Mayorga Coffee will be holding a "soft opening" on Monday (March 19).  The owner of Mayorga Coffee, Jae, made this announcement on Tuesday on our community forum.  Mayorga Coffee is coming in place of the much anticipated Kudo Beans at Tivoli Square (Park Rd and 14th St NW).  Based on Jae's forum posts, his cafe will be well worth the wait.  It will go beyond just the normal coffee shop fare with gourmet tapas and alcoholic beverages.

We have posted a listing for Mayorga Coffee in our Dining section.  We would love to get your feedback on the food, drinks, and atmosphere of the newest addition to Columbia Heights' dining scene!

Jae provides a better sense of what to expect during the opening day (next Monday) in his most recent posting:

Jae explains the reason behind all the delays as well as Mayorga's concept:

I am the owner of the Mayorga Coffee at Tivoli Square. I thought I'd post something in this forum to answer a lot of questions I see here. Needless to say, our journey to this point has been a difficult struggle. The story is too long to post here so I will spare you the details. The important thing is that we are very close to opening soon. As soon as the DC Health department gives us the thumbs up, we are open for business. We do have 2 entrances. One on 14th St. and the other on Park Rd. We are a Mayorga Coffee serving everything you would expect from Mayorga Coffee Roasters. We are expanding on the concept here at Tivoli with a Lounge on the upper floor. We just finished creating a dinner menu for the Lounge. We hired a renowned chef to bring to life our concept. Food designed to be shared with inspiration from the unique locales from which our coffee beans originate. I am happy to see that our shop is generating some excitement from the neighborhood. I hope to serve you all well and I hope Mayorga Coffee at Tivoli will become THE place where friends from the neighborhood gather.

He also provides an idea of the kinds of food that will be served there:

We are serving food with inspiration from the coffee regions. Not so much the actual dishes from the regions. You can look at it as a type of fusion. "Global Tapas" is what we are calling it for now for lack of a better term. Here are some examples.

Lunch / Togo sample: "The Fat Cuban" - Smoked Pulled pork, swiss cheese, mangos, red onions, with our coffee barbeque sauce on a rustic loaf.

Lounge menu sample: Grilled Lamb Chops marinated with sesame - scallion served with yukon wedges.

Caribean Jerk wings with tomato and chorizo over white rice.

Please visit the thread on our forum, Breaking News About Kudo Beans!, to see this story unravel.

Comments

Written by Justin on 2007-03-15 07:20:58 Although this 'soft opening' seems like it will be a little rough, I have to say I am very excited about the fact that Mayorga is coming to town. Their Silver Spring cafe is an enormous space that is much more interesting than a Starbucks anyday.

Written by gonnadunk on 2007-03-15 09:37:08 forum: updated the name... Mayorga is opening!

Written by on 2007-03-15 17:20:38 I have to agree, I'm very excited by this opening! I'll definitely be there Monday (rough edges or no).

Written by Richard on 2007-03-26 07:41:25 This place was beautiful! I can't wait until they have food. This place will need more seating. It's going to fill up quick.

Outdoor seating? Written by on 2007-03-31 21:58:37 Will Mayorga offer outdoor seating? I dropped by the other day and had a hard time placing the 'vibe' of the place. Seems like it might be quite challenged for sunlight, which is kindof a killer for a 'cafe' atmosphere. The layout was very eccentric and it seemed like it's kindof shoved into a hallway, leading the visitor to feel less at home, but that's my own opinion. The furniture also seemed too trendy/dated and not so timeless. I hope the food is good, in which case it might be a nice nightspot or restaurant, but for a cafe, I'm just not sold. I didn't feel at home there.

Mayorga is wonderful Written by Christina on 2007-04-01 22:48:11 I have just been to Mayorga. The place is historic and beautiful. It seems to be the perfect neighborhood cafe. Both the owner and manager were friendly and helpful. It is so nice that someone not only brought back the Tivoli Theatre, but also managed to maintain many of the original features. The cakes looked wonderful and I am eagerly awaiting the rest of the menu.

i [heart] mayorga Written by on 2007-07-01 22:21:49 i love this place. it is elegant and cool - the layout is original - but still totally comfortable and laidback - with great furniture - great staircases that are fun to climb - the girl at the upstairs bar is gorgeous and super cool and attentive - she'll make you a killer vodka tonic and bring you your yuka fries with chipotle sauce or your tuna carpaccio while you lounge by the railing overlooking the downstairs where young goodlooking people are sipping coffees on their laptops- this place is hot for sure!!

Written by GforGood on 2007-07-02 07:54:23 Ah, so witty. Obviously it was not me on one of those laptops then.. I though ugly people are allowed to go there too.

Comments on the SERVICE Written by on 2007-07-04 08:17:48 I would like to complimenet Jae on the nice atmosphere and amazing building he has.    I would like to say though, that the girl who serves at the bar has nothing to be doing there. She is not friendly, she does not invite you to stay there or enjoy the place. Every time we ordered something she made us feel guilty or something. And the place was almost empty.     I loved the atmosphere but something should be done about the service.

Mayorga as of June 2008 Written by Mark on 2008-06-11 12:12:22 New owners trying the Korean menu thing, but the people running it after 8pm or so, especially on weekends are arrogant and rude. If you are not Korean you will not be welcomed with open arms. This place will be out of business by summer's end.

Mayorga goes downhill Written by Mavander on 2008-06-21 20:49:33 I have to say that I've been disappointed with Mayorga as well these days.    It's hard to do the coffee shop place well, and even harder to make money at it. But DJ's upstairs? No internet after 5? A Korean restaurant? This seems like a disparate set of business ideas. Columbia Heights could use a quality coffee shop that's independent and open late. Too bad Mayorga isn't it.