Los Kopitos Preparing to Open Restaurant in Former See See Building

Los Kopitos, a food truck serving Mexican-style food, is transitioning from the truck to a brick-and-mortar restaurant as they prepare to open Kopitos Cocina at the former See See Coffee Company building at 101 E. 1st Street in Newberg, planned for late spring 2024.

“This was always part of the plan,” said Kopitos co-owner Miriam Sangabriel, who owns the restaurant with her family. “We knocked on a few doors to find a place, but it had to be the right place. Once we heard about See See, we knew we had found it.”

See See Coffee Company closed quietly in January 2023, initially temporarily and then permanently as they struggled to maintain staff and modify the property to accommodate ADA standards. The building, with its signature murals and gas station sign on the corner of E 1st Street and Main Street, has been vacant since.

Meanwhile, the Los Kopitos food truck parked at Methven Family Vineyards in Dundee since 2020 but learned that it was coming to a close earlier this year. After the passing of Allen Methven on March 14, 2022, at age 74, the winery planned to liquidate the business, selling the vineyard to Domaine Drouhin at the end of that year and then leasing the tasting room location to Potcake Cellars on March 1, 2023 according to a post on the company’s Instagram. Los Kopitos food truck closed it’s window at Methven for the last time February 26, 2023.

“We are so grateful to the Methven family,” Sangabriel said. “They supported us a lot during the pandemic by allowing us to serve outside of their tasting room. It helped our business grow during a tough time.”

When the tasting room changed ownership, Kopitos focused on catering and events with their two food trucks while they looked for the right location to set roots. They are from Newberg but developed a reputation in Dundee. They wanted to find a bridge between the two towns, Sangabriel said, where they could be close to both.

The See See building is located on the west side of Newberg’s downtown stretch and is one of the last restaurants before drivers make the five-minute drive to Dundee’s downtown—almost perfectly between the two towns when driving from the north end of Newberg to the south end of Dundee.

Philip Higgins, leasing broker for the space and owner of Pacific Crest Real Estate Advisors (PCREA), said he and his wife Katrina, who serves as president of PCREA, are “thrilled” they found a local match with Kopitos to occupy the space.

“This is a wonderful local family with decades of culinary experience, and to put it plainly, amazing food,” Philip said. “We are glad and welcome them on their return to downtown.”

Kopitos Cocina

This isn’t the first Newberg restaurant with the Kopitos name. Sangabriel’s parents owned Taqueria Kopitos at 508 E. 1st Street in Newberg, now occupied by Taqueria El Burrito. When they retired, Miriam and her siblings wanted to keep the name alive and started plans for a food truck.

Now, as they grow into the brick-and-mortar space, they are excited to bring a unique, comforting spin to the Newberg-Dundee Mexican food scene.

“We know we’re not the only Mexican food restaurant on (Highway) 99,” Sangabriel said. “But almost all of the restaurants are more fast, American-style Mexican food menus. We want to bring some traditional Mexican cooking to the Willamette Valley—high-end but affordable. Comfort cooking.”

Sangabriel hopes the menu reflects her family’s style of cooking. Born in Mexico, her family moved to Newberg when she was 15 years old. She said that influences her family’s kitchen—utilizing fresh fruits and vegetables, abundant specialty herbs and spices, influenced by the wine industry, all with a distinct homecooked Mexican style.

“That’s why we’re calling it ‘Kopitos Cocina,’” she said. “It’s welcoming people into our kitchen with the food that we make. It’s going to be relaxed and comfortable with fantastic smells and flavors.”

The Kopitos team has its work cut out for them, Sangabriel said. Along with exterior work to cover the See See Coffee Company branding that adorns the building, they’re building out the kitchen space to accommodate a kitchen that can support not only the restaurant but also prep work for the company’s two food trucks and catering operations. They’re also building out the back patio area to support more tables and year-round dining while applying for an Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) license so they can operate a full bar.

With those changes in mind, Sangabriel said patrons can expect the restaurant to open around late spring 2024. In the meantime, they’re going to set up their food truck in the parking lot starting January 2024 so locals can taste their food if they haven’t already and learn a bit more about Kopitos, their menu, and their plans for the restaurant.

“We want this to be a place where people come and sit down, not just take food to go,” Sangabriel said. “We want it to be a place for people to celebrate—graduations, weddings, dates—it should have that feel where people want to come and spend time with us.”

Learn more about Kopitos on their social media pages: [FACEBOOK] [INSTAGRAM]