This is where Abraham Guerra and his wife Gabriela were sitting when the dream for the Latin Arepas Café was born.
“Sitting there on one of those beach chairs, I said, wouldn’t it be great if we could make something like this with the same vibe at home?” said Guerra.
Many people have felt that way on vacation, wanting to bottle the feeling and bring it home. For Guerra, though, the atmosphere was not just a vacation fantasy. It felt familiar.
“We grew up in Venezuela and in Puerto Rico, on the coast by the ocean, surfing and playing in the sand by the tiki bar my parents went to,” he said. “They were greeted like they were cousins and brothers, and I played with the kids from the restaurant.”
After retiring from his work as a general contractor in 2015, Guerra and his wife, Gabriela, were ready for a new adventure. With the popularity of shows such as “The Great Food Truck Race” at the time, they decided a food truck would be the best place to test their concept.
Drawing on his experience, Guerra built much of the food truck himself. It proved more challenging than he first imagined, but their “beach cruiser” quickly found an audience. Every detail reflected the island dream that sparked it.
The wrap, inspired by the Beach Boys’ iconic woody wagon, featured bold striping and a surfboard motif. What anchored the dream, however, was not just atmosphere. It was the food itself.
At the center of Latin Arepas is the arepa, a corn cake that Guerra grew up eating in Venezuela. The version the Guerra’s serve is rooted in family tradition, inspired by Abraham’s grandmother, who preferred frying them for a crisp exterior and soft center.
Split open and filled with savory meats, beans, cheese and sweet plantains, the arepas offered something familiar yet rare in southwest Ohio. Other staples include the street tacos, and Pabellón Bowl, the national dish of Venezuela.
The Guerras built a loyal following through those handed down family recipes, and by 2019 customers were urging them to expand. Food trucks shut down for months each winter, and regulars did not want to wait.
“Everybody used to say, ‘It’s so sad you have to shut down from November until April. We can’t get your food. You need a bigger place,’” said Guerra. “So I got in it. We did it.”
They opened a brick and mortar location just months before the COVID-19 pandemic forced restaurants to close. When shutdowns came, the Guerras returned to what Abraham calls their “lifeboat,” the food truck, serving hospitals and neighborhoods.
“We were still selling the product, helping people on the way, and with a smile,” said Guerra. “We had music coming out of the speakers for people waiting in line and made it fun.”
The turning point came when a customer approached Guerra with a simple proposition: “I want this in Springboro.” When he later toured a former yoga studio, he knew immediately it was the right fit. The roofline, reminiscent of a tiki hut like the one at the Soggy Dollar Bar, sealed the decision.
After much hard work to convert the once yoga studio into a tropical oasis, Latin Arepas Café opened in Springboro in March of 2022.
“When you walk through that door, my crew will tell you ‘welcome to the island,” said Guerra.
And once inside, you can see why that is an appropriate greeting. Just inside the entrance there is a floor to ceiling photo of a dock leading out to clear blue ocean waters and you are standing in front of a tiki bar that looks as if it was flown in from the nearest coastal paradise.
This is where you place your order. Steel drum melodies are playing in the background and you might hear ocean wave sound effects.
Inside there is casual seating and on warmer days the garage door opens to a full patio filled with tropical plants and palm trees just waiting for you to carry one of 37 authentic tiki cocktails out and sip under the stars. The patio even has a sand area aptly marked “beach.”
There is a larger indoor bar with comfortable bar chairs made for you to sit and linger just as you might at a resort. You truly might forget you are in Springboro, Ohio and that is the idea.
On Tiki Taco Tuesdays, there is music and a happy hour that lasts all day and more music will be added as we move into the warmer months because as Guerra puts it, “people dance when they hear music and it helps you to get out of that dark little alley that we all encounter once in a while.”
Years ago, Guerra wondered what would happen if he carried the feeling of a Caribbean beach chair back to Ohio. Latin Arepas Café is his answer.
It is a place built on faith and family recipes, where guests are invited to slow down, linger a little longer and forget the rush of the world outside. For a few hours, under palm trees and string lights, Springboro feels a lot like island time.
HOW TO GO
What: Latin Arepas Café
Where: 85 W Central Ave., Springboro
Hours: 4-9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday
Online: LatinArepasSpringboroOh.com or (937) 714-7666
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