Even though I live in the less-gritty Northwest part of town, for the most part there are still certain businesses that, sadly, don’t want me to be there. Sorry, but as a half-Latino, half-Indigenous person, sometimes I feel like I wasn’t made for these times.
That being said… what about coffee and coffee shops in general?
Sure, I got feelings about this topic and I was about to blurt them out, but recently I found a new place I can fully endorse and, even better, it’s in the revitalizing Capitol Hill district that gives it a distinctly authentic Mexican vibe that I don’t get from, well, most places in my neck of the woods.
It’s a new coffee shop called Enoon Café, 207 S.W. 25th St., and it’s now on the top of my list for mid-morning coffee drinks, avocado toast and, of course, a healthy spread of pan dulce and other “breakfast” desserts.
I came across it a few weeks ago while I was shopping at the new Feria Latina supermarket down the street when I noticed this cute café, with its exposed rustic red brick and tasteful dressings, simply sparkling compared to the ramshackle stores and abandoned buildings in the neighborhood.
Coming back last Saturday, sometime between breakfast and lunch, I wanted to see if this coffee shop was another lost cause or, hopefully, a place I could hang out without fear of reprisal.
When we walked through the door, the line was already long. Sure, it was a quietly understated familial place, with couples wrangling kids, high schoolers hanging out shooting the breeze and the occasional old guy sipping on coffee while reading the paper.
This is my kind of crowd, I thought, and it’s mostly Mexican, always a true bonus. The attending staff were refreshingly un-Starbucks-like, diligently taking orders, preparing food and doing it all in a medium cool demeanor that I quickly responded to.
Looking over the menu, the personalized drinks and eats had a real Latino-based point of origin, like the El Gringo—an Americano coffee—or the Esquites— a cup of seasoned corn. Things like that.
After ordering, my wife and I sat at the counter against the massive picture window facing 25th St. I was amazed at how orderly everything ran, from the great care taken with the wide variety of drinks like coffee, tea, or aguas frescas, to the mouthwatering ways the food was presented on the assorted plates.
(As an aside, while waiting, the name “Enoon” really struck me… I was thinking it was a magical word for coffee or something like that. But I learned from their website, it was a play on words from a quote that read "Some of life's best memories happen en un café!”
Get it? “En un café” and “Enoon”…well, at least I thought it was clever.)
My wife started with her breakfast dish, the Aguacate Toast ($7.99), or smashed avocado on toasted bread with fresh tomatoes and seasonings, as well as a 16 oz. iced Café de Olla ($6.99), a Mexican brewed coffee with splashes of cinnamon, brown sugar, and Mexican chocolate.
After wetting her whistle with the subtly superb Café de Olla, my wife’s Aguacate Toast earns the highest marks. Though avocado toast has been beaten to death by the literati, only some Mexican ingenuity could make this breakfast dish all new and shiny, and the addition of the sliced tomatoes and whole grain bread make it a hearty, healthy must-eat for all times of day.
For my order, I chose the well-regarded lone sandwich on the menu, the Torta de Jamon ($7.99), comprised of some jamon (ham), cheese, aguacates, and Enoon’s special aioli sauce, layered on a warm, fresh bolillo bun.
Along with my drink, the sweetly patriotic 16 oz. Bandera Mexicana ($6.99)—a wonderful strawberry matcha latte poured in colorful layers to represent the Mexican flag—this torta was more than pleasing. Sure, it may look like a regular sandwich, but the combination of pillowy bread, fresh ham, avocados, and the truly mesmerizing aioli really packs a punch.
Much like the Aguacate Toast, the Torta de Jamon is something that I could never get tired of…but I sure am willing to try!
With our brunch demolished, now we could finally partake of our much-awaited desserts, picked from the variety of Pan Dulce on offer, today’s specials included a personal-sized blueberry Tres Leches ($5.99) cake, and one perfect Concha ($2.00).
While my wife was going full bore on the Tres Leches cake—of course, it was incredible—I had to give in to the large, classic brown sugar Concha. I got the last one on the cake stand and man, I tell you, it was everything I wanted from a coffee shop treat and then some.
So, yeah, I’m in absolute love with this place.
It encompasses everything beautiful about life—my life, mi vida—blending caffeine, culture, and celebration, really making Enoon Café a true magnification of our celebrated Mexican and neighborhood culture… and, to be sure, a damn good cup of café.
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Follow Louis Fowler on Instagram at @louisfowler78.
