Specialty coffee and breakfast pop-up Una Más will open West Tampa brick-and-mortar in February

Two longtime Tampa hospitality veterans are getting ready to open the doors of their first coffee shop.

Una Más’ debut brick-and-mortar resides at 1715 N Howard Ave. Suite B in the heart of West Tampa, adjacent to other concepts like Lucky Tigre, Catrinas Tacos and Tequila Bar and Taqueria El Victor.

Owners Paola Chamorro Ward and Curt Hensley tell Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that their first brick and mortar cafe—which specializes in Cuban and Colombian-inspired comfort food and beverages—is slated to open by mid-February.

The duo has been hosting regular pop-ups at venues throughout Tampa for the past several months and have been steadily creating a customer base for their specialty coffee and homemade burritos.

And anyone who hasn’t made it out to an Una Más event just yet, may recognize Chamorro Ward or Hensley from their time at the now-closed concepts Union, Foundation Coffee or King State.

“Luckily, we already have some regulars at our pop-ups. It’s really cool when we get to talk and get feedback from them—it’s all very helpful. Of course we’ll still make mistakes and learn new things, but it does give us a little bit more confidence going into it,” Chamorro Ward adds. “Going forward, we can focus on the physical space and not stress on the other things because we’ve already been working on the menu and quality of service.”

The duo announced its debut Una Más pop-up last spring and served specialty coffee, burritos and other snacks to a sprawling crowd at Fancy Free Nursery on May 11, 2024.

After plans to open a cafe in Tampa Heights fizzled out, Una Más moved to Magnanimous Brewing’s Seminole Heights taproom in the summer and resumed a steady schedule of breakfast and brunch services from Thursday-Saturday. While the two were focusing on the weekend pop-ups, Chamorro Ward tells CL that they “almost gave up a little on finding a permanent space” for Una Más.

The opportunity to move into the brick-and-mortar space was actually presented to them by Raw Smoothie Co. owner James Rue, who is the landlord of the West Tampa parcel. The former King State patron and regular customer approached Chamorro Ward and Hensley about opening Unà Mas in his building, which also houses private artist studios, and the duo quickly received the keys to their spot on Dec. 1 of last year.

After some light plumbing and electrical work, the space only needs a few more cosmetic touches to bring it to life. The 700 square-foot cafe will seat about 20 patrons inside and an additional 10 or so when outside tables are eventually added.

The coffee menu will offer all of the expected drinks like lattes, cappuccinos, cortados, Americanos and cold brew, with some seasonal beverages here and there. Just a few specialty drinks that Unà Mas has recently offered include its “Fall-ish” latte with ginger lager syrup and additional spices and its “Panelada,” made with cold brew, panela (raw unrefined sugar) syrup and sparkling water.

Retail bags of Colombian beans, most-likely roasted by Pinellas-based Eastlick Coffee, will also be for sale.

In terms of the Una Más food menu, Hensley will continue to sling a variety of beloved breakfast burritos (accompanied by cilantro crema or homemade ají), sweet corn arepas, a few sweet and savory pastries and other breakfast and lunch items.

“We’re going to be adding more lunch options like picadillo plates and Cuban-style chicken tazòn and small snackie stuff—hopefully they’ll be available by the time we open, but we’re definitely planning on it,” Hensley says. “It’s never been our goal to have a huge menu, but we want it just varied enough so that our customers still have options.”

Chamorro Ward and Hensley also recently launched the Unà Mas Club, a coffee and breakfast membership program that’s designed to help fund the cafe’s buildout while providing patrons with a variety of perks and discounts. Folks who pay a one-time, annual fee of $150 receive a bunch of merch, a birthday present, free coffee on the first Wednesday of each month and a year-round discount on food and drinks.

Head to @unamastpa on Instagram for the latest updates on Una Mas’ buildout, future pop-ups, the Uná Mas Club and the cafe’s slated soft opening date.

Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.

Follow us: Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter

This article appears in Jan 23-29, 2025.