Today we’d like to introduce you to Kevin Perez Velazquez.
Hi Kevin, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Cafecito started as a feeling before it was ever a business plan. I’ve always been drawn to the subtleties in people — the small details that most walk past without noticing. A shift in someone’s energy, what they don’t say, what a space does to them the moment they walk in. I’ve always believed that the smallest things, done with intention, can change someone’s whole day. I think of myself as a kind of weaver — someone who can see the pieces in a person they may not fully see in themselves, and try, to the best of my ability, to bring those pieces together.
Growing up in Puerto Rico and spending time in Europe and Asia, I was spoiled in the best way. The food, the drinks, the hospitality — almost everything was considered, crafted, and genuinely good. It set a standard in me that I didn’t fully appreciate until I found myself consistently dissatisfied back stateside. I kept purchasing things I could make better at home — not out of ego, but because I knew what care in a cup actually felt like, and I wasn’t finding it.
That dissatisfaction became the seed of Cafecito. Coffee and tea are how I make people feel at home. It’s what I offer anyone who walks through my door, and I wanted to build a place that operated the same way — with that same attentiveness, that same quiet intention.
That became our philosophy: Premium for the Many. It’s not a pricing strategy — it’s a standard. If we wouldn’t have it ourselves, we don’t offer it to you. I co-founded Cafecito with my partner John Panghulan, and together we’re bringing something to Jacksonville that we feel the city is ready for: a space where people leave feeling seen, not just served.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Surprisingly, yes — it has been a smooth road. And I don’t say that to be dismissive of the work, but because I genuinely believe the path has unfolded the way it was supposed to. As each piece was ready, the next door opened.
The only real struggle has been my own self-confidence. I’m an ambivert who tends toward introversion once my social energy runs out — and it doesn’t take much. I’ve always been the person who refills your water before you realize you needed it, or has a broth and herbal tea ready the moment they heard you cough. I excel in the background, in the details, in the doing. I was always confident in my ability to produce something of real quality — but the marketing, the talking, the funding side of things? That’s where the doubt crept in.
What made the difference was the people around me. John Panghulan, my business partner, along with a team of friends who believed in what we were building, eased me into that side of the world gently. I never had to prove myself to them with words — they watched me operate and trusted what they saw. That’s always been my way. I act before I tell you what a great job I can do.
My husband Jeriko has been a constant in all of it. He has never once questioned what I’m capable of — tells people about my cooking, my coffee, the care I put into every detail, without ever being asked. Having someone reflect your own potential back to you, especially in the moments you can’t see it yourself, is its own kind of fuel.
Even through the delays in opening, I never lost the thread. I used that time to read, to gather my thoughts, to sharpen my personal philosophy and purpose — my why — for creating this space for Jacksonville. The doors have kept opening. I’ve learned to walk through them.
As Bruce Lee says, “Be water my friend”
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about cafecito?
Here’s the full answer:
At its core, Cafecito is a philosophy before it’s a café. Everything we do is held to a single standard: if we wouldn’t have it ourselves, we don’t offer it to you. That’s not a marketing line. That’s just how we were raised.
The name itself carries that same spirit. Cafecito — it can be a statement or a question, depending on your tone. That was always the intention. The moment someone walks through the door, whether to start their day or steal a quiet moment from it, the unspoken question is already in the air: cafecito? It comes from something deeply personal. I grew up watching my grandmother and my aunt — both of whom I’ve called “mami” my whole life, which tells you everything about the role they played — put on a pot of black coffee the moment any guest arrived. Unannounced, unexpected, didn’t matter. The coffee was already brewing. That instinct is what Cafecito is built on.
The cultural DNA of the brand lives in its founders. I’m Puerto Rican, my business partner John Panghulan is Filipino, and both of our cultures share something that doesn’t require translation: the instinct to care for people through food, drink, and presence. That warmth isn’t performed — it’s inherited. It’s in the way a meal is prepared before you knew you were hungry, the way a drink appears before you thought to ask. That’s the hospitality standard we hold ourselves to, and it shapes every interaction we want guests to have at Cafecito.
The space itself is designed to hold all of that. Brutalist-inspired, warm, and considered — with a vinyl DJ booth, because music is atmosphere and atmosphere is everything. We wanted a space that felt intentional without feeling precious. Somewhere you could stay.
What we’re most proud of isn’t an accolade or a metric. It’s the fact that there is no end goal in the conventional sense. We’re not chasing perfection or racing toward some version of success that requires us to become something else. We live by two Japanese philosophies that quietly shape everything we do: ichi-go ichi-e — the idea that each moment is singular and unrepeatable, worthy of your full presence — and wabi-sabi — finding beauty in imperfection, and growth in what isn’t finished yet. We’re not striving to be the best coffee shop in Jacksonville. We’re striving to offer the best of who we are, in every moment and opportunity that arises. Simple, real, and genuine — that’s what we want people to know about Cafecito.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
Here’s the full answer:
I’m someone who turns inward more than outward for guidance, so my list might look a little different from the usual recommendations.
The Prophet by Khalil Gibran is one I return to again and again. It’s not a business book, but it has shaped the way I think about purpose, giving, and what it means to truly serve others — which, at its core, is what Cafecito is about. Ikigai by Héctor García opened something in me around the idea of living with quiet intention — not chasing a destination, but finding meaning in the everyday. And The Science of Getting Rich by Napoleon Hill reframed how I think about abundance — less about accumulation and more about alignment.
Yoga and meditation have been equally formative, maybe more so. What they taught me wasn’t how to add more to my life in the hopes of becoming happier — it was how to subtract. To clear the path of what weighs you down and move with less resistance. That philosophy lives in everything I do, personally and professionally.
Music is a constant. I listen to a lot of ballads and love songs — and yes, part of it is nostalgia. Growing up, my grandparents would drive me to my aunt’s house to play with my cousins — an hour and a half each way with Rocío Dúrcal and Juan Gabriel playing the whole ride. Those are some of the happiest memories of my life, and that music carries them. It keeps me connected to the people who shaped me and to a version of joy that is pure and uncomplicated. That kind of music keeps you in love with life and with what you do. There’s something about it that keeps the heart open, and an open heart is where all of this comes from.
And honestly? My home life. As simple as it sounds — home is where the heart is. Jeriko, the warmth of what we’ve built together, the fullness of that — it’s the foundation everything else stands on. When your heart is genuinely full, there is very little you cannot accomplish. That’s not a cliché to me. That’s lived experience.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: cafecitojax
