A new Cuban cafe and cocktail bar is opening in the Shelby Park neighborhood this week.
Sweet Colada, located at 1113 Logan St., near Logan Street Market, will open to the public on July 10, according to owner Nachely Martinez. A grand opening celebration is planned for August.
“We started last week with soft opening training, and interestingly enough, we added a whole bar concept,” Martinez said. “So, I realized the soft opening is just going to be a little bit longer than I anticipated because of the bar, making sure you get the drinks right.”
Sweet Colada is Martinez’s first restaurant, but she’s been in the business most of her life. Her parents, Carmen Margarita Coro and Eduardo Fernandez, operate the Cuban bakery Sweet Havana at 5510 Fern Valley Road.
Martinez said her parents previously ran a bakery in Las Vegas, where she grew up and earned a bachelor’s degree in hotel/motel administration from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She also holds an MBA from UNLV’s Lee Business School.
“My parents had their first Cuban bakery and café in Las Vegas when I was around 15,” Martinez said. “I saw how much my parents worked every single day — seven days a week, 365 days a year — in a restaurant. I didn’t want to work in the kitchen, but I wanted to work in hospitality because I love it. So, I went to school for hospitality.”
Martinez’s sister is married to Yaniel Martinez, a co-owner of Olé Hospitality Group, the company behind concepts like Señora Arepa, La Bodeguita de Mima, Taco Luchador, and Guaca Mole Modern Mexican.
After her parents moved to Louisville in 2015 to work for Olé Hospitality, Martinez followed them. Opening Sweet Colada, she said, is a way to help her parents expand their business.
“I moved here and again — I wanted nothing to do with the business — but I was always behind the scenes helping my parents, doing Facebook and spreadsheets,” Martinez said. “I started really getting involved with the business, and they wanted to continue growing. At that point, I decided that’s where I needed to step in. It’s a big part of their growth and gives them an option for future retirement.”
Most of the pastries at the new restaurant will be made at Sweet Havana, but the other food items will be made on-site. Sweet Colada will offer coffee, sandwiches, juices, empanadas, and snacks, with prices ranging from $1.85 to $6.25.
The restaurant also features a service window for walk-up customers, and Martinez plans to add an outdoor patio in the future.
The restaurant is located in a more than 1,200-square-foot space that was previously a house rezoned for commercial use. Martinez said a friend, Raphael Collazo of Summit Commercial Group, told her about the available space in Shelby Park, which Collazo and a business partner own.
Martinez said she invested about $50,000 to open the restaurant, which will have seven employees. She and her boyfriend oversaw most of the renovations themselves.
“We renovate houses, so we have some construction under our belt,” she said. “We did a lot. He did the painting. I did the counter, the butcher block. We stained the floors. We sanded.”
Her parents also contributed equipment from their restaurant, which helped reduce costs. “So really, it felt like a community project,” Martinez added.
Sweet Colada will be open Tuesday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
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