Located inside the Trenton Farmers Market in Trenton, New Jersey, Kafé Ojalá is a local Caribbean owned business operated by old high school friends, Alex Rodriguez and Richard Malary. They wanted to open up a cafe where Black and brown people could feel safe and enjoy quality coffee together. The small cafe specializes in coffee, but it is also a great place to grab a breakfast sandwich on the go.
PHOTO | Jessica Romero Silver
Kafé Ojalá offers an array of classic coffee options such as drip and iced coffee, espresso, cappuccino, americano and macchiato, along with chai and matcha lattes. A fan favorite seems to be their classic latte. If whole milk isn’t your thing, you can switch it out with almond or oat milk for 60 cents extra.
The cafe serves non-caffeinated drink options as well, such as soda, sparkling water, and passionfruit juice. The drink options range in price from $1.50 to $5.50.
On weekends, they offer their Bodega Breakfast menu which features empanadas, potato balls, and breakfast sandwiches. All items on the Bodega Breakfast menu are between $3.50 to $5.50
Andrew Bell, a Lawrence, NJ resident (and this reporter’s brother) was able to taste the turkey, egg and cheese sandwich.
He said, “It’s light enough on the cheese where you can still taste it, but not too heavy where it overwhelms the rest of the sandwich. The warm sandwich came wrapped in aluminum foil and took less than a minute for me to be in and out of the restaurant.”
Kafé Ojalá is good for people who want to grab something quickly, but you better get there early because their breakfast items are only available first come first serve.
Although the space is small, it is far from empty. The restaurant is decorated with paintings, prints, and stickers from local Black and brown artists. R&B music flows throughout the cafe and everywhere you look there is always something new to see.
“I want people of Black and brown descent to see that there is a place for us as well,” says Alex Rodriguez, co-owner of Kafé Ojalá and Hamiton, NJ resident.
PHOTO | Jessica Romero Silver
When Rodriguez’s favorite coffee shop, Trenton Coffee House and Records permanently shut down, he purchased all their equipment. However, he did not intend on opening his own coffee shop right away.
“I didn’t really have an idea of opening up a business,” Rodriguez says. “But then the opportunity arose to open up a cafe in the farmers market, so I kinda just pulled the trigger.”
Kafé Ojalá officially opened in October 2019. When deciding on a name for the cafe, the owners wanted to find a way to combine their Puerto Rican and Haitian cultures.
Kafé is spelled with a K because the letter “c” is not used in Haiti. In Puerto Rico, “ojalá” means “god willing” and is used when saying goodbye.
Rodriguez explains, “It’s like when people come into the coffee shop, I will see them later and they will have another cup of coffee, like they will return.”
Kafé Ojalá quickly built up a regular crowd of customers who just cannot stop coming back. In the beginning, the cafe was open five days a week, but now that it is winter, they are only open on Saturdays and Sundays.
Rodriguez works at TCNJ as a desktop support engineer during the week and runs the cafe with his nephew on the weekends.
Alex Rodriguez’s nephew, Ararmany Rodriguez says his first job was working at Kafe Ojala.
“It started out as a jokingly ‘Hey do you wanna join us?’ I did not think it was actually going to happen,” Rodriguez says.
Now, in his freshman year at Rider University, where he is majoring in business economics, Rodriguez continues to work at the cafe, some days even running it on his own.
“When I first started, we had a little curtain in the back. So whenever anybody was in the back we would make jokes and play around. It was definitely a fun time, it’s still fun,” says Rodriguez.
The cafe has struggled to stay open over the past 3 years due to the pandemic and was forced to close temporarily. However, when it reopened last May, the customers supported them and returned.
Michelle Wells, the owner of the handmade pet toy business, SqueakWells, has been coming to Kafé Ojalá since they first opened.
“Back before I had my own business, I used to work at one here, before he had signs or anything. I have been able to see them grow,” says Wells.
Tim James, a 28-year-old Ewing resident, has also been coming to Kafé Ojalá since the beginning, but originally started coming because his area did not have any local coffee shops.
James says, “It’s tiny and still a great place to hang out at.”
Not only does he visit to buy a cup of coffee but also to grab a bag of their coffee beans.
Alex Rodriguez says, “The demographic that I’m trying to hit is people that look like me and my business partner and to provide a local quality coffee in areas that don’t necessarily get it from other things.”
While Kafé Ojalá does not currently offer a variety of food options, their drinks menu and good company is more than enough.
This winter, Kafé Ojalá is open every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Find more information about Kafé Ojalá at kafeojala.com
