hello!
Since we often have questions from our customers about the cafe & our origins, this page offers a synopsis of how this odd little restaurant has come to be.
Located in the Sylva-famous Hooper Building, a converted 1920s drugstore/soda shop, ruffian baby Guadalupe opened up sans signage in the spring of 2004, filling a pocket-sized niche in Sylva for highly quirky, often spicy, creative/weird-adjacent cuisine paired with delicious craft beers and unpronounceable wines. We recycled/reused every bit of useful material we inherited from Hooper's Snack Bar, not just because it was our ethic (which it was & still is) but also, we were pretty broke & trying to make a restaurant is a spendy endeavor. You can still sit in Hooper's old-timey red swivel stools & spy the patchwork of brick, plaster & panel walls we formed from scraps after taking out the old Drugstore shelving. I chose the name Guadalupe for two reasons: i wanted folks to get the idea the food might be a bit latin-inspired, and I cherish the resilient, beautiful fusion of traditions Our Lady Guadalupe represents. Our weird little dinosaur logo is just something i dreamt up.
Back in the olden days, Guadalupe was as much a music venue as a restaurant. I kept the tiny menu changing from night to night and we hosted a dizzying array of independent musical acts from near & far ... but as Sylva's bar scene (& my family) grew, we finally hung a proper sign out front and traded late night revelries for brunch, lunch & espresso. In the years since, our permanent menu grew considerably & the cafe became home to a collaborative culinary team that shared my passion for creating delicious, fun, creative food from local ingredients.
Since the very beginning we've partnered with artists, farmers, crafters & non-profits, and been dearly blessed with an ever-growing cadre of guests who eat our foods year after year, who sustain and share our mission of good local food for all. All of these folks: the eaters & drinkers, the farmers, cheesemakers, cooks, chefs, servers & dishwashers, the coffee roasters, jam makers, brewers, beekeepers, artists, musicians & all-purpose makers of our little world, have contributed/ inspired everything that is wonderful about this place, and were it not for all of you this dream could never have come to be. so, with all my heart, thank you!
xo,
jen
Located in the Sylva-famous Hooper Building, a converted 1920s drugstore/soda shop, ruffian baby Guadalupe opened up sans signage in the spring of 2004, filling a pocket-sized niche in Sylva for highly quirky, often spicy, creative/weird-adjacent cuisine paired with delicious craft beers and unpronounceable wines. We recycled/reused every bit of useful material we inherited from Hooper's Snack Bar, not just because it was our ethic (which it was & still is) but also, we were pretty broke & trying to make a restaurant is a spendy endeavor. You can still sit in Hooper's old-timey red swivel stools & spy the patchwork of brick, plaster & panel walls we formed from scraps after taking out the old Drugstore shelving. I chose the name Guadalupe for two reasons: i wanted folks to get the idea the food might be a bit latin-inspired, and I cherish the resilient, beautiful fusion of traditions Our Lady Guadalupe represents. Our weird little dinosaur logo is just something i dreamt up.
Back in the olden days, Guadalupe was as much a music venue as a restaurant. I kept the tiny menu changing from night to night and we hosted a dizzying array of independent musical acts from near & far ... but as Sylva's bar scene (& my family) grew, we finally hung a proper sign out front and traded late night revelries for brunch, lunch & espresso. In the years since, our permanent menu grew considerably & the cafe became home to a collaborative culinary team that shared my passion for creating delicious, fun, creative food from local ingredients.
Since the very beginning we've partnered with artists, farmers, crafters & non-profits, and been dearly blessed with an ever-growing cadre of guests who eat our foods year after year, who sustain and share our mission of good local food for all. All of these folks: the eaters & drinkers, the farmers, cheesemakers, cooks, chefs, servers & dishwashers, the coffee roasters, jam makers, brewers, beekeepers, artists, musicians & all-purpose makers of our little world, have contributed/ inspired everything that is wonderful about this place, and were it not for all of you this dream could never have come to be. so, with all my heart, thank you!
xo,
jen
