“I’ve always been a coffee fan,” says Hunter Hawkins, co-owner of the new “third-wave” Henderson coffee shop, Coffee Hunter. Not unlike the craft beer movement, third-wave refers to the growing trend that coffee is a high-quality, artisanal product. “Growing up in Portland, it was always a big part in my life.”
And with the help of his father and Coffee Hunter partner, co-owner Doug Hawkins, the father-son duo is keeping the business in the family. After quitting his job in construction, Doug moved to Las Vegas a year ago to start the family business, which had its soft opening on March 9. “I got tired of [construction] and I wanted to do something fun with the rest of my life and spend some time with Hunter.”
While it’s still testing things out during its soft opening, Coffee Hunter serves the Portland favorite Stumptown Coffee Roasters line and an assortment of iced and hot lattes, nitro cold brew and single-origin coffees, Metolius Artisan Tea, chocolate milk and more.
Coffee Hunter serves Portland's Stumptown Coffee Roasters line.
In a unique collaboration, Coffee Hunter will also serve an assortment of sweet and savory pasties from Downtown’s Cornish Pasty Co., plus sweets from Happy Ending chocolates and other grab-and-go food items like Portuguese brigadeiros (chocolate pastries). Designed by Rob Gurdison of Dao Gurdison Design Group, who recently designed the new Goodwich location, Coffee Hunter blends the cool culture of Portland’s best coffee shops with an industrial look that features a mix of stainless steel and reclaimed woods.
“I’d always be looking for [coffee] places, just watching the scene change with PublicUs, Makers & Finders, Mothership—and seeing that it could be done," Hunter says. "Then my dad moved out here and we made it happen. It’s been a long journey to get here.”
At the end of the day, it was Portland’s influence, and the desire for a bigger and better coffee culture, that fueled the Hawkins’ vision. “I think we can draw people in. We have Stumptown, and that’s one of the best brands out there," Hunter says. "Coffee for me was always a social gathering, and it was always [about] community, so I wanted to bring that experience here.”
Coffee Hunter 7425 S. Eastern Avenue, 702-586-5002.
