Pictured: The Houston Run Hitch serves up refreshing treats this summer. Photo by Wyatt Kostygan.

The Houston Run Hitch draws an eclectic bunch of locals and tourists, equally at home.

The stylish mobile coffee and matcha café occupies a gravel lot in Pinecraft, surrounded by modest homes, string lights stretching to a wide oak. Busy afternoons fill pastel café tables with fitness regulars, young parents and Amish community members.

“My vision was to be somewhere like this,” says Kayla Fisher, twenty-five, whose first memories of Sarasota include biking this very neighborhood, where her grandparents once lived. Her entrepreneurial mindset began in Gap, Pennsylvania, at the Fisher family’s cafe, The Houston, where she learned the business from her parents, Steve and Ruth. In 2024, the Hitch launched as its mobile extension, until the youngest Fisher branched out. Now it’s “a family affair”: her parents co-own from up north, handling business and legal, while Fisher gets to “come up with pretty little drinks.” Those drinks carry family fingerprints: the Brown Sugar Bronco latte features her dad’s tapped maple syrup, the Salty Stallion her mom’s caramel sauce. Meanwhile, older sister Veronica runs Instagram.

Fisher’s right about pretty, from the Strawberry Pop-Tart Latte topped with rainbow sprinkles to blue spirulina bowls heaped with bananas, coconut and granola. Smoothies are swirled: Lido Lagoon blueberry blue; Coco Loco mango yellow. Fisher prioritizes fresh, locally sourced—and cute.

“Some days we feel like we’re bursting at the seams in our little pink trailer,” Fisher admits. Expansion looms: a pop-up cart for events and markets, possibly a second trailer or brick-and-mortar. The goal, she’s clear, is to “put roots down and grow those connections with people who will be here year-round.”

Beyond Pinecraft, social media comprises the Hitch’s bread-n-butter, drawing visitors via TikTok or Insta who “come because they saw a video on their For You page.” Proof is in the proliferation of selfies and merch sales. “It’s an honor to be here,” Fisher says. I can’t wait to serve a lot more coffee.”

The Houston Run Hitch, Mon-Thurs, 7am-7pm, Fri-Sat 7am-10pm, 1108 Kaufman Ave, Sarasota, thehoustonrunhitch.com

Pictured: The Houston Run Hitch serves up refreshing treats this summer. Photo by Wyatt Kostygan.