COFFEE CART LOS ANGELES
ESPRESSO • TEA • TREATS
ON LOCATION • ON SET
PRODUCTION CATERING
SPECIAL EVENTS
SERVING ALL OF
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
100% DONATION-BASED
#LIBERATEDCOFFEE
Direct all inquiries to info@cafablanca.com
Or send us details below and we will get in touch
WE ARE CAFABLANCA
During the COVID-19 pandemic we operated as street vendors, serving 100% donation-based drinks and pastries outdoors to help keep our community safe
We are inspired by the iconic style and anti-fascist sentiment of the classic American film, Casablanca
We believe that great stories and great art can change the world. Yes, even latte art.
So how did we get here?
A COFFEE BUSINESS
BORN OUT OF GENEROSITY
CAMERON (V.O.)
It was the spring of 2018. I was living in Berkeley, slinging espresso shots in this Americana café that had just opened up on the nearby Oakland border. One day a customer brought his empty mug up to my counter.
HENRY
Hey there, I'm Henry. I gotta say, that was a great cappuccino you made me.
CAMERON
Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it
HENRY
This is really random, but I'm trying to build this mobile espresso bar thingy.
CAMERON
Oh yeah?
Henry
Yeah, but the thing is, I need to film a short video--
CAMERON
I do film work.
HENRY
You do?
CAMERON (V.O.)
It was an understatement. I was bored behind that coffee counter, daydreaming of spending my days on film sets, wondering if I would ever find out if my great-grandfather made a movie poster for Casablanca.
HENRY (CONT.)
Do you think maybe... you could help me out?
CAMERON
Let's roll
So, I flipped the OPEN SIGN CLOSED, staged the espresso bar, hit the lights, and helped this perfect stranger produce a short video for what was to become a successful Kickstarter campaign.
Henry used donations to transform an auto-rickshaw into the west coast's cutest mobile café
It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship
Neither of us knew then that fate would hand the keys over to yours truly
Or that I would drive this buzzy yellow buggy down to Los Angeles
And call it Cafablanca
LOVE AND COFFEE
IN A TIME OF CRISIS
While towing a coffee cart, I was also following my heart, and the first thing I did when I got to LA was fall in love. Juan would become my life partner, then my business partner, and finally my best friend. My first and fiercest supporter. The two of us parked Cafablanca in Hollywood at the most turbulent time possible: January 2020
As Juan and I were setting up one of Cafablanca's first ever pop-ups, Kobe Bryant, his daughter and several others were killed in a helicopter crash only a few miles away. Devastated by the news, we located a nearby Kobe mural and passed out free coffee to a stream of mourning fans. This impromptu gesture led Cafablanca to land her very first paid gig within her target market: serving craft coffee inside a production studio
It was a dream come true, but within weeks of our debut another tragedy forced us to slam on the breaks. COVID-19 changed our world overnight and ravaged our country's economy, healthcare system, and global standing. As for our catering plans? Those were kaput.
FINDING A NEW PURPOSE
Cafablanca had a lot of time to sit in the parking lot and think.
During the pandemic, the need for real change and real justice became a matter of life or death for everyone
Climate change is the clear and urgent humanitarian issue of our time, and only 100 corporations are responsible for 71% of global greenhouse gas emissions. That fact must be centered in every mitigation effort.
Long overdue is restoring the federal assault weapons ban and the nation-wide legalization of cannabis. Government should be about keeping people safe from harm, not harming people over things that are safe.
America was founded by immigrants, and children belong with their families. We advocate for the abolition of I.C.E. and the protection of Dreamers.
End the filibuster. Expand the Supreme Court. Do whatever it takes to restore women's rights and bodily autonomy in America. No one's free til everyone's free.
White supremacist domestic terrorism is a direct threat to every American community and to Democracy itself. Donald Trump must be prosecuted for inciting an insurrection against The United States.
We stand with the trans community. We stand with the Jewish community. We stand with people of Ukraine. We stand with the women of Iran.
All lives cannot matter until Black lives matter. Dismantling systemic racism is the only way forward.
The problems of our little 3 wheel coffee cart don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.
Cafablanca understands that so many of our common struggles stem directly from corporate greed.
We question how a new business in today's economy can contribute to an equitable future for all...