On a quiet Sunday morning in Oak Cliff, house music pours out from Trades Delicatessen.
Inside, customers dance while using baguettes as totems. Pieces of bread fly around like confetti. A DJ behind a register spins music.
Videos of this Sunday morning deli rave were a huge hit on Instagram. Noely Paniagua, the executive assistant of Trades and a raver, pitched the idea after seeing the video of a rave in a European deli on Instagram.
“It was almost like my two worlds were colliding,” she said.
At first, the owners of Trades were hesitant. They didn’t want to disrupt sales. But after some convincing, they agreed to try it. The event was a huge success. Paniagua said it was Trades most profitable Sunday.
“There's videos of the cooks you know on the line dancing, and so that was just really great to see them enjoying their shift,” Paniagua said.
This may seem like an odd concept, but Trades Deli isn't alone. Other local businesses such as Common Good and Wayward Coffee Co. are opening their doors to dance parties. And the trend represents a larger shift in the club scene.
DJs Rami Ackerman and Stephen Carmona have teamed up with Wayward Coffee Co. to throw a monthly event called Labor of Love. The event starts after store hours at 8 p.m. A DJ board is set up a few feet behind the coffee bar, giving just enough room for a dance floor under a disco ball. Attendees can sip on wine, beer or juices served from the same counter people buy their espressos and matcha from while socializing in a more relaxing environment than a crowded bar.
And it all wraps up by midnight.
Ackerman and Carmona usually have gigs at Double Ds, Ladylove and Curfew, but Ackerman said he enjoys the change of pace of coffee shop sets.
“I do appreciate doing stuff earlier,” he said. “And being able to go home and sleep at a decent time, because sometimes at the club you know we're not getting home [until] 3 or 4 a.m.”
For Ackerman, these sets are an opportunity to experiment with his craft.
“It's kind of like a blank canvas where we can do it how we want,” he said. “And play whatever we want and gather like-minded individuals that love music and love something different.”
But for Carmona, it's about reimagining what nightlife can look like in Dallas.
“It's a cool alternative to the norm that you're used to a 10-to-2 lifestyle,” he said. “We want to start a little earlier. We wanna play music you might not hear at a bar or club, but at the same time, we still want you to dance.”
That’s what appealed to recent Labor of Love attendee Britney Orina.
“I guess you could say millennial, Gen Z culture, we're kind of tired of the, I don’t know, section-hookah-lounge-type culture,” she said.
She said going to a traditional night club can be expensive. A typical night out might include a cover charge, a pricey table and drink prices ranging from $15 to $20 per cocktail.
“It tends to feel very much like, if you don't got the money, just don't pop out,” she said.
Instead, coffee shop parties offer a more casual and inclusive alternative – no dress code, no covers, no crowds, just good music and good energy.
“I feel it just makes it more chill and more fun to actually just meet people, especially small, intimate places like this,” Orina said.
For now, Wayward Coffee Co. plans to continue hosting Labor of Love and hopes to expand. As for Trades Delicatessen, they’ll be hosting another deli rave on June 22. And Carmona hopes these events lead to more businesses being open to the idea.
“Whether it’s a coffee shop, a deli spot, a barber shop, someone’s automobile workshop, just about any space that’s willing to open their doors to us and allow us to come in and play some music,” he said.
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