(This article was written by Steven Hughes and edited by Lisa Campos and appeared in the January 2024 issue of Explore Harlingen Magazine.)
Chyann’s Specialty Café, located in downtown Harlingen, is Harlingen’s first mother and daughter owned café. Chyann’s reflects their many hats, with the cafe, event center, catering services, and boutique store all in one place.
“We’re unique,” Josie Olivares, co-owner, said over the phone. “We’re not just the one hat.”
Olivares and Kendra Hernandez, her daughter and co-owner who created the menu, developed a space where guests could enjoy waffles decorated with fresh fruit and powdered sugar and also buy a gift.
“It warms me because every time I walk by a table, they say it’s good food, or I see them taking a photo of it. It warms my body just knowing people enjoy what we do,” Hernandez said over the phone. “I love it whenever kids call us the piggy place (due to our pig-themed décor). That’s our nickname.”
Although the two Harlingen natives didn’t have food experience leading up to opening the cafe, they opened their doors as the coronavirus’ grasp on the world slowly weakened in 2021. Hernandez, only 15 years old at the time, took customers’ orders while in high school Zoom lectures.
Meanwhile, her mother was in the kitchen making home-cooked meals. Their menu consists of breakfast, lunch, weekend brunch, sweets, salads, and coffee. Customer favorites include their meatloaf and stuffed chicken. They are also well known for their beautiful charcuterie boards.
As the team at Chyann’s Specialty Cafe grew, it garnered a fan base that often asks for their services in and outside their building from Weslaco to Brownsville.
Chyann’s Specialty Cafe offers space for small events like birthday parties, baby and bridal showers, Friendsgiving dinners, and more. They provided catering services for approximately 450 events in 2023.
For more information, visit them at 110 E. Jackson Street in Harlingen or call them at 956-496-2754. They are open Wednesday through Friday, 8 am to 3 pm, and Saturday and Sunday, 9 am to 1 pm.
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