On Mother's Day evening, Sunday, May 10, families were lined up outside a 935-square-foot café in North Salinas, waiting for coffee, matcha and sweet bread. Monterey County NOW reported that the shop was serving 300 to 400 orders a day just one week after its grand opening.
Palomas Cafecito was that busy because its customers already knew it. The same is true, in different ways, of two other independent coffee shops in Salinas. Palomas started in a family kitchen, Brewjee in a truck parked at a hospital entrance, and Fryda's in a café space neighbors already knew, and all three brought along the people and drinks that got them started. If you're looking for a new morning stop, the menu at each place is the clearest record of who it first served.
Palomas Cafecito: a menu its followers watched being tested
Jennifer Perez-Garcia and her fiancé Bryan Hernandez started their coffee business in March 2024, making drinks on a Breville espresso machine in the kitchen of Hernandez's parents' house. Monterey County NOW's feature says the storefront now runs on a Rocket two-group machine. Before the shop opened, the couple was making more than a hundred specialty drinks a day and taking orders through Instagram, according to the Salinas Californian.
That following came with them. Palomas Cafecito opened May 3, 2026, at 1488 Constitution Blvd., Unit C, in Creekbridge, and the Californian reported a long line of customers on opening day, many of whom followed the owners on social media. A Monterey County NOW profile describes followers who watched Perez-Garcia test her first drinks online, and says many of them felt invested in the shop's success by the time the doors opened.
The name comes from her family's food business. Perez-Garcia grew up working from age 13 on her parents' taco truck, Lonchera La Paloma, in East Salinas, and her mother suggested the name Palomas to carry on that family legacy. She taught herself through experimentation and TikTok videos and has never been formally trained as a barista. That shows in the menu. The profile notes you won't find a standard espresso, cortado, decaf or blended frappe. "I want a different take on coffee," she told Monterey County NOW. "I want to incorporate my culture."
What to order, based on the shop's reported bestsellers:
- Churro latte, one of the drinks that made the home business popular
- Cookie butter latte, the other longtime favorite
- Nutella knot, one of the most popular items in the case
- Pastries from Jude's Pastries, the company run by Perez-Garcia's twin sister Janette, who also helps make the house syrups
The room has gray walls with blue pigeon stencils, a brown leather sofa and free Wi-Fi, so it works for staying a while. A sign on the wall reads "El sol sale para todos," which means "the sun rises for everyone." Perez-Garcia told Monterey County NOW it was a phrase her mother repeated through slow seasons in her own business. She has built one day off a week into the schedule. Check the shop's Instagram for which day that is and for current hours before you go.
Brewjee Coffee Co.: a best-seller shaped by long shifts
Brewjee also has roots on Constitution Boulevard. Dean Miskell of Marina wanted a food truck but didn't want to cook, and when he found a coffee truck for sale in Sacramento, it was go time. Brewjee held its first pop-up on June 21, 2021. According to Monterey County NOW's profile of the truck, it served youth sports around Salinas and North County, the first season of Monterey Bay F.C. at Cardinale Stadium, quinceañeras and farmers markets, including the one at Natividad Medical Center. By the end of 2022, a Natividad regular who works in hospital administration suggested the truck stay. When the profile ran, it was parked daily at the hospital entrance, 1441 Constitution Blvd., and Contreras said it had been there a year and a half.
That spot shaped the menu. Miskell and his partner Amanda Contreras found that stronger espresso drinks were especially popular with medical and nearby law enforcement staff working long hours. The brown sugar shaken espresso became the clear best-seller. It's made with real brown sugar instead of syrup, shaken over ice with oat milk and cinnamon. "A lot of people are double-fisting with two brown sugars," Contreras told the paper. The Brown Sugar Shaken Espresso and a Brown Sugar Vanilla Latte are both on Brewjee's current "Most Loved Drinks" list, along with the Curious George, Dubai Matcha, Brewjee Bull and Barbie.
Brewjee has since opened storefronts downtown, and Monterey County NOW reports it now has two storefronts serving coffee, chai and matcha. The two locations have different schedules, according to Brewjee's location page:
- Brewjee Coffee Co., 145 Main St. is open every day from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Brewjee on Alisal, 66 W. Alisal St. serves beer and wine. It's closed Monday, open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.
The 6 a.m. opening on Main Street fits a business that got its start serving hospital and law enforcement shifts. The late Friday and Saturday hours on Alisal make that location a downtown evening option, not just a morning stop.
Fryda's Cafe: a new name in a café space neighbors already knew
The newest of the three started differently from the others but also had a head start. Fryda's Cafe opened Saturday, Oct. 17, at 1746 N. Main St. in North Salinas, in the former Con Azucar Cafe space. Monterey County NOW's Salinas Valley coverage reports that at least one of its six employees also worked at Con Azucar.
Siblings Hailey Chanel and Jayden Rojas own the café. According to the manager, the name reflects Chanel's childhood interest in Frida Kahlo's paintings, which helped her discover her own talent for painting. Inside are murals that include a portrait of Kahlo, walls of green plants and red roses, and the smell of cinnamon and coffee.
Like Palomas, Fryda's menu leans on Mexican-inspired flavors. Staff named the flan latte, horchata latte and pumpkin chai as the most popular drinks and described the Mexican mocha as "on the sweeter side for some." Drinks come in 16- and 24-ounce sizes. The 24-ounce iced flan latte has condensed milk, flan cold foam and three shots of espresso, and the 16-ounce has two shots. The food case has avocado toast, ham and cheese croissants, torta de jamón, BLTs, pan dulce, fruit tarts, cake pops and seasonal pumpkin conchas.
For timing, staff told Monterey County NOW that about 100 people come in each day and that mornings are busiest, especially from 9 to 11 a.m. Fryda's is open daily from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., and a morning special runs from 9 a.m. to noon, announced on the café's Instagram. For the holidays, staff said new drinks will feature more cookie butter and more pumpkin filling.
A Saturday loop across all three
Cookie butter shows up on the menus of two of these cafés, and Constitution Boulevard runs through two of their stories. All three are close enough to visit in one morning-to-evening loop. Here's an order that works with each shop's hours:
- Fryda's Cafe, 1746 N. Main St. Arrive close to 7 a.m. to beat the 9 a.m. rush. A 16-ounce iced flan latte is a better start than the three-shot 24-ounce.
- Palomas Cafecito, 1488 Constitution Blvd., Unit C. On weekends it opens later than on weekdays, so check Instagram first. Get a churro latte or a nutella knot, and take a seat on the leather sofa if one is open.
- Brewjee on Alisal, 66 W. Alisal St. It's open until 11 p.m. on Saturdays, so you can finish downtown with a brown sugar shaken espresso, or with beer or wine if you've had enough coffee.
Like any new business, these cafés may change their hours, so check each one's own page before heading out.
If a new café near Creekbridge, North Main or downtown has you wondering what your home is worth today, Stephanie Hicks would be glad to prepare a home valuation and talk it through with you, with no pressure and no rush.
