When Coupa Cafe opened in downtown Palo Alto in 2004, it introduced a generation of Stanford University students to the spicy cocoa and savory arepas the Coupal family fondly remembered from Venezuela.
Stanford students Jean Paul (’07), Camelia (’05) and Yasmine (’03) had all grown up in Venezuela, and when they traveled en masse to Palo Alto for school, mom Nancy tagged along. Nancy decided to open the coffeehouse on Ramona Street as her kids completed their undergraduate studies, and Jean Paul and Camelia found themselves sucked into the family business, painting walls in the new cafe between classes and ultimately working for what became a growing local coffee enterprise.
Coupa Cafe’s newest location, opening in October at 4750 El Camino Real in Los Altos, a block from Whole Foods Market, continues the coffee shop’s Stanford connection. It will be the newest tenant in Colonnade Los Altos, the Stanford-owned housing development with ground-floor retail space.
Over the past 10 years, the Coupals have opened locations dotted across Stanford’s campus in addition to a second downtown Palo Alto shop, on Lytton Avenue.
“They have a lot of faculty and staff that are living in the building, and they thought it would be so cool to make the people living in the Colonnade feel like they are already somewhat on campus,” Jean Paul said of their latest location. “Coupa helps achieve that.”
The Coupal family roasts its own beans and serves a full breakfast and lunch menu featuring Venezuelan specialties such as arepas, tequeños and empanaditas in addition to classic fare such as omelets, pancakes, sandwiches and salads. The cafe also will serve pabellón criollo, a national dish of shredded beef, black beans, white rice and plaintains.
“Tequeños are a very traditional Venezuelan kind of appetizer that you have at any party or social event. We handmake the dough and roll it around cheese,” Camelia explained.
Nancy added that “tequeños are something that in Venezuela you always serve at parties – or it’s not a party!”
The spicy hot cocoa and spicy mocha – a signature of Coupa Cafe – combines chocolate, coffee and a bit of chili-pepper spice for “a nice kick,” as Camelia put it.
The new location, next door to The Vitamin Shoppe and Barre3, will include a full kitchen, currently under construction, and outdoor seating. The Colonnade building includes underground parking for retail customers.
“Some people may go to Coupa to have lunch and go to Whole Foods – it’s convenient if you have to go to the market,” Jean Paul observed of the cafe’s new location.
The Coupals first went to see the space over a year ago, but the lease and permitting process was, as is usually the case in this area, not speedy. The storefronts just north of the new cafe remain empty for now. The multistory apartment housing above the cafe features 176 one- and two-bedroom units renting for $2,500 to $4,200.
For more information, visit coupacafe.com.
