A Latin-Leaning Coffee Shop With a Cool Love Story Debuts Downtown

A unique new cafe in town marries the South American and Afro-Caribbean flavors of its founders’ native countries. Nativo started pouring inside the Square on Monday, March 25, bringing a long-awaited coffee component to the 25,000-square-foot food hall that debuted in September with globe-trotting stalls dedicated to Spanish street foods, tacos, soft serve, sushi, and much more (1850 K Street NW).

The third-wave coffee shop serves beloved beans from Cafe Unido, a premiere Panamanian roaster with two stateside locations in D.C. Nativo reflects the combined heritages of its co-founders and tenured baristas Victor Nazar Navarro and Nakita Reid, who also have quite the love story. Nazar Navarro, who formerly managed Pluma Bakery and Cafe Unido in the Union Market district, grew up in Venezuela. Reid moved from Jamaica to D.C. two years ago, met Nazar Navarro through a cafe co-worker, and their first date happened to be at a coffee shop. Now the newly engaged couple has one to call their own.

“We are both immigrants from different countries, but Caribbean and Latin cultures are all intertwined in one big circle,” says Reid.

Nativo opens at 7 a.m., giving the Square its earliest wake-up call yet. Nativo will operate until 2 p.m. to start and eventually extend hours until 6 p.m.

Situated at the Square’s 18th and I Streets NW entrance right off the Farragut West Metro, the coffee shop specializes in microfoams, single-origin pours, and all-homemade syrups.

Nativo

“We are trying to make everything as fresh as possible, with no concentrate,” she says. Opening offerings include a cortado, cappuccino, cold brew, and sunshine latte engineered with turmeric-ginger syrup, cinnamon, and brown cane sugar. Cafe bombon, typically made with sweetened condensed milk, goes completely vegan at Nativo via a coconut substitute. There’s also chai and matcha lattes, fresh-squeezed juices, and teas from D.C.’s Teaism.

For food, look for a growing lineup of breakfast sandwiches built on Venezuelan arepas (white corn cakes), English muffins, and croissants, plus egg white bites, marmalade-topped brioche, hash browns, coconut yogurt studded with oats and dried tropical fruits, and assorted scones and cookies. The menu will soon add Jamaican beef patties and plantain dishes that speak to Reid’s roots.

The coffee shop also plans to sling strong Turkish coffee as a tribute to Nazar Navarro’s grandfather who immigrated to South America. The blue-and-white “o” logo in Nativo refers to his family’s name, Nazar, which represents the evil eye symbol in Turkish.

The Square’s co-creator and D.C. hospitality vet Rich Brandenburg first met Nazar Navarro while he was working at Unido in La Cosecha, which part of the Union Market neighborhood that Brandenburg built.

“He blew me away with that coffee. The opportunity to open a coffee shop here made a lot of sense,” says Brandenburg.

The same silverware, plates, and cups from Casa Teresa, the sit-down Spanish restaurant from the Square’s other founder and Minibar alum Rubén García, are used for sit-and-stay orders at Nativo.

“We are trying to attract everyone from students to executives. An amazing cup of coffee can change your life and the way you look at the rest of the day,” he says.

Nativo

The cafe marks the Square’s first collaborative endeavor, with plans to host latte art competitions, educational coffee classes, and contribute ingredients to build espresso martinis at the Square’s big central bar.

“We want to create a space where customers can come and relax,” says Brandenburg. “[Nativo] is a special spot we’ve put aside as a place to go reset, do a wine tasting, chat, and play a board game.”