The Dallas branch of Houndstooth Coffee isn't open for business yet, but you can get a taste of its java at a series of pop-ups around town. The first one is scheduled for April 12.

Look for a Houndstooth espresso machine to take up residence at Transit Bikes on Greenville Avenue from 11 am to 3 pm, serving cappuccinos, lattes and regular brewed coffee. Houndstooth owner Sean Henry says the goal is to get acquainted and promote local businesses.

"We hope it'll give people a chance to get to know us and also to know about other local businesses," he says. "We've done it in Austin several times. We think of it as a good collaboration."

As for the Henderson Avenue spot, Houndstooth finally acquired the proper permits, and renovation is moving forward on the former Pearl Cup space.

"Taking over a space that someone else was in means that you don't know a lot of what's happening and what needs to be fixed until you actually get in there," Henry says. "The floor plan is the same as well as the location of the bathrooms. But we want to make sure it feels quite a bit different from before."

They're also doing some coffee geek activities, including the installation of filtering devices.

"We're re-running all of the water lines the way we want them," he says. "We'll have separate lines to make sure we have filtered water for certain machines. We go to pretty extensive lengths to make sure our water is top-notch."

Opening dates are never reliable, but the current target is July 1. "But we won't open before we're ready," he says.

In the meantime, they have more pop-ups in the works, including collaborations with a few businesses on Lower Greenville that they'll announce on Twitter.