When Jacqueline Milian opened Mammitas Coffee in 2019, she never planned to be a chef. Six years later, the coffee shop earned her a spot among the Iowa Restaurant Association’s “Top 40 Women to Watch in the Hospitality Industry,” a recognition honoring not just her business knowledge but her ability to turn a small Iowa City coffee shop into a beloved community gathering space.
“To be recognized in the state of Iowa was huge,” Milian said. “And there are a lot of women in Iowa City. To be one of four or five women in Iowa City was a really big honor, and to be able to sit there and listen to all those stories was incredible.”
Mammitas Coffee was built by three generations of the Milian family. The shop is named for Milian’s mother, Teresa Sotomayor, whose grandchildren affectionately refer to her as “Mammita.”
Sotomayor works at the café alongside her daughter and granddaughters, making pastries, flan, and other Salvadoran dishes.
“I am Hispanic, I am a woman, I am a single mom, and I’m not from the greatest area, demographically,” Ortega said. “To see somebody in my mom’s shoes, it wasn’t just watching my mom do it. It was also watching somebody from where I came from do it. So it is really inspiring in multiple ways.”
Milian, her husband, and their four children moved to Iowa City almost a decade ago and opened Mammitas’ doors in February 2020. However, shortly after opening, they were forced to shut down to comply with COVID-19 restrictions in 2020.
Milian said those times were some of the hardest for her business.
“My best friend came by, and she said, ‘Hey, Merry Christmas. Here’s a check for the rent. You’re not going to close. I believe in you,’” Milian said. “For three months, my rent was paid by God.”
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, Milian and her family credit their faith in God and the Iowa City community with helping Mammitas stick around.
“This community itself is built upon thousands of different cultures,” Ortega said. “Our students, our community, and Iowa City as a whole have always had our backs, and that love is always reciprocated from us.”
Sofia Sabogal, a fourth-year student at the University of Iowa, is one of these community members who has “become familia,” Milian said, after Sabogal joined the Mammitas team just four months ago and went with Milian to Des Moines for her Top 40 Women to Watch recognition. She even has her own item on Mammitas’ extensive and ever-evolving menu: “Sofy’s Special.”
“I’m really grateful to be in Iowa, like everyone here, I’ve just found such a great community, and I think Mammitas has contributed to that,” Sabogal said. “It was really special to be able to meet other Latinos in Iowa who are really happy to be the way that they are, and also want to express that through food.”
When Sabogal, who is Colombian, learned Mammitas was a Latin-owned space, she reached out to Milian and ended up with an internship to manage the cafe’s social media presence.
“I knew that whether or not I was going to come back and help them out with social media, I really found a home there,” Sabogal said. “She just puts all of her energy and love into this restaurant and cooks with the most love.”
Sabogal plans to pursue culinary arts upon her graduation, in large part because of her experience working at Mammitas.
“It’s wonderful to have good food and enjoy the thing that you’re eating, but there’s a whole other world behind eating something that’s prepared with love,” Sabogal said. “And I think that’s what builds that family experience.”
Milian said Sabogal is just one example of how the café has grown through relationships as much as recipes. And while Mammitas now has a menu with signature items like its Cuban sandwich, street tacos, and Latin pastries — getting there was not easy.
“When we first started offering food at the café, it was a little overwhelming because I’ve never been a chef, so it was fear, you know? I mean, it was the fear of failure, right? And then the fear of wondering if I could actually make this happen.”
But today, Ortega said her mom’s Top 40 Women to Watch recognition feels like a culmination of everything Milian has poured into her business over the last six years.
“I think a lot of people are amazed by the shop and what she’s done in that span of time,” Ortega said. “My mom downplays herself so much, to be honest, but I think she is a great example of what could become of anybody.”
Milian has lots of plans for the future of Mammitas, including the upcoming launch of Ita’s Boutique, a small storefront she plans to open at the entrance of the coffee shop before the new year.
She is also planning to expand the café’s food menu, host floral pop-up shops, hold new “Mammita’s Mixology” classes, and obtain a liquor license.
But Milian said what remains most important to her is that her customers always feel at home when they step through the door.
“On my website, it says you walk in here as customers and leave here as familia,” Milian said. “And that’s true. That’s what I love about this place.”
