There are few places in which a 20-feet-line is held just for a cup of coffee on a Monday evening, one of those places is Friend’s Café. This espresso bar is the go-to place of many “mayagüezanos” as well for other visitors from all around the island, loyal customers who keep coming back for the amazing hot drinks that come from the local-grown coffee beans of Puerto Rico.
Apart from the most-known location in downtown Mayagüez, Friend’s also counts with a shop in the tourist area of “La Parguera”- Lajas- and is currently working on the opening for the third location in Mayagüez “Paseo el Litoral”.
When sitting down with head barista Hernán Rodríguez Ramírez, HC-UPRM got a glimpse of this still-growing local coffee business. “The idea for this business surfaced when Wilmer came back from his honeymoon in Hawaii and suddenly decided he wanted to open a coffee shop. He pitched it to me and I said: Okay, let’s do it,” said Rodríguez Ramírez.
Rodríguez has been part of the Friend’s Café family since the local coffee business began in the heart of the neighbor town of Cabo Rojo in 2008. “I really didn’t know how much the business had grown until other baristas started looking up to us because we were one of the firsts coffee business to spread the barista and espresso culture,” recalled the Hernán Rodríguez Ramírez.
With the motivation to keep the growth and foment the education on coffee culture, the new shop at “Paseo del Litoral” will have a variety of coffee confection methods like: chemex, siphon, and of course, the beloved espresso. When asked about what excited him the most of this new opening, Hernán Rodríguez Ramírez responded: “Besides the espresso machine I’ll get to use (La Marzocco), I’m excited for getting to play around with the different confection methods we’ll have.” Friend’s also has plans to take this opportunity of the new location to open a barista training course.
Thanks to the hard work of owner -Wilmer Ramírez- and head barista -Hernán Rodríguez Ramírez-, Friend’s has come to be known as the no.1 chosen espresso bar in Mayagüez. With the up-coming opening of their third store, Friend’s Café continues on expanding as a strong local business. “Our goal is to be able to give the costumer a top quality cup of coffee at an affordable price,” told Rodríguez.
For the operation hours of “Plaza Colón” (Mayagüez) and “Plaza San Pedro” (Lajas) stores, visit Friend’s Café Facebook page, as well as their Instagram account.