San Diego County businesses like Cafeina Cafe in City Heights recently got a needed end-of-year boost from the California Restaurant Foundation. The local coffee shop was one of 15 independent restaurants in the county awarded a $5,000 grant.
“Honestly, I feel like these awards can be a make it or break it for a business depending on where you are in your situation financially,” said Andrew Benavides, owner of Cafeina Cafe.
For him, it’s been a relief to his budget and mental health.
Benavides, a native San Diegan, started his cafe off 46th Street and University Avenue in 2019. It serves coffee with Latin American fusion flavors as well as ice cream, pastries and provides a gathering place for the community he grew up in.
Andrew Benavides, owner of Cafeina Cafe, at his shop in City Heights.
(Sandy Huffaker/For The San Diego Union-Tribune)
While his nascent business made it through the pandemic, he said this year has been particularly challenging because of nearby construction that has caused them to lose business.
Benavides spent most of the year searching for financial assistance but then discovered the California Restaurant Foundation’s grant and applied.
The food industry trade group originally started the Restaurants Care Resilience Fund in 2020 to help independent restaurant owners survive the pandemic. It offered grants — funds that don’t need to be repaid — to help small businesses weather closures, maintain staff and cover expenses.
After pandemic restrictions eased, the foundation continued offering grants as a way to invest in the long-term success of local restaurants. The most recent round of money is aimed at helping businesses owners pay for kitchen equipment, technology upgrades, train and retain employees as well as cover the costs of unforeseen hardships.
Benavides, who has six part-time employees, works at the shop everyday. He talked over the phone about what this money means to him between greeting customers and preparing their drinks. Now, he said this money will help him show his gratitude to his employees as well as cover expenses that have piled up.
“With small businesses, you never really know what your day to day will look like,” he said. “Sometimes assistance can help cover those months that start slower to kind of give you a little boost to keep moving forward.”
Bolt Brewery in La Mesa was one of 15 San Diego County businesses awarded a $5,000 grant from the California Restaurant Foundation.
(Maura Fox / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Since the Resilience Fund program started in 2021, it has invested nearly $6 million in 1,325 of California’s independent restaurants.
“We are thrilled to close out our biggest Resilience Fund year yet by awarding 182 restaurant owners with these business-supporting grants,” said Alycia Harshfield, executive director of the foundation. “We are confident that our new cohort of deserving restaurant owners will use their grants to strengthen their business’s resiliency and further cultivate a vibrant food scene across California.”
The grants are funded by donations from California utility companies — San Diego Gas & Electric, Southern California Gas and Pacific Gas & Electric. Earlier this year, the program awarded grants to 18 San Diego County businesses.
The latest group of local businesses awarded grants include a variety of food businesses such as a brewery, a coffee shop, Mexican restaurants and more. Half of the businesses are located in the city of San Diego while the rest span each corner of the county.
- Cardiff Beach Bar @ Tower 13
- The Grinder
- Balsamico Italian Kitchen
- Ethos Restaurant Group LLC (dba Zizikis Street Food)
- The Alcove Wine and Beer
- Jay’s Southern Cafe
- Kabul Kabob House
- Punjabi Tandoor
- World Curry
- Four Tunas Fish & Bar
- Phatties Vegan Mexican Restaurant
- Cafeina Cafe
- Nico’s Mexican Food
- Sangucheria Peruvian Street Food
- Bolt Brewery
For more information about the Restaurant Cares Resilience Fund and to see the full list of previous grant recipients, visit www.restaurantscare.org/resilience.
