After a two-year hiatus, Black Wall Street Liquid Lounge is back with a new location in north Tulsa.
The coffee shop, which was a staple on Greenwood Avenue from 2019 to 2024, officially reopened June 21 on the first floor of the Greenwood Entrepreneurship at Moton, 609 E. Pine St.
Before opening the lounge in 2019, Guy Troupe and his wife had an idea to create a community space for Black Tulsans. He said their original tagline was “Beyond Coffee, the Culture.”
“We were just trying to look at how we move in the world as people with melanin in their skin… and just give it to our community as a safe space,” Troupe, a Booker T. Washington alumnus, told The Eagle. “So we ran it more like a barber shop or a beauty shop.”
The new menu features traditional coffee, espressos and teas alongside signature drinks like “Vanilla Lemonade” and “Matcha Frozen Blend.”
Troupe’s niece, Amaris Morrison, is a 16-year-old student at Booker T. She has fond memories of hanging out at the old shop.
“Everyone was very comfortable around each other. There was always a certain mood of the day, whether it was music, merch, all of that. So I think it was just very community (centric),” Morrison said.
Despite its popularity, Troupe said its original location was not an ideal place for growth, which is why he made the move to the entrepreneurship building with the assistance of Tulsa Economic Development Corporation.
“Where it was located on Greenwood, it’s not great in terms of drive-by traffic, it’s a destination,” Troupe said. “So you’ll get tourists, but it’s not some place that a local would typically hit.”
The former Moton Hospital-turned-entrepreneurship building also houses Black Tech Street’s Greenwood Cyber + AI Lab on its second and third floors. The goal is to make AI technology accessible for people in the north Tulsa area.
Troupe said this new version of the Liquid Lounge will play into its tech and educational environment. Alongside Morrison, Troupe hired several high school students to run the coffee shop while he guides them through the process.
“As much as I don’t like to say, we (teenagers) don’t like to listen to older people,” BraiLee Pickens, a 16-year-old barista said.
When Pickens first heard of the job, she hounded Troupe’s email until he finally contacted her. She said she’s enjoying working with people her age but finds stability with Troupe leading the pack.
“If an order is coming from someone that you feel closer to or you are more connected to, then I feel like it’s a lot easier to manage the workflow and just have that positivity flowing through,” she said.
The new space features a dining area where people can work while enjoying their coffee. It also features a small lounge area with a green couch.
Black Wall Street Liquid Lounge is open Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.
Ismael Lele is a Report for America corps member and writes about business in Tulsa for The Oklahoma Eagle. Your donation to match our Report for America grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting this link.
