Melanie Hernandez
Audio By Carbonatix
Cynthia Yanez, 27, and Jessica Yanes, 25, are helping bridge the flavor gap between El Salvador and Dallas with their new business La Unión Café.
Growing up, their mother, Gloria Yanes, loved to make and sell pan de quesadilla, a sweet cheese bread and many other staple Salvadoran foods, like pupusas, directly from their home. They wanted to keep their mother’s dream alive, share her traditions, and pursue this business for her.
“When I first came to the United States, I missed the food of my country very much,” Gloria said. “At the time, not many restaurants offered the dishes I enjoyed so much. I dedicated myself to cooking until I was able to perfect them. It fills me with joy to be able to start this project with my daughters.”
As for the name, La Unión is the Salvadoran state their mother is from, and the sisters also look at this business as a union between their family.
The idea was born in September 2024 when Cynthia, the main investor, asked Jessica what her dream business would be, and she said a coffee shop. Cynthia fell in love with the idea, and they decided to pursue the dream together.
They settled on having pop-ups directly from their home: a conveniently placed window on their housefront leading into the kitchen served as an order and pick-up window. Jan. 4 was their first pop-up, which only served coffee and was invitation-only.
After working the first pop-up, they quickly realized they needed more help; other family members jumped in.
Leaning on her marketing degree from Texas State University and a job in sales, Cynthia handled online marketing and created a logo, which has waves to represent Surf City in El Salvador. A blue and white color palette reflects El Salvador’s flag.
“Without my sales experience, I don’t think I would have been able to push through and keep my family excited about the idea,” Jessica says. “Marketing came in handy for giving our culture’s food a twist.”
Jessica helps keep her sister grounded in her ideas, concentrating on keeping everything Salvadorian-related, especially the menu.
“She’s been very good at checking me too because I’ll be like, ‘Oh, I have this idea,’ and she’s like, ‘Is this Salvadorian based? Is it Salvadorian-owned? Central American owned?’ So she’s the one that keeps me in line because I have all these crazy ideas,” Cynthia says.
The sisters promise that the menu will give customers a taste of El Salvador; the recipes and cooking styles mimic those of their mother’s home country.
Their current menu offers four different kinds of pupusas for $3 each, two different sweet breads ($3), and Salvadoran horchata and coffee ranging from $4 to $7. The classic vanilla latte – a horchata café made with morro, rice and cinnamon – resembles a traditional Salvadoran drink. The Café de Mama Goya is a twist on café de hoya, just like their grandmother used to make in El Salvador.
Their most unusual drink is the Choco Banano Latte, modeled after a popular Salvadorian treat of a frozen banana covered in chocolate.
“That’s our number one,” Cynthia says. “We probably practiced that drink 30 times before we finally got it down. That drink had to be perfect.”
The duo has even sourced Salvadoran coffee from Dallas-based roaster Cultivar, specifically the light roast from the Salvadoran Alfaro family’s El Carmen Estate.
The fruitful results of only four pop-ups inspired them to research potential places to set up their business on a more permanent basis. (They realized that working from home is no longer feasible due to safety concerns and overall quality.)
Both sisters have children and full-time jobs but are still dedicated to growing La Unión Café. They are thankful to TikTok for helping their content reach thousands of people and for the friends and family who are helping their business grow.
“Without our community, our support and everything, I really don’t know where we’d be today,” Cynthia says.
Keep an eye on their Facebook page for special events and updates.
