BCS Summer Shops & Spots: La Gabriella Coffee Shop

Article By: James Francis, Student Intern | BCS Chronicle

What You Need To Know:

• La Gabriella Coffee Shop is located at the corner of Texas Avenue and Walton across from the Texas A&M campus.

• Gabriella Vasquez opened the store in 2014 as a Guatemalan bakery eventually expanding to offer coffee blends.

• La Gabriella features a variety of local art pieces and retro video games for sale at the back of the shop.

• Vasquez expressed excitement for population influxes but described how she loves the small town feel of BCS.

• Vasquez’s coffee shop is open from 7:30 AM to 4 PM Monday through Saturday.

Among the many local businesses in College Station is a cozy coffee shop at the corner of Texas Avenue and Walton, across from the Texas A&M campus, known as La Gabriella’s. This local café is unique in the BCS area with its blend of pastries and pop culture.

La Gabriella opened 12 years ago as a Guatemalan bakery owned by Gabriella Vasquez. Eventually, Vasquez decided to expand her market by offering a wide variety of coffee blends to accompany the freshly made pastries.

“You have a lot of people coming into this town from all over,” says Vasquez. “They’re looking for something that’s got a little bit of character to it. I think that’s really important that we can provide something like that.”

Beyond its extensive menu of handcrafted beverages and colorful interior design, the shop also offers a unique experience for gaming and media enthusiasts alike, selling vintage video game consoles, a variety of popular game titles, and even a few Blu-ray and DVD films.

This feature was conceived by Vasquez’s business partner, Fernando, a video game collector who wanted to incorporate his gaming and collection hobby into the workplace by curating a selection of games and consoles, maintaining their quality, and selling them in the shop.

“It’s really fun to see the kinds of people that come in and are attracted to that. We have the young people who are like, ‘Wow, I’ve never seen this before,’ and the older folks coming in are like, ‘Wow, this is what I grew up with. I want to get this and share it with my kids,” said Vasquez.

Beyond video games, the coffee shop also makes an effort to highlight and sell collections of art pieces curated by local artists, such as paintings, clay sculptures, beaded jewelry, poetry, and crochet works.

With this intended effort to appeal to a variety of people through art and pop culture, as well as its location on one of College Station’s busiest roads near the university, La Gabriella naturally pulls in a sizable audience of younger folks. While the shop benefits from the many students who frequent the shop throughout the academic year, during the summer months, this audience dips away to go back home, impacting their operations.

“We know to expect it, so we scale back the number of pastries and the number of employees we put on shift, so we know how to prepare for that,” said Vasquez.

Vasquez mentioned that they have a solid base of regulars who come in year-round, so even during the less populated months like the beginning of winter and the majority of the summer, La Gabriella has a stable business flow.

Vasquez stressed the importance of adaptability as a necessary skill when it comes to owning a business.

“Be flexible. Be prepared to do something you weren’t expecting to do,” she said.

With the immense population boom from recent years and the countless city development projects on the way to College Station, the city is set to experience both the benefits and challenges of sudden population growth.

“As a business owner, I feel excited at the prospect of that many new customers, but as a resident, maybe not so excited because I’m not so sure the city infrastructure is prepared for that. I like the small town feel,” said Vasquez.

This appreciation for amicable, small-town energy is certainly showcased in the design of La Gabriella's business model, which is further enhanced by the friendly and sociable staff.

“People want to come together. People need to have a space to come together, and coffee is a really good excuse to do that,” said Vasquez.

The shop maintains a positive atmosphere reinforced by Vasquez’s friendly demeanor and confidence in her belief that, as long as people drink coffee, La Gabriella will continue to be there to make it for them and provide a space to enjoy the comforts of a small town community.