Kohiko Coffee House is a Japanese-inspired specialty coffee shop in Sugar Land, TX, created to bring together specialty coffee, Japanese-hospitality, and meaningful community. Kohiko serves customers looking for high-quality coffee and matcha in a warm, welcoming space with a strong sense of identity and culture. The menu draws inspiration from Japanese flavors and ingredients, while the brand is rooted in the founders’ heritage and their belief that hospitality should feel personal.

More than anything, Kohiko exists to make people feel cared for and connected. The goal is for every guest to leave thinking, “You do that pretty good” which is a saying from the founders’ Grandpa Roy that has become a reminder to do things with care, pride, and heart.

Krystal Tanaka is the co-founder and CEO of Kohiko Coffee House, a Japanese-inspired specialty coffee shop based in Sugar Land, TX. She studied economics at UT Austin, spent nearly a decade in tech in roles spanning marketing to product strategy, and later earned her MBA from Rice University. Long before Kohiko, she also spent more than seven years working in food and beverage, where she first fell in love with hospitality. Over the past decade, Krystal has also spent more time connecting with her Japanese-Peruvian roots and learning to fully embrace her heritage.

Shortly after the loss of an incredibly influential person in their lives, Krystal’s brother, Nicolas Tanaka, approached her with a crazy idea: build a specialty coffee shop in honor of their Grandpa Roy, rooted in Japanese hospitality and their family’s heritage.

Today, Krystal is also a mom, balancing entrepreneurship, leadership, and family while growing Kohiko intentionally. She is focused on building a strong team and brand, expanding thoughtfully, and exploring what the next chapter of Kohiko can look like without losing the heart behind why it started.