Cooking Up Conversation: Page Pressley and Dez Rodriguez of San Antonio’s The Newstand

Names: Page Pressley and Dez Rodriguez

Job: Co-founders of The Newstand

Years in food service: 26

Big Impact: A passion project for the longtime local couple, The Newstand works overtime as a downtown coffee shop, wine stop, work-from-home oasis and thrift store. Since opening in May 2024, The Newstand has evolved into a caffeinated community hub with rotating events, chef pop-ups, DJ sessions and more.

Money Quote: “I don’t think we ever view anything as a success; only an opportunity to learn and improve upon our products, services, experience and space in an ongoing effort to create engaging and ever-evolving ways to bring the community together. We are grateful to have a team that shares these values and is also focused on growing their skills with us. None of it happens without them.”

How did you two come up with the concept of The Newstand?

Pressley: It was winter of 2023. We were just trying to spend time together one night, so we were walking along the river, when Dez came up with the idea to open up a coffee shop. It’s something we always did together as a couple — drink coffee – and at the time, I was still at the Pearl, and she was a speech pathologist, so we needed to figure out, OK, is this real?

How did you decide on the location at the Jefferson Bank building on Broadway?

Rodriguez: We started assessing locations after deciding that we really wanted to go through with the coffee shop idea. We briefly flirted with the idea of renting a house to open the shop, but then after we realized the logistics of a house might be too much, we started zeroing in on commercial real estate in our neighborhood. That’s how we ended up on the edge of Government Hill.

As soon as we walked into the space that ultimately became The Newstand, the way the natural light hit, we knew, “This is it.” We went from signing the lease to designing the space and getting all the permits done in less than six months. We opened officially on May 7, 2024.

How did you come up with the name The Newstand?

Pressley: One of my earliest memories was a coffee shop in Santa Fe called The Downtown Subscription. Also, we both are people that actively enjoy physical media, there’s something about it that makes me engage with it. I can’t give you a specific reason why I called it the Newstand, but it just made sense.

What was it like opening up a business as a couple?

Pressley: I think we both augment each other’s strengths and weaknesses really well. It was always something we knew we wanted to do, but we didn’t know how we were going to do it until the space existed. Dez has a superpower of building relationships with strangers. She studied speech pathology and was a competitive athlete. I come from a hospitality/food and beverage background, so the combination of both of our unique talents, abilities, skillsets and strengths has made the shop what it is today.

Rodriguez: One of the coolest things about it — when you go into business with your partner, we can say it has made us a better couple. It took us actively choosing each other for this to work. Coming back to that shared vision has been super grounding.

What made you want to add the in-store thrift shop, the Obituaries?

Rodriguez: The Obituaries section is another expression of something we love — we love going to find places that are off the beaten path and discover hidden gems, things that we feel like people need to see, an authentic reflection of our time together.

Would you two ever want to open a second location?

Pressley: I don’t know if San Antonio needs another location. Frankly, it took so much love and care from our part, trying to do more than one would feel inauthentic, but we definitely have ideas for other concepts.

Why coffee?

Pressley: The great thing about doing coffee [is] it’s open to everyone economically. I’ve spent most of my career in fine dining, but you meet people from all walks of life at a coffee shops, spaces that serve as a means for people from all walks of life meeting other people that they may have never met before otherwise. Seeing those organic offshoots happening here, that’s been a gift, just seeing customers engage with each other at the Newstand.

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This article appears in May 29 – Jun 11, 2025.