Cafe Express, located on the corner of Cambrian Mall’s food court, is SooToday’s first Mid-Week Mugging.
The locally owned and operated coffee shop and bakery’s owner and staff chatted with us in exchange for two nifty SooToday coffee mugs.
Kyle Mammarella manages the coffee shop and bakery, assisted by his mother Sandra, on behalf of the shop’s owner, Kyle’s father Enzo.
In spite of all the hard work involved, Kyle told SooToday “it’s always nice to be your own boss and set your own hours.”
Kyle said he enjoys greeting Cafe Express regular customers.
“You really get to know people, you really develop personal relationships with people who have come here for a long time. It’s nice to get to know people that way.”
Cafe Express sells cappuccino, latte, mocaccino, espresso and other coffee products as well as iced hot cocoa and smoothies in the summer months, along with home-made baked goods such as pinwheels, tarts, cookies, muffins and mini-lemon meringue pies.
“The mini-lemon meringue pies go over great,” said Kyle’s father Enzo.
The entrepreneurial spirit runs in the Mammarella family.
“When I was four years old my father Enzo had a business, it was a diner called the Coral Coffee Shop on Queen Street, then after that there was Enzo’s Variety and Video on Second Line West,” Kyle said.
Enzo Mammarella now owns and operates Enzo’s Eatery, located across from Cafe Express in Cambrian Mall’s food court, specializing in burgers and poutine.
It’s a way to keep an eye on each other, Kyle and Enzo jested.
Cafe Express is open seven days a week, 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.