Kenneth and it felt fitting for Labor Day.

Because there are some places you walk into and see a restaurant.

And then there are places where, if you look closely enough, you can see the person who dreamed it.

Kenneth is all over Citizens.

In the artwork he chose.
In the details he refused to rush.
In the old building he believed could hold something new.
In the food, the tables, the walls, the people.

But maybe you see him most clearly when he’s here.

Because if you’ve been to Citizens when Kenneth is in the room, you know he rarely stays in one place for long.

He makes his way to the tables.
Learns your name.
Asks what you ordered.
Thanks you for coming.

Not because someone told him that’s good hospitality.

Because somewhere along the way, when you pour this much of yourself into a place, the people who walk through its doors start to matter to you, too.

There is a lot of work tucked quietly inside beautiful things.

A lot of early mornings and late nights nobody sees. A lot of caring about details most people will never know were considered.

And on a day set aside to honor the hands and hearts behind the work, we’re grateful for his.

And for every set of hands beside his that makes Citizens feel like Citizens.

Happy Labor Day from our table to yours.

📍 Citizens | Hempstead, Texas
Unexpected, but right at home.

09/05/2026

Our romance is fluffy French Toast Brûlée.

Brunch served Saturdays | 8 a.m. – 3 p.m.

📍 841 12th St. | Hempstead, Texas 77445
📞 979.999.7090

Citizens
Unexpected, but right at home.

09/05/2026

Citizens community, jump in and share!

As always, we love seeing Citizens through your eyes! From what’s on the table to who’s sitting across from you, every picture tells a little part of the story. And we love getting to see that story through your lens.

So show us, what was the last photo you took inside Citizens? A plate you loved? A drink at the bar? The people across the table? ↓

📍 Citizens | Hempstead, Texas
Unexpected, but right at home.

09/05/2026

As always, we love seeing Citizens through your eyes! From what’s on the table to who’s sitting across from you, every picture tells a little part of the story. And we love getting to see that story through your lens.

So show us, what was the last photo you took inside Citizens? A plate you loved? A drink at the bar? The people across the table? ↓

📍 Citizens | Hempstead, Texas
Unexpected, but right at home.

09/04/2026

For anyone in our fan club, if there are any of you looking for any opportunity to volunteer tomorrow morning, the House of Help is calling for volunteers!

Looks like we may be a little short on hands for tomorrow's give out as several of our regulars will be unavailable. If anyone could spare some time, we'd be ever so grateful! 🥰

Located at 716 1st Street, Hempstead, Tx 77445, by the Faith United Church.
Tuesday-Saturday 10a-3p.

-All proceeds go towards purchasing food and other essentials for our local community, come help us pay it forward 💕

09/04/2026

If this glass could talk, it might tell you what it has seen from this side of the bar.

An old man with an unlit cigar resting between his fingers.
His wife of 52 years still in the seat beside him.

Still beside him.

It has listened to old friends pick up where they left off, as if the years between visits and the miles between front doors were nothing a couple of barstools couldn’t fix.

It has watched a father lean across the bar toward his grown son.

The plates cleared.
The conversation not.

Because maybe there comes an age when a father knows there will never be enough dinners with the boy who once sat small at his table.

It has left cold rings on the wood beneath elbows and stories.
Heard laughter loosen as the night grew later.
Watched people stay for one more when they probably meant to leave an hour ago.

And even the drink inside the glass has a past.
Railroad Rumble.
Hempstead Highball.
Names borrowed from an old Texas town that grew up beside the railroad.

Names poured now inside an old bank building that has already held a lifetime of things people thought worth keeping.

There is something about that.
A glass holding the story of where Hempstead has been,
while sitting close enough to witness where its story is still going.

The old man and his cigar.
His bride of 52 years.

The father and his son.

The friends who drove from opposite directions and found each other somewhere in the middle.

Another bottle turns upside down.
The glass fills.
Ice rises.

And for a little while, all the years seem to sit down together at the same bar.

The Hempstead that was.
The Hempstead that is.

And the Hempstead that someone, years from now, will ache to remember.

If this glass could talk, maybe it would tell us what we are so often too hurried to see while we still have it

these are the old days, too.

We’re just still living them.

📍 Citizens | Hempstead, Texas
Unexpected, but right at home.

09/02/2026

Different times of day bring a different rhythm to this place. And somehow, every one of them feels like Citizens.

Coffee + pastries in the morning.
A table at midday.
W**e when evening comes.

Whatever time you find us, we’d be glad to have you.

📍 Citizens | Hempstead, Texas
Unexpected, but right at home.

09/02/2026

There is this little pocket of time in the morning
when you’ve left home
but the day hasn’t quite gotten ahold of you yet.

And around here,
some people spend it at our bar.

The coffee is poured.
The first light comes through the windows.
Someone leans across the counter to finish a story they started yesterday.

There’s talk about the weather.
The kids.
The cruise they just got back from.
What needs doing before the rain comes.
Who they ran into last week.

Nothing remarkable, really.

Except maybe it is.

Because in a world where most of us are rushing from one thing to the next,
there are still people who choose to pull up a stool
and begin their morning being known.

We get to watch it happen every day.

People walking in for a cup of coffee
and finding a place to belong for a little while
between home
and wherever they’re headed next.

If you’ve spent a morning at our bar,
you know.

And if you haven’t,
we hope someday you come early enough
to find out.

📍 Citizens | Hempstead, Texas
Unexpected, but right at home.

08/31/2026

The everyday rhythm.

If you’ve never been, we’d love to have you.

Tuesday–Thursday | 7 a.m.–9 p.m.
Friday & Saturday | 8 a.m.–10 p.m.
Sunday & Monday | Closed

📍 Citizens | Hempstead, Texas
Unexpected, but right at home.

08/29/2026

Dessert at Citizens deserves the same reputation as our pastry case.

Chef Leah’s work doesn’t stop with the croissants and danishes you see each morning. That same precision follows her into dessert. Elegant, beautifully composed and every bit as delicious as it looks.

For many of you, her pastries are already reason enough to make the drive to Hempstead.

We’d argue dessert is reason to stay a little longer.

Saturday tables are waiting.

📍 Citizens | Hempstead, TX
Unexpected, but right at home.

08/28/2026

We asked our team to name their favorite item on the menu.

Now we’d love to hear yours. What’s your favorite item on the Citizens menu and what makes it your favorite? ↓

📍 Citizens | Hempstead, TX
Unexpected, but right at home.

08/26/2026

Turns out they’re not “things” at all.
They’re all of you.

The people who walk through our doors and give us the opportunity to do what we love.

If we haven’t had the chance to serve you yet, we hope we get to soon.

Come pull up a chair. We’d love to have you.

📍 Citizens | Hempstead, Texas
Unexpected, but right at home.

08/25/2026

Pan-Seared Salmon at Citizens.

Crisp where it meets the pan, tender where it matters. Served with fingerling potatoes and a creamy tomato sauce made for dragging every last bite through.

Available for lunch and dinner Tuesday–Saturday.
Reservations recommended.

📍 Citizens | Hempstead, Texas | enjoycitizens.com
Unexpected, but right at home.

08/24/2026

Baked fresh each morning. Before the doors open and the first cup of coffee is poured, layers of buttery dough are folded, rolled and worked by hand.

Behind it all is our pastry chef, Leah. In while the town is still quiet, hands in the dough, ovens warming, making sure that by the time you walk through our doors, something fresh is waiting behind the glass.

Fresh pastries available Tuesday through Saturday.

📍 Citizens | Hempstead, Texas
Unexpected, but right at home.