Brian Franklin opened DoubleShot Coffee Company in 2004 out of a strip mall on south Boston Avenue, living in a nearby apartment he couldn’t afford to turn on the utilities for while he built the business one customer at a time. Twenty years later, DoubleShot is one of downtown Tulsa‘s most celebrated coffee institutions — and its current home, The Rookery, is unlike any coffee shop you’re likely to encounter anywhere in the country.
Dave and I stopped in on a Thursday morning in late September to catch up with a few friends and left thoroughly impressed.
The Building Is the First Thing You Need to Know About
In 2019, on the 15th anniversary of opening his first location, Franklin relocated DoubleShot to 1633 S. Boulder Avenue — into a structure unlike anything in Tulsa’s coffee scene. The Rookery is built around a barn that originally stood on a farm in Berne, Indiana, dating back to the 1860s. Franklin and architect Joel Collins had it deconstructed beam by beam, transported to Tulsa, and reassembled by hand in the exact order it came apart. The massive hand-hewn timbers are very much the point.
The reclaimed materials don’t stop there. The bricks enclosing the onsite roastery came from a Muskogee Coca-Cola bottling plant that predated Oklahoma statehood. The upstairs loft flooring was milled from wood originally used in oil field plank roads in Osage County — boards so thick they had to be sawed, planed, and kiln-dried before installation. Solar panels now power the building. Franklin built it this way deliberately: the structure is meant to reflect what DoubleShot does with coffee — everything by hand, nothing cut short.
The Space
The interior is a two-story, 6,000-square-foot space with a landing between floors and a variety of seating configurations throughout. There are communal tables, solo perches, and semi-private nooks that work well for quiet conversation or a focused hour of work. It’s busy — DoubleShot has a loyal following — but the scale of the building absorbs the crowd better than you’d expect.
When Dave and I arrived it was packed, so we started at a bar area near the front. Eventually a large conference table with nearby outlets opened up and we migrated over. That flexibility is one of the things that sets The Rookery apart: no matter what kind of morning you’re having, there’s a corner that fits.
The Coffee (and the Food)
Franklin is the roastmaster here, and he takes that role seriously. He’s been traveling to coffee farms since within a year of opening DoubleShot, and in 2022 he purchased land in Nicaragua for his own farm, Dos Manzanas. DoubleShot’s flagship roast, Maduro, has earned mentions in Wine Spectator and a place in the definitive coffee history book Uncommon Grounds. This is a shop with a genuine point of view about coffee.
I ordered a cappuccino ($4.25) — clean, well-structured, nothing wasted — along with a toad-in-the-hole ($2.50) and a blueberry lemon cake ($4.25), both from their in-house bakery program. Dave went with a large iced Americano ($5.50) and a blueberry lemon loaf ($3.75). Our friend Dusty had a chai latte ($4.50). The pastries held up to the coffee, which isn’t always the case.
On an extra note from Dave, the pumpkin bread at DoubleShot is the crown jewel of their baked good offerings. It is a must purchase for him even if he’s not eating it, he is always sure to bring a slice home for his wife. It is also available by the loaf. You can’t go wrong with this year-round classic.
The Verdict
DoubleShot has been earning its reputation for over two decades, and The Rookery is the physical expression of everything Franklin has been building toward. The coffee is genuinely excellent, the food is worth ordering, and the building is a destination in its own right. If you’re spending any time in Tulsa, this one is worth going out of your way for. It’s a great place to grab a quick cup while exploring downtown Tulsa, or for a prolonged stay while working remote, studying, or enjoying a good book.
DoubleShot Coffee Company (The Rookery)
1633 S Boulder Ave, Tulsa, OK 74119
Monday–Friday: 7am–6pm | Saturday: 8am–3pm | Sunday: 8am–noon
