McKinney's New Thai Coffee Shop Is Like a Craft Cocktail Bar for Coffee

Escape 360, a new Thai coffee shop in McKinney, was recently opened by Pete and Rosie Keopaseut, who also own Thai Noodle Wave and Wave Bowl, a Korean bibimbap spot we previously swung by and enjoyed.

One staff member shared that the pair traveled throughout Asia to learn about coffee culture. Lucky for us, all of that led them to expand their local portfolio of restaurants to include this gem of a café.
While it does offer food and drink to-go, Escape 360 is more of a sit-down spot with table service and QR codes to access the menu at each table (several of which had the comfiest leather chairs — worthy of a nap). We stopped by in a party of four and ordered five drinks, one order of souffle pancakes and an affogato to share. Being able to sample several things helped us get a good feel of the place and its offerings.

For our drinks, we ordered a cappuccino ($6.75), a tangerine latte ($7.50), a Thai coconut brown sugar latte ($7.50), the Es-Thai-360 ($7.50) and the Aurora Sky ($9). To snack on, we tried an affogato ($8) and a stack of Thai tea-flavored souffle pancakes ($19.50).
It’s a touch pricier than many coffee shops, but we think it’s worth it. If you’ve ever had a Starbucks drink with modifications, it can run you pretty much the same — and these drinks are so much better. We could tell the painstaking amount of thought and love put into every detail. We’d compare it to a craft cocktail bar but for coffee.

We were pretty blown away by everything we tried, but there are a few we crowned as favorites.

The Thai coconut brown sugar latte ($7.50) is served with specks of shredded coconut flakes around the rim and frothed milk and it was to die for. Heavy on the coconut flavor and perfectly sweetened without being the slightest bit cloying, this is one that each of us tried to hoard for ourselves.

The tangerine latte ($7.50), served with a slice of tangerine and a little sprig of rosemary, frothy milk, espresso and a perfect hint of citrus flavor, might’ve been our favorite. It had us bargaining with each other as well.

In May of this year, ABC News reported that this mixture of citrus and espresso is a popular drink in Thailand, so it fits right at home at Escape 360, where Thai flavors play a big part. The article even includes a recipe for a slight variation of the drink and it seems to pretty closely match the one we tried, down to the rosemary sprig.

The Aurora Sky ($9) is layered with espresso, milk and what the café calls its “special tea” made from butterfly pea flowers. The ingredients create a gradient color effect, and because of the color lent by the butterfly pea flowers, the top layer of the drinks ends up being a pale, milky periwinkle. We thought it had a matcha-esque hint of grassiness (but a touch more subtle). It’s served cold with one large, round ice cube and a single pinch of gold leaf. We’d definitely order it again. In fact, nearly everything we tried was garnished with that same touch of gold leaf, and both of our food items were served with a literal orchid.

The $9 affogato was art. A strong shot of espresso plays well with the sweetness of the ice cream, which is topped with blackberries, figs and plums, along with a little piece of chocolate. And, of course, that bit of gold leaf and an orchid (we just can't get over).
We don’t think we’ve ever had any of these fruits with espresso and were surprised how much we loved the combo — especially the blackberries. We’d call it heaven in a bowl, that’s for sure.

The soufflé pancakes ($19.50) were stacked high with the trademark jiggle. The moment we saw an order of these run out to another table, they had our attention. The café offers several flavors, from crème brulée to Thai siam mango and honey nut ice cream, but as lovers of Thai tea, that’s the one we went for.
Garnished with what seems to be its signature touch of gold leaf alongside an orchid, this glorious confection was served on top of what looked like a crumbled sugar cookie and some fruit.

The Thai tea-flavored topping shined brightly and had a strong flavor with a consistency similar to — but a bit creamier than — sweetened condensed milk. We could almost drink it by the glass. To our delight, the kitchen gives each stack of pancakes a generous pour of each flavor’s respective topping. The pancakes were light, airy and the entire dish was just a magical 10 out of 10. This is “last meal” territory (for this writer, at least).

One potentially important note is the soufflés can take quite some time to cook, no exception. The menu warns diners of a 20-to-40-minute wait, so if you’re planning to order them, you may want to go for it right as you grab a table.

All in all, we’re not sure we’ve been anywhere quite like Escape 360 and can’t wait to go back. Even though it just opened, it was pretty packed and it deserves to stay that way.

Escape 360, 7540 State Highway 121, McKinney. Tuesday – Saturday, 10 a.m. – 10 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m. – 9 p.m.; closed Monday.