The cafe, located in the lobby of the Science and Engineering Innovation Center, hosted a soft launch in preparation for a full opening of the cafe this semester.

Carmelina Narciso, the owner of this new cafe that bears her name, is no stranger to the world of commerce. She opened her first business on campus in 1987, a small cafe where Quickly is now. Since then, she’s opened Taquería Girasol on campus, which is now managed and owned by her son Marco Ballesteros, and later opened two businesses at the University of California, San Francisco campus. In 2017, Carmelina retired from SFSU, but she never stopped dreaming — and this semester, she makes her return.

“I’ve come back to San Francisco State because I am a person who is 100% pro-students,” Carmelina said. “I love the students because they’re the ones who support small businesses.”

Alex Flores, a volunteer, and Daniela Haro, social media supervisor for the cafe, gave out sweet bread donated by La Victoria, an alumni-owned bakery, and let students know about what the new cafe will offer once it opens in a few days.

“People love coffee and people love sweet treats, so it’s a good combination,” said Flores, a business student. “I’ve always been a fan of Taquería [Girasol]. I go there a lot, so I know this’ll be a good spot,” he said in reference to the new cafe.

Taquería Girasol is located in the Cesar Chavez Student Center. Carmelina and her son worked together to open this cafe and have a reputation that precedes them.

“[The cafe] is in a near-perfect location, so that way students don’t have to walk all the way down to Cesar Chavez,” said Michael Lino, the shop supervisor of the engineering department at the SEIC. “I just met the owner today, I know her son and they’ve done an outstanding job overall. I feel like if I were a customer, if I was a student, I’d come in and I would leave with a smile on my face.”

To Carmelina, the happiness and satisfaction of the students is her first priority, and that’s why she will offer a varied menu: Peruvian empanadas, vegetarian options, sandwiches, salads and alfajores. For beverages, there will be espresso, matcha, chai and café de olla, a traditional Mexican coffee brewed with cinnamon and raw sugar.

“I can’t cook because it’s not allowed here, but I will do everything in my power to do what’s possible to make students happy,” Carmelina said.

There are some delays to the opening of the cafe since Carmelina has to meet requirements from the city, the university and the state of California. Despite that, Carmelina and Marco hope to open this week and have ideas for future growth. Carmelina wants to bring “a new vibe, a new menu and new experiences” to the students of the campus.

“Perseverance — that’s the secret to any business — perseverance and consistency,” Carmelina said. “When there is quality and service, the business will thrive […] Don’t think about how much you earn but rather how much you give.”

With tears in her eyes, Carmelina described the feeling around the opening of her new cafe.

“It doesn’t matter how old you are; those who don’t dream are gone,” Carmelina said. “They exist, but they’re not alive, and every human being needs this to feel alive.”

Marco said he wants his mother’s cafe to have the slogan “café con chisme,” which translates to “coffee with gossip,” and hopes it will become a place where students can “come here, hang out and talk about their day.” 

“If you think you’re gonna sit with [Carmelina] for like ten minutes, you’d better think more like half an hour, you’ve been warned.” Marco said. “She’s someone that you can talk to, tell her your problems […] there’s a lot of people that can quote me on that about my mother.”

Carmelina and Marco have a strong connection to the campus. Carmelina’s daughter and granddaughter both graduated from SFSU, and Marco has involved SFSU alumni in various stages of this cafe. The coffee Carmelina’s will be selling comes from Henry’s Coffee House, an alumni-owned shop, and they plan to have a current student stencil their name at the cafe entrance.

“I love San Francisco State, and I hope I’m here for a long time,” Marco said. “And in four years, when you graduate and you decide to come back for your master’s, we’ll be here, and maybe after you become an alumni come by and visit, we’ll always be here. We’re not going anywhere.”