Las Perras Cafe opens in Houston’s Second Ward with Flor y Miel

Andrea Arana was drawn to opening a coffee shop because it’s an industry where people of color are behind the farming and harvesting of the beans, but often are not running the businesses that sell the coffee to patrons. 

Las Perras Cafe is her love letter to Latino culture, with a mural of a Xoloitzcuintli dog, photos that represent Latin beauty and struggle, and coffee drinks named after Latina activists.  It soft-opened this week at 3401 Harrisburg in a Second Ward retail center called the Plant, which also includes Street to Kitchen restaurant, Neighbors bar and Popston popsicle stand. Las Perras is in collaboration with Flor y Miel food truck, which serves Caribbean food, on the patio. 

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A grand opening celebration will be held Saturday featuring live music, cultural performances and a vendor market showcasing Latina-owned businesses. 

“I want women of color to know that this is for them. And if anybody else is cool enough to find out about it, great. But if not, then it’s a secret for us,” Arana said. “Especially in the climate that we’re in right now, people need something like this, where they’re like, ‘I don’t have to worry that my money is going somewhere that doesn’t align with my beliefs or that’s going to harm my community.'”

She also invites people to see the indoor mural by Ashley Raquel Trejo of a Xoloitzcuintli in a gothic style with bright colors, surrounded by neon lights. A Xoloitzcuintli is one the oldest dog breeds in the world, and it’s indigenous to Mexico. It ties into the name of the cafe, which directly translates to female dogs. The term can also be used as a derogatory term toward women. However, Mexican women have been reclaiming the name as a symbol of strength and resilience. 

She chose Mexican brutalism, a style popular in the ’60s and ’70s in Mexico, for the design of the cafe since it’s an older building. A white curtain divides white walls from a pink lime-washed corner of the cafe. She incorporates Mexican craftsmanship throughout the space.

The coffee counter, several tables and a mirror were made by Arana’s father and the company he works for in New Mexico. Throw pillows are from Guatemala. An altar near the mural involves black and white photos of her grandpa’s side of the family in El Paso; they are some of the oldest photos she owns. More photos are hung on another wall, including a February photo by Maximiliano Ronda of a Houston protest against recent immigration policies. 

Las Perras gets its coffee beans from a farm in Huila, Colombia, and roasts them in-house. The menu has traditional coffee drinks as well as specialty drinks pre-bottled with cold brew. Some of those cold brew lattes are named after activists like Dolores Huerta, Alma Negra, Angela Davis and Alice Valdez. 

“Through naming my drinks after activists… people are kind of able to get a glimpse of a little bit more than just my coffee, like who I am as a person and what I believe in,” Arana said. “Even though it’s just a cup of coffee, that’s my way of giving back to the world.”

Arana, an El Paso native who moved here to attend the University of Houston, started her career in luxury hospitality. She made the shift to coffee in 2019 at Boomtown Coffee before being laid off during the pandemic. She started Las Perras as a pop-up three years ago. She uses her mixology background in coffee with how she makes syrups. 

“When you come into my space, I’m really trying to set myself apart by taking that luxury approach to coffee,” Arana said. At Las Perras that means they don’t shout when a drink is ready; instead, they quietly say people’s name into a microphone. They pour drip coffee tableside and they buss the tables for customers. She calls it an affordable luxury; a drip coffee is $4.

She was presented with the opportunity to open at the Plant by Florangel Polanco, known as chef Flo. Polanco opened Flor y Miel in its current location a year ago after leading the kitchen at Thirteen. She was recruited for Thirteen by part-owner James Harden, for whom she was a private chef, among other celebrity clients. 

Polanco, born in the Dominican Republic, leans into her roots with Flor y Miel. She said 80% of the menu, which features empanadas and beef stew, are recipes she reinvented from her mom. The other 20% is more Americanized, like “rasta pasta,” a Caribbean take on pasta. 

“When I came (to Houston), I was surprised that there wasn’t as much Puerto Rican/Dominican cuisine, so I just feel like (Flor y Miel is) teaching people a little bit about the islands that a lot of people visit but don’t get to come back to eat,” Polanco said. “I want to show Latinas that they can do whatever it is that they set their mind to, bring families together more than anything, and influence more family-owned businesses.”

Arana and Polanco say the next phase for Las Perras x Flor y Miel is adding alcohol to the menu. They already have a few events planned for the month, including “Cumbias y Cafe,” a growing trend in Houston that brings high-energy music together with coffee. 

Las Perras Cafe will be open 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. for the grand opening on Saturday with Flor y Miel offering brunch 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and dinner 6 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Normal hours for Las Perras will be 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. Flor y Miel will be open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.