Nestled inside the easy-to-miss Wine Country Plaza mall, the family-owned and operated Cafecito Lounge prides itself on providing coffee, community, and comfort.
Cafecito Lounge is the brainchild of Lisbeth Rivera, who opened the Lodi cafe in February 2023 with the support and business know-how of her husband, Daniel Jimenez.
One of several wall decorations adorning the shop reads: “It was all a dream.”
“I woke up and I told him, ‘I had a dream we opened up a coffee shop,’” said Rivera.
Jimenez encouraged her to turn that dream into a reality.
“Why not just make it happen?” she recounted him asking.
Soon after her dream, the duo chose a spot on West Kettleman Lane, strategically far from downtown Lodi. Instead, they wanted to find a bigger space where they could set themselves apart from the variety of other local coffee shops while providing room for people to relax.
Jimenez, who has several years of experience running a residential/commercial landscaping business, sees his role as collaborating more on the financial aspects of the shop.
“You have to make a profit to stay in business…we try to maximize what we can without sacrificing quality. For both of us quality is the most important thing.” said Jimenez.
Rivera takes special care in sourcing her coffee beans, matcha, and other essential ingredients from vendors that she feels are the “best of the best.”
“You have a certain budget, and then you end up definitely going over budget all the time,” said Rivera.
While navigating the obstacles that new business owners often face, in mid-2023 – only six months after opening their doors – Cafecito Lounge would face an even greater trial: an overnight burglary.
“We left money in the register, plus little things that we had left behind. And I think the more damage was having to close and the damage to our window, which ends up being more costly,” said Rivera.
In March of the following year, Cafecito would be broken into again, along with several other nearby businesses.
“That one brought more of our community together,” Rivera said, as the multiple break-ins led to coverage by ABC News 10, which she believes helped focus police attention on pursuing the thief.
Despite these challenges, Cafecito Lounge has managed to make a mark on the local coffee scene with their distinctly Mexican-American concoctions. One countertop decoration succinctly labels the cafe as “American grown with Mexican roots.”
“A lot of Mexican recipes we have incorporated into our coffees, we wanted to be able to bring that to our community,” Rivera said.
These recipes include the popular Mexican mocha, the cafe de olla, several horchata-infused drinks, and the como la flor latte, a vanilla-rose flavored drink topped with rose petals that gets its name from the 1992 song by the late Mexican-American artist Selena.
“As a woman, and owning businesses, I feel we have to push more to get what we want to accomplish so [Selena] has always been a big inspiration for me.” Rivera explained.
Both Lodi natives, Rivera and Jimenez aim to make their cafe feel homely to their customers, a significant number of whom are repeat customers.
“I come here almost every single day,” says Edith Diez, a regular.
“If they come in person and they taste it … your best marketing is someone telling their friend, telling their sister, their brother, their mom,” said Jimenez.
Now, three years after realizing her dream, Rivera has big plans for Cafecito Lounge.
“We do want to open another location,” Rivera said.
Jimenez’s vision is larger in scope.
“I plan on opening a few more,” he said.
