Café Don Juan brings Puerto Rican coffee to Winter Park
After almost 10 years delighting the palate of Puerto Ricans, Café Don Juan opened its doors in Winter Park, with a soft launch on Monday.
The new establishment will offer visitors various dishes and experiences, in addition to coffee, said Juan Pablo Torres Rodríguez, owner of Café Don Juan.
With the opening of the new location and under the slogan “Live the culture of good coffee,” Torres Rodríguez said he hopes to “recover that Puerto Rican market that had to go to Florida for different reasons [so they] can have a little piece of Puerto Rico at Café Don Juan.”
As the name suggests, visitors will be able to enjoy coffee, but they will also find tea, popular Puerto Rican quesitos, sandwiches, salads and more. Café Don Juan is at 1100 S Orlando Ave. in Winter Park.
“We want people to feel comfortable, the place looks super cozy in terms of design, it has many of the details that are in Puerto Rico,” said Axel Otero Crescioni, operating partner of Café Don Juan.
“There is a lot of expectation within the market and we hope to meet that expectation of what we are going to offer,” he said acknowledging that many of the customers might have visited one or more of the seven locations that Café Don Juan has in Puerto Rico.
Those who already know the chain will probably find similarities between the establishments located on the island and the one in Winter Park. Torres Rodríguez mentioned that the concept “remains as it is with very few variations.”
In order to open the space in Winter Park, the partners said they have made an investment close to $750,000.
“We have invested, beyond money, a lot of time,” Torres Rodríguez. He said they spent a year acquiring permits, conceptualizing the business model a d between the construction and now training phase.
“We have invested a lot of time, a lot of energy because we are happy, we are very committed to the Winter Park community and to the Puerto Rican community to bring a pleasant concept, a pleasant concept, we have not skimped on that. We have invested to conceptualize every detail so that nothing is left to us and that we can give them a great reception in our premises,” Torres Rodríguez said.
[subhead]Friends to business partners[/subhead]
Torres Rodríguez and Otero Crescioni said they have worked hard to have a successful opening of what they hope will be the first of several Café Don Juan locations in Florida.
The businessmen met three years ago at a coffee convention. Otero Crescioni had no previous experience related to coffee, contrary to Torres Rodríguez who has been in the industry for more than 15 years.
Opening in Florida is something they say “was always on my agenda, in my main idea for Café Don Juan,” Torres Rodríguez said. “I always wanted to get to Florida because I knew there was a great need for concepts that would elevate that experience in terms of coffee.”
Otero Crescioni said he learned about Café Don Juan as a client and confessed that he never thought that he would become a partner of the brand.
After agreeing with Torres Rodríguez, they began to shape what he describes as “an idea that had been around for many years, my desire to export a concept of Puerto Rican coffee to the United States.”
Torres Rodríguez said they weren’t necessarily looking to expand in Winter Park, but after analyzing various locations, they believed it was the perfect match for their first Florida location.
With the selection of this city, the entrepreneurs are setting themselves apart from other Puerto Rican companies that arrive in Florida and establish themselves mainly in cities such as Kissimmee and Orlando.
“I am a faithful believer in the synergy that occurs in small cities like Winter Park and being able to empower ourselves with the theme of coffee, develop different events, activities where those who live in Winter Park can enjoy it,” said Torres Rodríguez.
They added that even though they are known as a Puerto Rican brand, they want to welcome anyone that is interested in good coffee and food. During its initial stage they will have limited working hours during the daytime, but said they plan to hire 20 to 25 employees to remain open until 10 p.m.
“There is variety on the menu for all palates, from the sweet side, we have things low in sugar, just like in the food, there are both vegetarian dishes and there are meat dishes,” said Otero Crescioni.
They businessmen said they are ready to begin the search for a second Florida location.
“We have countless events and things that we’ll do after the opening to promote the brand and the coffee industry so that beyond being a place where you can go to eat and drink coffee, you can also go to learn,” Torres Rodríguez concluded.