After establishing strong connections in and around Summit County, a local family with Filipino and Portuguese roots is inviting members of Firestone Park neighborhood to come by their new café – and stay awhile.
Stay Awhile Café, at 1762 Brown St. in Akron, opened June 6 with family, friends, colleagues and other community members present, said owner Ana Borges.
“It’s needed in the community,” Ana said, citing limited coffee and healthy food options. “So, I mean, hey, we’re happy to provide.”
Originally from the Philippines, Ana moved to the United States at the age of 13. While living in New Jersey and studying and working at Monmouth University, she met Paulo Borges, who had himself immigrated from overseas.
“I was working in one of the offices, and he was one of the students that was coming in,” Ana said. “I was like, ‘This kid is coming in way too much.’ That’s how we got started. We happened to be the same major, too.”
Paulo, who had moved to the United States from Portugal at 17 years old, continued on a medical education and career track after completing his undergraduate biology degree. Ana, who also studied biology as an undergrad, transitioned her career by attending the University of Baltimore School of Law and becoming an attorney.
“Organic chemistry is insane,” she said.
The couple moved to Ohio after Paulo graduated from St. George’s University School of Medicine in Grenada; he had matched with Barberton Citizens Hospital, now part of the Summa Health system, for residency in family practice.
“The plan was always to do residency and then go back because that’s what we knew,” Paulo said. “We didn’t know Ohio. And then fast-forward 22 years later – we wouldn’t go back.”
After completing his residency, he worked at Summa, then joined Community Health Care, where he works as a family medicine physician.
Paulo said he plans to work at the café mostly on Fridays and weekends.
“This is her thing,” he said, motioning to Ana. “I just wear an apron when I’m here.”
Between her work as a lawyer and opening Stay Awhile Café, Ana took on various positions, including as an assistant to a thoracic surgeon and as an aide at Saint Sebastian Parish School in Akron.
The couple has four children – Sydney, 20; Suzana, 18; Sadie, 16; and Simon, 14 – who all work at the café during times when they’re not attending school or working other jobs. The four of them attended Saint Sebastian; two priests from the parish attended the cafe’s opening, along with another priest from St. Paul Parish in Akron.
“Once all the kids go back to school, I’m going to be very sad,” she said. “But I’m going to be the one primarily doing the day to day, which I like doing.”
Filipino, Portuguese dishes, inspire Stay Awhile Café team
With input and involvement from her family, Ana has incorporated international dishes – including from the Philippines and Portugal – into the menu. That includes an ube latte, a Portuguese latte called galão and a Portuguese pastry called pastel de nata.
Sydney, who studies economics at Ohio State University and works as a barista at Gervasi Vineyard Resort & Spa during breaks from school, said she appreciates the influences on the menu from the two countries.
“And also just the community values and friends and family and all of that stuff also all comes from our culture, as well,” she said.
Suzana, who will attend Ohio State in the fall to begin an education in health care, said some long hours have been involved in setting up Stay Awhile Café.
But, she said, “it feels less like work because we’re doing it together.”
Suzana said the café offers Firestone Park residents “a space that’s like closer and more accessible to them.”
“A lot of people in the neighborhood have been coming in and saying how great it is that they have a place like this in walking distance,” she said.
What else does Stay Awhile Café offer?
In addition to hot beverages, Stay Awhile Café serves milkshakes, smoothies and matcha.
The team, which has been onboarding additional members, locally sources various food items and ingredients. The coffee is from Akron Coffee Roasters, the milk from Hartzler Family Dairy in Wooster and baked goods such as scones, cookies and bread from Breads in Fairlawn.
“When I tasted those scones, it was probably the best scone I ever had,” Paulo said.
The bagel purveyor is one exception to the local sourcing of items. On that front, they’re paying homage to the East Coast, Ana said.
“Our bagels are from the Bronx,” she said.
Stay Awhile Café’s hot foods include a breakfast sandwich, avocado toast and a panini sandwich.
Ana and Paulo are staying away from selling and offering certain food items, such as chemical sweeteners, for health reasons. Their eggs are cage-free and organic.
“The concept is, we’re trying to feed people things that we feed our people – our kids,” Ana said. “We wouldn’t want to give something to somebody that I can’t give to my children.”
The family is also big on reading, Ana and Paulo said. They invite guests to read through any books in the café during their visits.
“But the one thing the kids were adamant about was that nobody is allowed to take their books,” Ana said. “… The same thing with me, too. Nobody’s allowed to take my books. But they can sit there, and they can read and they can hang out all they want. They can keep coming back, keep reading the books. And that was our only stipulation with that because we’re probably going to be buried with these books.”
Overall, Ana and Paulo said they’ve been touched by the outpouring of support before and since opening the café.
“Some of those friends have suffered through the anxiety and stresses and crying over construction,” Ana said. “And some of them helped us paint. Some of them helped us with just so many other things. It’s just unbelievable.”
Stay Awhile Café is open from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day except Tuesdays, when it is closed, Ana said. In July and August, the hours will change to 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., she added.
Patrick Williams covers growth and development for the Akron Beacon Journal. He can be reached by email at pwilliams@gannett.com or on X @pwilliamsOH. Sign up for the Beacon Journal’s business and consumer newsletter, “What’s The Deal?”
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Family working to build community at café in Akron’s Firestone Park
Reporting by Patrick Williams, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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By Patrick Williams, Akron Beacon Journal | USA TODAY Network
