Mama Art Cafe, San Francisco

Named in honor of the women in owner Paulo Acosta Cabezas’s life, Mamá Art Cafe creates a local hub for the output of creative energy and the intake of savory snacks. Mamá's baristas brew a lineup of specialty fair-trade organic coffees, with beans culled from Berkeley Coffee and Tea and served up hot and fresh from an array of roasts, flavors, and magic-beanstalk origins. The intimate café setting boasts an interior adorned with local and international artwork—with past art exhibitions showcasing Marta Ayala's paintings and Charles Anselmo's photographs—and the cafe regularly entertains with creative performances, such as dinner tango routines and live jazz music.

Mamá Art Cafe's tireless effort to give back to the community earned the eatery a shout-out from then-Mayor Gavin Newsom with a 2010 Latino Heritage Award for Achievement in Business, as well as honors at the 2011 Annual Hispanic Business Salute.