Any new opening from Onyx Espresso Lab is a significant occasion. In the present day on the Construct-Outs of Espresso characteristic sequence, we’re having a look at Onyx at The Protect, maybe the model’s most bold new espresso bar to this point.
The 2026 Construct-outs of Espresso is offered by DONA, Pacific Barista Collection, and La Marzocco.
As informed to Sprudge by Niki Weegens.
For many who aren’t acquainted, will you inform us about your organization?
Onyx Espresso Lab is an Arkansas-based espresso firm based in 2012 with the purpose of each serving and difficult the specialty espresso trade. From the start, our mantra has been “By no means Accept Good Sufficient,” a phrase that has formed the best way we strategy sourcing, roasting, hospitality, design, training, transparency, and the best way we look after each visitors and staff. Espresso stays the inspiration of who we’re, however our work has at all times been about greater than the cup. Our work is about constructing a extra considerate, equitable, and glorious espresso expertise from origin to finish shopper.
Through the years, Onyx has grown into an internationally acknowledged roastery and hospitality firm. In 2026, Onyx was named as a James Beard Award finalist for Excellent Bar, a milestone that introduced specialty espresso additional into the nationwide hospitality dialog. We’re additionally a Licensed B Company, with commitments that replicate our perception that excellence has to incorporate how we supply, how we function, and the way we help the individuals who make this work attainable.
Onyx at The Protect is the latest expression of that work, and our most bold idea to this point. It expands the Onyx expertise right into a full-day gathering place the place world-class espresso, vibrant meals, beverage, structure, panorama, and group all meet in a single area. Whereas the providing has grown, the guts of the undertaking stays the identical: distinctive espresso, significant hospitality, and a want to create areas the place individuals really feel welcomed, seen, and invited to remain awhile.
Are you able to inform us a bit in regards to the new area?
Onyx at The Protect is our most bold idea to this point, positioned in Bud’s Protect Park in Bentonville, Arkansas. The constructing sits straight on the Greenway and is woven into the encompassing path system, making it accessible by bike, by foot, and by automotive from throughout Northwest Arkansas. From the start, the purpose was to not create a constructing that merely sat on the land, however one which felt as if it had emerged from it.
The area was designed by Jon Allen, co-owner of Onyx Espresso Lab, in partnership with architect Marlon Blackwell. Concepting started in 2020 with a guiding query: how will we create one thing minimal and restrained that also feels heat, tactile, and deeply human? That intention formed each materials and element. A completely customized chrome steel bar anchors the room with precision and readability, whereas white oak, earthy plaster, and limestone-rich surfaces deliver heat, texture, and a way of calm. Oblique lighting washes the partitions and ceiling relatively than calling consideration to itself, permitting the area to shift all through the day.
At its coronary heart, The Protect is a gathering place. Espresso stays the inspiration of the expertise, however this location expands that rhythm into breakfast, daytime eating, dinner, cocktails, wine, occasions, and full-service hospitality. Our hope is that The Protect feels bold however deeply inviting—a spot for morning espresso, noon connection, night meals, quiet pauses, path stops, and shared moments across the desk.
What’s your strategy to espresso?
Espresso is the place Onyx started, and it stays on the heart of The Protect. Our strategy begins lengthy earlier than a drink reaches the bar: clear sourcing, shut producer relationships, cautious roasting, rigorous high quality management, and deep coaching for the individuals getting ready and serving the espresso.
At The Protect, espresso turns into the primary welcome into a bigger hospitality expertise. Friends can take pleasure in espresso drinks, pour overs, and acquainted Onyx choices in an area designed for each motion and pause. Whether or not somebody is stopping in from the path, settling into the cafe, or starting a full meal, the purpose is similar as at all times: espresso ready with precision and care, served in a approach that makes individuals really feel welcomed, seen, and invited in.
Any machines, coffees, particular tools lined up?
Like each Onyx cafe, The Protect proudly makes use of Modbar espresso machines, permitting the bar to stay open, intentional, and deeply related to the visitor expertise. The clear, under-counter system helps the architectural imaginative and prescient of the area whereas giving our baristas the precision and consistency wanted to serve espresso on the stage we count on from each Onyx location.
We’re additionally utilizing customized Onyx Version Ceado Rev Zero grinders for espresso, chosen for his or her means to tug photographs with unimaginable taste readability, consistency, and expression. Collectively, the Modbar system and Ceado grinders enable us to focus on the coffees we love with precision whereas preserving the bar expertise heat, participating, and genuinely approachable.
The centerpiece of the room is a completely customized chrome steel bar designed to help each espresso service and the broader meals and beverage expertise at The Protect. The espresso program options Onyx-roasted coffees throughout espresso and pour over menus, with choices chosen to focus on readability, sweetness, texture, and the distinctive character of every espresso.
How is your undertaking contemplating sustainability?
For this undertaking, sustainability begins with restraint, longevity, and a deep relationship to position. The design was guided by the query of find out how to do extra with much less materials, creating an area that feels heat and immersive with out counting on extra. Sturdy supplies like chrome steel, white oak, plaster, and limestone-rich surfaces had been chosen for a way they age, how they really feel, and the way they belong throughout the surrounding panorama.
The constructing’s placement additionally encourages alternative routes of arriving. As a result of The Protect sits straight on the Greenway and inside Bud’s Protect Park, visitors can entry the area by bike or on foot by way of the encompassing path system. That connection to the panorama is central to the idea: the grounds are usually not simply surroundings, however a part of the visitor expertise.
The undertaking additionally extends Onyx Espresso Lab’s broader commitments to accountable enterprise practices, together with clear espresso sourcing, photo voltaic vitality funding, B Corp Certification, and Residing Wage Certification. Sustainability right here just isn’t a single characteristic; it’s an ongoing accountability that touches sourcing, labor, supplies, vitality, and the best way the area serves its group over time.
What’s your hopeful goal opening date/month?
Onyx at The Protect started its gentle opening in June 2026, with expanded service rolling out all through summer season 2026.
Are you working with craftspeople, architects, and/or creatives that you simply’d like to say?
Onyx at The Protect was designed by Jon Allen, proprietor of Onyx Espresso Lab, in partnership with architect Marlon Blackwell and the crew at Marlon Blackwell Architects.
The undertaking can be the results of deep collaboration between Onyx and an unimaginable group of builders, craftspeople, designers, cooks, baristas, beverage professionals, and hospitality leaders. Each a part of the area was thought-about by way of the lens of hospitality: how visitors arrive, how mild strikes, how supplies really feel, how the bar features, how individuals collect, and the way the constructing turns into a part of the park relatively than separate from it.
Thanks!
Thanks for contemplating Onyx at The Protect for Construct-Outs of Espresso. This undertaking represents a significant new chapter for Onyx Espresso Lab, and we’re grateful for the chance to share the intention, collaboration, and care behind the area.
The 2026 Construct-outs of Espresso is offered by DONA, Pacific Barista Collection, and La Marzocco.
