Stephanie Delgadillo turned her love of coffee and a dream into Latte Corazon, a coffee truck that is most often stationed in northwest Albuquerque that serves tasty drinks and treats.
Part of Delgadillo’s dream was to stop working the night shift and spend more time with her family.
“I used to be a health care worker; I worked in the laboratory up in Santa Fe and I would work night shift,” Delgadillo said. “I was working the night shift, it was like, so hard, you know? So I thought I need to think of something to do for me to be able to transition. They have day shifts, but nothing that I wanted. I would have to work weekends and just sacrifice a lot of time away from my family. I bought myself a little espresso machine for my house, and I thought it’d be so cool to sell coffee.”
Delgadillo was able to take the first step with the help of her husband earlier this year.
“My husband has been so helpful; he right away said, Oh, yeah, you should do it,'” Delgadillo said. “So he found someone that manufactured food trucks in Mexico. And that’s where I’m from from, Chihuahua. We got everything we needed. My husband, like I said, was super helpful like with starting the business and the manufacturer.”
Once the truck was secured, Delgadillo took went to Guadalajara, Mexico, where her husband is from, to take barista training classes to make sure the coffee was as good as it could be.
“There’s this coffee shop over there trains baristas, they train you on everything,” Delgadillo said. “I didn’t know how to use my espresso machine. Of course, I have my small one at home, which is nothing compared to this, so we went and took a trip over there. It was a four-day trip and this class was two dates. So we went and I got trained, and then I came back and a few months later I got started.”
Latte Corazon served its first cup of joe in June of this year. During the summer, the truck also offered seasonal drinks to help customers cool off. The truck also serves pastries like cinnamon knots, apple pecan muffins and pumpkin spice conchas. The fall seasonal drinks are:
If you’ve driven near Paseo del Norte and Unser in the past five months, you’ve most likely seen Latte Corazon parked in the corner lot. The truck does travel for special events and has served up drinks at Cottonwood Mall, elementary schools and car shows. But its mostly parked at Paseo and Unser, where the truck is very visible.
“This is a really good spot,” Delgadillo said. “I told my husband, I should move around. He’s like, no, you should stay there because people pass and they see you and it’s true. I get a lot of customers that say, ‘Oh, I’ve seen you a lot of times when I pass. I’m finally I have time to stop.’ So it’s a good spot.”Latte Corazon is taking the week off for the holiday but will be back next week in its customary spot. You can keep up with the location where Latte Corazon will be parked on its Facebook or Instagram. Delgadillo said her coffee truck has been a hit with patrons so far.“I’ve been staying pretty busy,” Delgadillo said. “Business is picking up for sure.”
Delgadillo said her menu and ingredients is what makes her coffee different from the corporate shops that most people frequent.
“Everything is homemade; I make all my syrups, so it’s a little different,” Delgadillo said. “It gives customers a unique experience, not just because you can go to any coffee shop and get Starbucks syrup and it’ll be the same as other places. I do add a Mexican hint to most of my drinks and I just want to share that with people like new flavors.”
