Spotlight on 211 Café in Downtown Bentonville, a business doing it right in Northwest Arkansas. Tucked away off the Bentonvillle square is a local treasure, also known as 211 Café . Local art, pastries, expertly prepared Guatemalan coffee and friendship are offered to all. You can also find the owner Mauricio Guerrero cheerfully sharing his Guatemalan coffee at the Bentonville Farmer’s Market on Saturday mornings. They are also a great choice for catering and special events, but perhaps more importantly a space that makes Northwest Arkansas a better place.
Below is what Marisio had to say about his beloved 211 Café:
What did you want to accomplish by opening your business?
What I want is to show a little bit of my country, Guatemala, through my passion that is the coffee. I am using only Guatemalan coffee in the shop.
Additionally to show my country and culture. 211 Café is a venue for all local artists to show their work, I want to be more than a coffee shop, I want to be a multicultural joining point with coffee, art and conversations.
What do you want your customers to experience?
For me the coffee is more than a beverage, it creates relationship, is a bridge of communication and a way to share culture, experience, histories and experiences. I want to show the customers that the social part of the coffee is more than the trendy part of it.
What do you do best?
Talk. The coffee is a catalyst for conversations. If you don’t drink coffee we have tea, fresh fruit smoothies and more good conversations.
What makes you different/unique from your competitors?
I´m from Guatemala and in 211 Café what I am trying to do is to show my country with the best customer service and coffee.
Why should a customer choose you over other coffee shops?
211 Café is just another coffee option with a different concept. We have local artist on our walls, live music, poetry slams, movies on our walls.
We are just brewing coffee in the most honest and simple way. Here you will find friends more than any other thing.
What made you start your business?
This is my dream, I have am a Chemical engineer with an MBA with more than 10 year of “8 to 5” type job, but my passion is the coffee. I always think that it is better say “I try” than “I wish” so I´m working to make that the dream became reality. And the support of my wife was the key to start this adventure.
What is the heart and soul of your business?
Coffee, good conversations and our promise to honor all the hard job that is before us in the coffee farms with every cup of coffee that we serve.
What makes you happy about your business?
That I am sharing a little bit of my lovely country and culture and I learning a lot of not only American culture but a lot and lots of other country cultures through the coffee.
What is the most popular coffee that you offer?
We don’t offer wine, but in coffee we have four different manual techniques (Chemex, V60, French Press, Aeropress) that not only allows us to brew excellent coffee based in your preference but gives us time to talk with our customers.
What is a must try at 211 Café?
Our best selling beverages are Guatemalan Hot Chocolate, Chemex and Nitro Cold Brew.
When do you, as a business, know you did it right?
When you are “working” in your passion you know that is right. When this is the case, failure doesn´t exist. Just work and the satisfaction at the end is that you are doing what you love.
211 Café is located at 410 SW A St #6, Bentonville, Arkansas 72712. Be sure to follow them on Facebook to keep up with all of their special and upcoming events. When you are in downtown Bentonville, drop by and experience 211 Café. You will be glad you did.
