Ulysses Romero followed in his father's footsteps—by striking out on his own.
His father, a Mexican immigrant, co-founded a tortilla factory. A generation later, the younger Romero founded Tierra Mía coffeehouses in Los Angeles County—places that feature drinks such as mocha mexicano, coco loco latte, horchata frappe and mojito mint tea lemonade. Tierra Mia sources its coffee beans from premium purveyors Intelligentsia and Stumptown. Along with the leather couches and granite counters of an upscale café, his shops feature wrought iron fixtures, photos of coffee farms, and a soundtrack of Latino genres including rock en español.
Located in working-class neighborhoods, Tierra Mia's two shops and a library coffee bar offer an alternative to hole-in-the-wall taquerias and fast-food joints. The first café opened in March 2008 in South Gate, an industrial city about 11 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles.
On a recent Sunday afternoon, the shop bustled with families, students studying and friends meeting up. "Some people ask 'why are you here, you should be in West L.A.,' implying we should go where people have money," says Romero, 33. "We fill the need here, if people want to do something nice. Working-class people still want to go out. . . . They can have a sense of pride, patronizing a place like ours."
As a teenager, Romero worked at the family factory, packing tortillas and loading trucks. After undergraduate studies at UC-Berkeley, a job with a nonprofit and stints of consulting work, he headed to Stanford's Business School, where its many entrepreneurs inspired him. "It got me to see the purpose and meaning of doing your own thing."
He considered organizing investors to buy a tortilla manufacturing company—to bring professional management to a typical mom-and-pop operation—but eventually decided on coffeehouses. He apprenticed himself to Martin Diedrich, a coffeehouse pioneer in Southern California, as a barista.
Romero created drink recipes in his parents' kitchen (drawing on familiar flavors of his culture such as cinnamon, coconut and rice), wrote a business plan and raised capital from investors. He hopes to open more coffeehouses in Southern California and expand to the Bay Area. His philosophy, past and present: "El mejor café viene de tierra mía." The best coffee comes from my land.
