Coffee 51, quirky cafe with tons of heart, opens in Glendale

Coffee 51 celebrated its grand opening in Glendale on Thursday, and night owls will be happy. The new cafe stays open until at least 10 p.m. daily, and until 11 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.

"I don't have a lifestyle where I'm asleep early," says owner Jesse Lozano. "So I'm like: Let's go longer, why not?"

If the name Coffee 51 sounds reminiscent of the nearby tattoo-and-piercing parlor Area 51 Piercings, that's because Lozano owns that, too, along with business partner Josh Brier. But Lozano isn't a cold and calculated businessman. It's all a "passion project" to him, in the truest sense of the term.

"My harmony is giving out more," Lozano, a 38-year-old Glendale native, says. "Before we started our first company, it was pre-COVID, and we were homeless, down in a rut. It was just like: What do you have? We have so much time and energy, and we put everything we had (into the business)."

He elaborates on those difficult chapters in his story.

"It's just life choices that led me to it. Sometimes it just goes under and you just gotta have faith and really just believe."

Leaning into his faith is a major theme in Lozano's life, who was raised Catholic.

"I just think you gotta look at the moments of (positivity). We all get angry, we're all filled with thoughts and emotions. And it's just like, hone yourself, realize there's always something higher than you that's pushing through us. It's all energy — we're all connected. Try to be the best version of you for yourself, and it trickles down to other people."

With his latest project, Lozano is putting that energy and inspiration toward creating a community space.

Coffee 51, located on 57th and Myrtle Avenues, has a simple menu of classic coffee drinks, horchatas and energy drinks. To eat, there's gourmet popcorn and freeze-dried candy. Coffee 51 won't be cooking in-house, but its outdoor area is perfect for hosting food trucks.

Lalo's Tacos will be there from 6 to 11 p.m. on Thursdays through Saturdays. There isn't much seating within the modest but vibrantly decorated indoor section, so the real hangout spot is the spacious patio outside.

Inside, there's a large statue of an angel — and there's an even bigger mural, in honor of Valley artist Monique “Mochacha” Sanderson-Mata, who died in 2021.

"She was the first person to ever get me to be out there publicly," Lozano says, "go out and make money, push, push, thinking and creating art. She was one of our best friends... She changed our course."

Lozano says he wants Coffee 51 to be "a chill spot for everybody," where customers "can hang out, chill, watch some TV, listen to some music, have their drinks."

"I always want to have a safe space for people where, when you come, you're gonna have a good time," he says.

The cluster of people working at the cafe are so tight-knit it's hard to tell who's related. One of the reasons Lozano opened the coffee shop is for his daughter, who always dreamed of running her own cafe. Now, she's a major part of the team.

"Family's a big thing, man," Lozano says. "And family's not just blood. Those people that actually see you and hear you, annoy you, you get pissed off with... I think we have lost our (consciousness) of family. As humans, we need to belong."