MINNEAPOLIS — Bichota Coffee baristas were already busy steaming drinks and serving pastries Friday morning, and it was only the first day.
Owner C Terrence Anderson decided to start with a soft opening, meaning the brick-and-mortar coffee shop will operate on limited hours over the next week. He says employees will gather customer feedback on the menu during this time.
Anderson is otherwise director of community-based research at the University of Minnesota's Center for Urban and Regional Affairs. This year, he won the G. Thomas Kingsley Impact Award for his work on the Blue Line Extension Anti-Displacement Community Prosperity Program.
Although he's lived in Minneapolis for nearly a decade, he grew up in California and his roots are in Puerto Rico.
"'Bichota' is one of those words in Spanish that maybe needs like a paragraph, but I think the way that we translate it is 'finding confidence in yourself in a place not meant for you,'" Anderson said.
To honor that, Anderson says Bichota solely sells high-quality coffee from farms where workers are paid and treated well.
"Specialty coffee or coffee in general comes from black and brown communities around the Equator," Anderson said. "What we like to say, 'Coffee and rhythm with its origins,' is that we're trying to be really in tune with the places that coffee come from and where those people are here in Minneapolis."
Meanwhile, the Mexican pastries for sale come from Marissa's Bakery in Minneapolis' Whittier neighborhood.
That intentional value of history and culture also extends outside Bichota's doors, as the new coffee shop is located in George Floyd Square. Customers say it brings new energy to the memorialized area.
"Once you step outside there's this reminder of what George Floyd Square is," customer Hector Mendoza said. "This coffee shop I think encapsulates that and embodies that in a very very graceful way."
The soft opening hours are 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. daily through Saturday, Oct. 12. Closing hours will extend to 5:30 p.m. starting Sunday, Oct. 13. The grand opening will be that day, complete with a ribbon cutting ceremony.
Located at 3740 Chicago Avenue, the building is right across the street from where Floyd was killed and is next door to the People's Way, the former Speedway gas station being redeveloped into a community-focused site.
Bichota is the third cafe to open within the same building following the 2020 riots. Tea Street Cafe permanently closed in 2021 and Onyx Coffeehouse permanently closed last year.
"Every day since we've been putting this project together, neighbors will be knocking on the door and the window saying, 'We can't wait till you're here, we want this in the neighborhood,' things like that," Anderson said.