INSIDE TANTRA COFFEEHOUSE

...

Tantra Coffee House

Photo taken by Paige Swanson, outside of Tantra Coffeehouse. 

History of Tantra Coffee House 

Tantra coffeehouse, located on West Hopkins street in San Marcos, Texas, is a local hybrid coffee shop that includes a music stage where it hosts live music events on a regular basis, a bar, restaurant and also acts as a community center. Originally founded in 2006, by Nathan and Jamie Todd who moved from Colorado back to their hometown of San Marcos,Tantra was established on the concepts on daily mindfulness, how you conduct yourself as well as to foster an environment of creative thought. Today, it is now co-owned by Adam Lilley and Ian Lee as Nathan Todd is now a business partner.

Photo taken by Paige Swanson, showing mural on the wall
of Tantra Coffeehouse. 

Tantra also provides a space for local artists to showcase their work and tries to support the local art scene as much as they possibly can. Tantra is also deeply engrained in the music scene of San Marcos as they host numerous live musical evens every month, and with the central convenient location of the business, it receives a good amount of random traffic at every event with many people coming across it as they’re traveling. Overall, Tantra provides a strong foundation in which it focuses on local sustainability and is dedicated to San Marcos to help and build the community.

By Colton Thompson

Mission of Purpose: Community Impact 

When Nathan Todd and his wife founded Tantra Coffeehouse eight years ago, they had the community of San Marcos in mind. Their mission was to promote the local culture, music, art, lifestyle and mindset of the hometown they had always loved and they proceeded to do just that.

The walls of Tantra are lined with the creations of local artists from the San Marcos area. The art is displayed at no cost to their creators, with the majority of the pieces available for purchase. Co-Owner Adam Lilley takes pride in promoting the local artists, and feels that Tantra wouldn’t be where it is now without the assistance of their community. 

“People come to Tantra to enjoy themselves,” Lilley said. “They support us with loyal patronage and their wonderful personalities. We do as much as we can to return the favor of our beloved community’s support.”

By Matthew Curtis 

Events and Music 

Tantra customers Katie Bower and Bill Sergent
listen to the Bluegrass Music, while holding Tantra's famous
mini-minute pitchers. 

Tantra hosts a weekly ‘Bluegrass Night’ every Wednesday that is free to the public and an open opportunity for musicians to display their passion. Bluegrass Night is a Tantra local tradition that has been going on for two to three years. On a given night it is said the venue gets around 200-300 people.

Tantra also plays host for many local events including the annual ‘Bike Prom’ for the Texas State Cycling Team, ‘Food Stock’ which is a non-profit benefit concert for the Hays County Food Bank and they even provide and pay for a Sound Engineer for the weekly ‘Farmer’s Market’ held downtown every Saturday morning.

Polar Bear Plunge 

Tantra is also a sponsor of the 'Texas Wild Rice Festival,' and hosted a fundraiser, kick-start campaign, which raised $15,000 in revenue for the Wild Rice team. The Wild Rice Festival is put on by the San Marcos Habitat Conservation Plan and San Marcos River Foundation, and remains a  festival that encourages the San Marcos community to participate in an educational experience put on by the community, for the community. This festival highlighted community vendors, local food, free educational workshops, guided nature walks and a blessing of the San Marcos River.

"All of the people who started the Wild Rice festival are all dear friends of Tantra," Lilley said. "They seem to get what is it about this town that is just so very special."

The month of April is when the Wild Rice Festival is held, so Tantra and other local business' around San Marcos, Texas, are showing local artist's work that reflects the beauty of the San Marcos River, featuring: Paul Collins and Gina Flemings. 

Tantra remains the only business in town with an outdoor live music venue and they strongly encourage the local musicians to take full advantage of their beautiful scenery and relaxed atmosphere, all while providing the nearby residents with a free musical performance that can be appreciated from down the street.

Tantra continues to thrive due to their mutual relationship with the community of San Marcos. Many residents consider the coffeehouse to be a quintessential representation of the local culture. The owners and staff welcome any and all with a smile, a drink and friendly conversation. With the large amount of support and focus they provide to their hometown, it’s almost easy to forget that Tantra still serves coffee and cuisine.

By Paige Swanson

Tantra was a full-scale music venue during its first 4 years, hosting performers six nights out of the week. They’ve had many well-known Texas artists come through like The Marmalakes, Danny Malone, Jack Wilson, Dana Falconberry and Henry and the Invisibles.

Three of the four owners of Tantra Coffeehouse are professional musicians. Kyle Mylius, Adam Lilley and Ian Lee have been professional musicians most of their lives, playing in and out of bands. Lilley and Lee currently have a band together called the Migrating Fines. Lilley describes their sound as being introspective folk-pop. Their band includes Lilley as the vocalist, Lee on violin, a Dobro player and back-up vocalists.

Their musical background greatly influences the way Tantra is run. Owner Adam Lilley says it really plays into everything, right down to the way the food is cooked and the coffee is made.

"I don't think of art in a limited fashion. It doesn't matter if you play an instrument, if you're a painter, or if you draw. There are artistic people of all different shapes and sizes. Fostering creativity in an environment that is productive in that way isn't just for visual artists or musicians, it's for everybody," Lilley said.

By Marilyn Mejia