Nilka Garcia (left) and Sonia Zebadua at the Davie Street branch of Cardero Café.

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CARDERO CAFE
Enjoy An LGBT Panini In Davie Village!

With a thriving commercial and residential cleaning business on the go, you’d think that Sonia Zebadua would have enough on her hands, but when the opportunity arose 18 months ago to take on the popular cafe cum grocery store at 1016 Cardero, the previous owner made her an offer she couldn’t refuse — half his original asking price because as a faithful customer of ten years, he knew she would be perfect.

Sonia came to Vancouver from Mexico 13 years ago to pursue studies in culinary arts at VCC. Settling in the West End, she worked at a couple of local restaurants, including the Denman Street Raincity Grill, before launching MultiServices Vancouver, a cleaning business serving all of Metro Vancouver.

A portion of the menu - and don’t miss the nod to the surrounding Davie Village, the LGBT Panini — that’s lettuce, guacamole, bacon, and tomato - if you were wondering!

Sonia met her life and business partner, Venezuela-born Nilka Garcia here in Vancouver when a mutual friend asked if the new arrival could board with Sonia temporarily. Temporary became forever and a growing friendship became a partnership in every sense of the word.

When the Cardero Café came available, at a cut-rate price, the pair rolled up their sleeves and got to work — more work! Cleaning and renovating and honouring the location’s long history as a community grocery store by introducing a selection of food items — many representing their Latin-American roots.

And now, with the addition of their new Cardero Café location on Davie at Thurlow, and the cleaning business still going, Sonia and Nilka are busier, and apparently happier, than ever.

“I love the West End,” Sonia tells us. “The community, the acceptance of newcomers, and the loyalty of regular customers make this a special place for us.” Earlier this year a break-in at the Davie location reinforced her view of our community, as customers and neighbours demonstrated their appreciation by keeping them busier than ever.

Many of Cardero Café’s nine employees are also newcomers to Canada. “Something else I found in the West End is that people are willing to give new-comers a chance and share their knowledge of the community and local business and social practices. That’s something we hope to pass along to others.”

Have a coffee and order up an LGBT Panini (lettuce, guacamole, bacon and tomato — what did you think?) and say hello to your neighbours.