HuÍtzitzilin Cafe combines coffee, bagels and the feeling of home

Stepping into the quaint 200-square-foot cafe, it’s easy to feel at home. There are toys for kids along the front wall and a corner filled with art that could be hanging over your own fireplace.

These were deliberate design choices on the part of owner Martha Roque.

“I created this space just so people can feel at home, especially the people that can’t go back, and also for the people that love going to Mexico,” she says.

HuÍtzitzilin Cafe on Jefferson Boulevard is in remembrance of Roque’s time in Mexico and her loved ones.

“I wanted to honor (my grandma) and my loved ones that are no longer here, which is where the name comes to be with HuÍtzitzilin,” she says. “The story behind HuÍtzitzilin is that it’s a messenger from a loved one that’s no longer here. And so I wanted something that had meaning … I didn’t want a catchy name. I wanted something that had a meaningful definition.”

Above the front entrance of the shop, a mural depicts a hummingbird (which is also a translation of HuÍtzitzilin) and includes her grandma’s favorite flowers and marigolds to represent Day of the Dead.

As a native of Guanajuato, Roque came to the United States at 3 years old and has spent most of her life in Oak Cliff. She returned to Mexico to live with her grandparents for three years while she was a teenager, where she learned how to cook with her grandma.

“When I came back, I brought that from her, because she was very good at cooking, and I love mixing flavors and stuff like that,” she says.

Roque went on to graduate from South Oak Cliff High School and worked in the fast food industry until she transitioned into working in multifamily housing.

She says after having a baby young, she wanted a job that would be best for her daughter and for herself. Roque quickly flourished in her new career moving up from a leasing agent to property manager to supervisor.

As much as Roque excelled with her career, she still felt dissatisfied in her former corporate role. She quit that job and traveled to Mexico to take courses on coffee to be able to bring something that could remind her customers of home.

And then she opened HuÍtzitzilin Cafe last year.

“I wanted something that was mine. I wanted something that I wasn’t knowledgeable about because … I wanted to take the initiative of doing something that I don’t know how it’s going to work out, but I’m going to try,” she says. “And something that I can say, ‘I did it myself.’ Nobody showed me, nobody guided me. I mean, it was me sitting here everyday manifesting it.”

Today, Roque has returned to a new role in the multifamily industry, and with her new company, she is able to continue her work with HuÍtzitzilin Cafe.

Since learning the skills in Mexico, she has continued to develop new drinks for the HuÍtzitzilin Cafe menu, often with housemade ingredients like the syrup used in the Cafe De Olla Latte ($7.75-$8.75) made with piloncillo, cinnamon, cloves and espresso.

Some of the most popular drinks are the Strawberry Matcha ($7.75-$8.75) and the Cookie Butter Latte ($7.75-$8.75) with brown sugar, butter, espresso and a Biscoff cookie on top.

Roque is always experimenting with new syrups and creating new flavors. Some of the ones that don’t make the menu are in the shop for a limited time, such as with some recent film fundraiser themed drinks and a custom drink she made when she held an event after hours for a business’ anniversary celebration.

For food, HuÍtzitzilin Cafe carries an array of locally made pastries and sweets in addition to their bagel menu. One of the big sellers is the Egg & Earth Bagel ($8), which comes with avocado, boiled egg and sesame seeds toasted on a plain bagel.

Each bagel sandwich option (minus the Banana Cabin Bagel available for $6) comes with chimichurri sauce from Guanajuato, adding an oily, earthy, herb flavor to each bite and another reminder of home.

“I wanted to also have my family be proud of what I did and my kids,” she says, “and it’s an accomplishment, not just for me, but to my family, to the Latino community as well.”

HuÍtzitzilin Cafe, 1836 W. Jefferson Blvd. #120, 214.484.3714, instagram.com/huitzitzilincafe