Corona Cafe Interview!

Brandon Gonzalez and his wife, Juliana, took time from prepping the new Corona Cafe to answer some questions from Coffee Hound:

1. What will be available at Corona Cafe to drink and eat?

Corona Cafe will offer coffee, espresso and espresso drinks, tea, bottled beverages (non-alcoholic) and food from local vendors. The Green Cart will provide our sandwiches and wraps, including several vegan and veggie options. We'll also carry empanadas and sliced pizza from La Boca bakery, just east of us by a mile and a half. Breakfast pastries will also be available.

2. How long has Corona Cafe been in the works, and where did the idea come from?

Juliana and I dreamed up Corona Cafe this past April, during happy hour at the Nomad. We have always talked about opening up our own business and all signs pointed to this location.

3. Do you live in Windsor Park? And if so, how long have you been here?

Juliana and I live just east of Windsor Park in Pecan Springs. Juliana and I have lived in Austin since 2001.

4. Have you ever run or owned a coffee shop or restaurant before?

Corona Cafe is our first coffee shop.

5. A lot of people have talked for a long, long time about how WP needs a coffee shop -- do you feel any pressure?

Corona Cafe is looking forward to being another business in the neighborhood where neighbors can get together and socialize. Right now, folks in the 78723 travel over two miles to the nearest locally owned coffee shop.

6. Is this a sole effort by you and your wife, or does Corona Cafe have other investors/owners?

Juliana and I are the sole owners of Corona Cafe. We received a small business loan to finance the start up, and have lots of support from talented friends and neighbors.

7. What's your favorite coffee drink?

Brandon's favorite drink is an Americano with a little cream. Juliana just drinks "regular coffee" but likes the occasional mocha.

So here's your long-awaited coffee shop, Windsor Park: support, partake, and enjoy.

Even before we moved to WP in 2004, people said it was a cool neighborhood, with just one problem: there wasn't a coffee shop. So apart from the fact that WP is now a cool neighborhood with a coffee shop, this is a significant moment. Why? Let's review:

One: If you have any complaints about the Nomad, you should note that this coffee shop idea sprouted at a bar--if Brandon & Juliana didn't have the Nomad to go to, you might not be getting your coffee this soon.

Two: The Nomad is anchoring new local business development -- and doing it in a way that Mueller hasn't (and if the recession continues, probably never well). It's a triumph for local business all around. There's just no reason to accept the argument that "WP doesn't need to build it, because Mueller will have it." Sure, Mueller may get this or that -- just in time for your kids, not you, to enjoy them.

Three: Note that Brandon & Juliana successfully got a small business loan, which means that someone recognized the good business possibilities on WP's side of the highway, which means that the signs may be good for other business investment over here.

Four: This effort combines both local capital + community, not just capital, and not just community. Call me a Clinton-era Third Wayista, but that seems like a winning combination, at least in this instance. So much of the bad development news in Austin over the last couple years has demonstrated the complete domination of community by capital (e.g., Las Manitas, the Domain, the Broken Spoke) and the refusal by community to admit the usefulness of capital (e.g., complaints about gentrification). Let's not just wish Corona Cafe a happy stay, let's make it happy.

Five: Maybe it's time to close down this blog -- what rumors will I track? Maybe that bakery rumor...

Congratulations, Windsor Park

This from the comments:

Corona Cafe will be opening in mid-January just three doors down from Nomad at 1215-B Corona Dr. We'll be open early mornings (7am-7pm). Looking forward to it!

I'll reserve commentary for later, but I will say this: Congratulations, WP. You're growing up. (If you're the Corona Cafe owner/s and would like to do a little interview for posting here, get in touch at michaelerard except with a dot after michael and the at sign plus gmailcom with a dot after gmail).

Corona Coffee

It appears to be true.

WP Gets a Coffee Shop!

Well-peeled neighborhood eyes spy a sign next to the tattoo parlor, "Corona Coffee."

Can someone write in with details?

Posting Rules on WPNA List

As I mentioned earlier, I'm on an extended mental health break from the Windsor Park list, so I don't know what's been posted about the Nomad. But it sounds as if posts making unsubstantiated claims about illegal activity are making it on to the listserv. What's the justification for that?

Miguel's Post

This is Miguel's original post, with some redactions that he approved:

The following was supposed to be a post on the Yahoo Windsor Park groups page but it was deemed to not follow the guidelines so here it is.

OK, I've had enough. As the owner of Nomad Bar, I have seen everyone's complaints and gripes about it on here, and have been OK with it, as it is their opinion and I respect that. But when someone flat out lies and makes false accusations that can hurt my business, I have to step in. I am at Nomad everyday, am very proud of my business, care for it and for the neighborhood very much, and I can guarantee you that the police have been there only twice in relation to Nomad. They showed up because I called them. For problems I was trying to fix, problems that were there BEFORE I went into business. Everyone who has griped seems to have forgotten that there was a DAY LABOR office and an unofficial HOMELESS CAMP there before I opened. And you complain that The Best Neighborhood Bar as voted by the readers of the Austin Chronicle, is there, instead of that? Really?

The list of violations that Hector Jimenez lists under NOMAD BAR LLC is completely misleading and is a blatant attempt at hurting a place he himself has said he has not been in at night. These things did not happen there and I find it a bit disturbing that this person can post such obvious lies that people are believing on this board, and not get so much as a slap on the wrist, but when someone states the obvious about this disturbed man, the guidelines immediately pop up. And I know I will probably get the guidelines popping up after this e-mail, but maybe the guidelines should be changed to protect against blatant libel.

I have seen this guy's posts go from completely ignorant to downright insulting and I tell you, enough is enough.

Nomad Bar is going on record to say that Hector Jimenez is not welcome in Nomad bar. And should this man show up, you can guarantee, I will take care of it by asking him to leave and if he doesn't, I will be contacting the authorities to keep our neighborhood, my staff, and the Nomad, SAFE, as I always have.

I would also like to point out that Los Tequileros is zoned incorrectly and thus illegally, so it has no business being there. It is insulting and unfair to equate a business that legally was given the WPNA go-ahead and was zoned properly, with Los Tequileros.

- MJ

light's on

Yes, I've been guilty of absentee blogging, and because I never thought anyone would be that interested in my little mirror on Windsor Park, I never moderated the comments. No more. Maybe there should be a conversation about the posting rules on the WP list, but I can't have my real estate become a place where posts that were unacceptable somewhere else came to live. Unless I make them, I should add.

So I dumped the post that the WP list referred you to today.

But as I continue to be a fan of The Nomad, and as I'm baffled by this Hector's hectors, I'm going to post an edited version of Miguel's comment, pending his approval. If you'd like to comment on this post, feel free. Comments will be moderated, though. I don't have time to adjudicate truth, truthiness, or falsity, but be sarcastic if you got it, but keep it clean and neighborly.

I might also add that last spring I left the WP listserv, and my mental health improved 4,000%. You might try it. It's much, much cheaper than leaving town, but its uncluttering of the mind is priceless.

If Rumors of Grounds has been silent, it's because I don't have any coffee rumors to report.