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Palo Alto’s California Avenue has a new cafe inspired by and named after the street it resides on.
“We love this street very much,” said co-owner Nina Nguyen, who lives just one block from California Avenue. “During the pandemic, (my husband) and I every single night walked on this street and thought, ‘How can we support every single business on this street?’”
California Cafe co-owners Nguyen and Mirco Horst have lived in Palo Alto for nearly two decades and have owned personal training gym Palo Alto Fit for the past 10 years. After operating their business from multiple Palo Alto locations, Nguyen and Horst bought a permanent home for their gym in June 2023 at 310 and 320 California Ave., which currently houses Performance Gaines and formerly housed Printers Cafe – a California Avenue mainstay for over three decades that closed in April.
“We really kept everything the same (as Printers), just the color of the paint is a little lighter, and changed the light bulbs, and cleaning, a lot of cleaning, three months of cleaning,” Nguyen said. “We would like to be as welcoming and supportive as Printers Cafe used to be.”
California Cafe opened Aug. 24, serving typical coffee shop fare like lattes, cappuccinos, matcha, cold brew, Americanos and mochas, as well as two protein shakes. For food, the cafe offers pastries and avocado toast and plans to slowly roll out more offerings like sandwiches, paninis, salads, bowls and possibly weekend brunch. California Cafe is also hosting pour-over, espresso and latte art classes and plans to introduce a beer and wine menu later on.
“We like to keep everything very California,” Horst said. “It’s just what people enjoy in California, local sourced, and there’s so many great products here.”
Born and raised in Switzerland, Horst has had a longtime interest in coffee, which he describes as “an art and a science.” California Cafe is Horst’s debut in the food and beverage industry, and he said supporting other Bay Area businesses is a high priority. The cafe’s coffee is from San Francisco coffee roaster Sightglass Coffee and the chocolate is from San Francisco chocolatier Dandelion Chocolate.
While California Cafe and Palo Alto Fit are two separate businesses, the planned remodel of Palo Alto Fit may temporarily close or limit the hours of California Cafe sometime next year.
“We didn’t want to keep the space empty,” Horst said. “People told us, ‘Don’t keep it empty for another year.’ It’s just not good for the street.”
Until the permanent buildout is complete next year, California Cafe is operating as a pop-up, and the business welcomes feedback from the community on how to improve. In fact, the Muscle Up protein shake (made with banana, almond butter, chocolate plant-based protein, cinnamon and soy milk) was a request from a Palo Alto Fit client.
California Cafe doesn’t offer Wi-Fi, which is an intentional choice to foster conversations.
“It’s so nice to look someone in the eyes, smile and just have a good memory together,” Nguyen said. “Same thing with food. Let’s catch up, have a good bite and share about your day.”
California Cafe, 320 California Ave., Palo Alto; 650-613-3844, Instagram: @californiacafepaloalto. Open Tuesday to Sunday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
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