Made in the 956: Betuza's Coffee Cafe
You've likely heard the saying home is where the heart is, but for Beatrice and Brett, home is where the coffee is. This is Betuzas Coffee Cafe in Elsa.
"The idea for the café is we wanted to be closer to family, and we wanted to open a spot here where Betty's from. We wanted a warm, inviting place that was also modern," Brett said. "We think it feels homey, but open enough that you stay a while."
"We just opened in December, so it's been a whole 10 months. We moved back a year ago. It's been neat to see the Valley grow," Beatrice said. "It's been rewarding to also be around family and to see the business grow."
The couple comes from a family of business owners.
Tie that in with Brett's culinary background and they've got a recipe for success.
"People seem to really enjoy the difference of foods because there's a lot of Hispanic community, a lot of Hispanic restaurants. It's nice to have something a little bit different in town, and people enjoy their coffee," Beatrice said. "During the summer, the strawberry lemonade was really popular. For food, the Chilaquiles have been very popular. You don't get the food aspect with coffee shops down here, so it's been a pleasant surprise, we think people like the variety in the food. As far as in the winter months, we have the campfire drink we have which has chocolate Abuelita, so people were all about that in the colder months."
Another thing that sets this place apart is the shopping.
"Well, Betty's got a bit of a shopping thing. So she likes to shop, so it's a nice variety. Now she gets to pick things out that she likes, and she actually sells them, so it actually makes us some money," Brett said.
"I do online, some things, my mom gets from local places, so it's kind of like a family effort per se. Not everything is from the same place. It's just a little bit of everything and I just pick what I think would sell well and people like, what I would like for my children, for my family and just go from there," Beatrice said.
When you walk in, you'll notice the 'Cafecito, please' wall of mugs. It started out as mugs from their families' trips.
"Now, we're even getting the community involved, where people bring their cups, and we have them sign the bottom of it, and we hang them up. I got more hooks in the back, so we'll continue hanging them up until that wall is full," Brett said.
The couple plans to keep filling up your coffee cups for years to come.
"We want to continue to grow the menu, to grow the drinks, and know what we're doing in this business at 100 percent. So every day brings a new challenge for us and new hurdles, but we get feed back, and we try to include everything we learn on a day-to-day basis that we hope in the future will open a second location? Most definitely," Beatrice said.
Betuzas Coffee Cafe, Made In The 956.