Cafe Sol Brings A Little Coffee, A Little Sunlight to Del Rio

Cafe Sol, located at 4730 US-90 opened its doors on November 16, 2024 serving up gourmet cupcakes and espresso drinks. Photo courtesy of Cafe Sol.

Cafe Sol, a female-led and family owned bakery and cafe, is the latest addition to the growing number of cafes and bakeries opening around town. With its warm, cozy decor, fresh-baked cupcakes, espresso drinks, and friendly-faces behind the counter, this new bakery takes pride in serving up, “A little coffee, A little sunlight.”

The self proclaimed, Hallmark movie-style bakery has been a lifelong dream for owner Graciela Alvizo, who has been baking for over 20 years, beginning with birthday cakes for her children and later selling from her home under the name Chely’s Cakes. “I started baking maybe 25 years ago for my kids, baking little things for my oldest who is 29 and then birthday cakes and then had more kids,” Alvizo began. “Then maybe 15 years ago, I started selling from home and I used to make wedding cakes, quinceanera cakes, birthday cakes, all kinds of cakes.” 

She then transitioned to selling her cakes and cupcakes at local pop up markets after the COVID-19 Pandemic. “During COVID I stopped selling from my home and just kept doing the cupcakes that I sell now.” 

Alvizo had always dreamt of having a bakery of her own and with the encouragement of her husband and children, she began looking at locations and asking patrons at her booths during markets what they thought of the idea. “I always wanted to have a little bakery, my daughters came up with the idea of adding coffee, not just regular drip coffee but espresso drinks,” Alvizo shared. “We went and took classes and then we looked around for a place, we looked downtown but I always liked this building, I saw that it was available.” “We were kind of hesitant because it’s far from town but there are a lot of subdivisions this way, so we decided to do it.”

“What I learned from doing the markets was what flavors people liked the most and I like talking to everyone so I would ask, and people would ask me, “When are you going to open a place?” “You should open a place.” Alvizo told us. “I had already thought about it but then during the markets you meet so many people and it’s different from selling from home.” “I had a Facebook page, the name was Chely’s Cakes because my name is Graciela but they call me Chely,” she continued. “From there people would order stuff, but it’s not the same as face to face, so that’s what I learned from markets, what people like and what they would think if I opened a bakery, and people said yes.” 

Located at 4730 US-90, right next to Casa Blanca By Beyond the Decor, Cafe Sol opened its doors on Saturday, November 16, 2024, serving up an array of gourmet cupcakes ranging in flavor from Banana Pudding to Lemon Blueberry, and more. “We always get a good amount of customers everyday but the first two weeks it was crazy busy, a line and everything,” Alvizo shared about the opening. “I was on cloud nine, I couldn’t believe it.” 

“The grand opening was amazing, we had Angel Baena singing inside, and I had friends and family of course but there were a lot of people that I didn’t know coming to support us.” 

Alvizo told Connect Del Rio what she feels makes Cafe Sol stand out from the growing number of cafes here in Del Rio. “I think it’s different from the other coffee shops here in Del Rio because we’re not a coffee shop, we’re a bakery that sells coffee,” Alvizo stated. “Our main thing is the baked items, then what goes with baked items?” “Coffee.”

The cozy cafe features a sign with their slogan, "A little coffee, A little sunlight."

The name itself, Cafe Sol, came from one of Alvizo’s first experiences just sitting in the building taking in the view through the large window. “The first time we came in this place, there was just a window, no door, and we were here in the morning and the sun was hitting really nice inside and I thought, “This is so nice, I want to sit in here, drink my coffee, eat my cupcake and watch the sun come up.” She recounted. “That’s how we came up with our slogan, “A little coffee, A little sunlight, and the name Cafe Sol.” “Some people think it’s cafe because we sell food but it’s cafe because we sell coffee and cafe is coffee in Spanish, and sol because of the sun in the morning, and people like it.” 

She also shared that although the space is small, she does bake all the baked goods in the back daily. “This was just a little building, just open and then we made a division wall because I bake here,” she said. “I’m always here, we close at 2pm but I won’t leave here until nighttime because I’m baking for the next day.” “I get here at 5am because I’m frosting cupcakes for when we open at 6am.” 

When asked if any of her customers followed her from her days selling at the markets, Alvizo shared this story. “Actually, just yesterday, a guy from the base, wearing his military uniform and everything, came in and I thought, he looks so familiar and then he tells me, “I spoke to you at one of the markets and I tried one of your cupcakes, maybe a year ago or more and I was waiting for you to open up your place.” 

She told us that although she doesn’t always remember names and faces well, she is working on it because, “I want to meet the customers, I want to know their names and greet them so that’s what I’m working on right now.” 

“I’ve been meeting so many new people, and people that are not originally from here that have wanted something like this because it reminds them of where they are from, so I am really grateful and excited.” 

“I just want to say thank you to everyone that has been so amazing, everyone that comes here, and I’m really grateful to everyone, especially my family and everyone that has been here and keeps coming back,” Alvizo concluded. 

 You can visit Graciela and her daughters at Cafe Sol Tuesday – Friday from 6am - 2pm and on Saturdays from 8am - 2pm.