Editor’s Note: This is the first part of a three-part series covering the cultural roots of cafecitos in Socorro, Texas.

Incense cleanses the energy of a small adobe coffee house, Café Piro. With Native American art and culture displayed unabashedly, visitors are greeted with a scent of citrus and a warm welcome by the owners and baristas, who aim to satisfy the stomachs and brains of their patrons through the café’s cultural experience.

 The adobe coffee shop was established in 2022 by owners Gabe and Mel Padilla after years of running a barbecue food truck. It is one of three shops in the Socorro district that is uniquely rooted in Native American culture.

Gabe and Mel Padilla say the inspiration for the café came from a need to pay homage to their Piro heritage, a tribe native to the Socorro region.

The Piro’s pueblos were located within Socorro and the Rio Grande Valley. They were one of the first tribes to have a run-in with the Spanish colonists who later renamed their pueblo to Socorro. Many fled the area during the conquest or suffered other fates. The Piros never resettled their pueblos.

 Mel Padilla says she was part of the first generation in her lineage who did not have to be a farm worker, so she wanted to show that working hard was engrained in her.

The café’s menu tells big stories. The Padilla’s said that their vegetarian dishes reflect the way the Piro tribe used to live. They relied mostly on the fruits, vegetables and grains they gathered for their meals when meat was scarce.

“There wasn’t too much meat. Just whatever (the natives) could hunt. There were a lot oft soups, stews—a lot of survival type of dishes. Meats were a luxury,” Gabe said.

Their items include egpai, a quiche with goat cheese and sundried tomatoes, fresh fruit bowls, mushroom tacos and one of their most notable items, the tres hermanas pozole, a vegetarian dish made up of beans, corn, seeds and squash. The Padillas say this dish is a direct reflection of their heritage and tribe.

“In indigenous culture, the three sisters are beans, corn and squash,” Gabe said.

They say one can imagine the dedication put into every meal because they are made from scratch. Even their plates, bowls and mugs are made from clay, using their own hands, leaving behind their heritage for one to enjoy and appreciate.

“There isn’t anything that comes out of a can or is frozen,” Mel said. “We honor our ancestors by making sure everything we’re doing is made with our hands.”

They say they also keep the tradition alive by sourcing locally.

“We source our beans from a woman-owned coffee roaster,” Mel said. “We want to make sure our money is going to people who are small, not big corporations. We source locally as much as we can.”

One of their signature drinks is the marranito, an old fashioned orange creamsicle latte. Mel says this one came about from her personal experiences.

“The marranito latte, I hold close to my heart, because that was one of the things my grandma would feed us when we were kids. It was kind of a cookie nobody wanted to eat, so I wanted to implement that into a version you did want to drink,” Mel said.

Alongside the food and drinks, the Padilla’s say art and community play a major role in Socorro.

“The art on the walls are (from) people we know. They’re our friends,” Mel said. “We contribute to the artists by not charging commission when their art sells. All proceeds go to the artist. We wanted to break the dynamic that artists are starving.”

They also bring art to the community through the popular pottery nights that Mel hosts with an evening of playing with clay, good conversation and fun drinks.

“We’ve made lots of friends along the way. That’s our version of creating a community,” Mel said.

Café Piro has created a flow of new and returning customers by treating each one as a friend while sharing the Padilla’s love for their heritage and fresh food. The values and culture of the owners and Socorro have become wrapped into one unique coffee shop in an old adobe house on 9993 Socorro Road in Socorro, Texas.

Jesie Garcia is a staff reporter and may be reached at [email protected] or on Instagram @empanaditawrites.