James Beard-recognized Gusto Bread has its eyes on Downtown Long Beach. And not just any space in DTLB, but the famed Acres of Books site within the ONNI East Village residential complex.
Pulling permits through their landlord and operating under the name Café Cuate—the name of their coffee roasting brand and coffee-serving space that was part of their expansion back in 2023—the business will be divided into two spaces. And those are Suites 100 and 600.
One will focus on the coffee. Owner Arturo Enciso is finally able to roast in his own space, using his own roaster in the back while a full cafe and pastry counter operate up front. (He currently roasts using Rose Park Roasters’ 15-kilo Giesen machine. That happens to be also used by Recreational Coffee to roast their beans.)
The other will be a “production baking facility,” according to permits filed with the city, presumably to provide the pastries to be sold at the cafe.
What is Café Cuate—and how is it related to Gusto Bread?
Inside Gusto Bread, Arturo Enciso’s Café Cuate is not a side project. It’s more like the natural next chapter of the bakery’s evolution, with a coffee program built with the same philosophical care that made Gusto one of Long Beach’s most admired panaderías.
Located within the bakery’s Retro Row home on 4th, Café Cuate extends Arturo’s long-running commitment to Mexican and Latin American ingredients. In this case, centering single-origin coffees roasted under his own label. And that particularly includes Mexico, though parts of Central and South America are never fully dismissed
As first reported by Roast Magazine, the concept emerged after a major interior expansion of Gusto Bread in 2023. Roughly 400 additional square feet to the east allowed Arturo and his team to reimagine the front counter as a full specialty coffee bar. Rather than simply adding espresso drinks, he built Café Cuate around cultural specificities. Drinks like the Atolatte fold Oaxacan espresso into house-made atole. Or the Xicano, replacing the standard Americano with piloncillo-sweetened depth.
Through Café Cuate, the goal is not simply to serve coffee inside a bakery. It’s to create another layer of identity within a space already defined by fermentation, heritage, and handmade work. Or, really, an extension of Arturo’s belief that food and drink should tell a story about place, memory, and belonging.
Gusto Bread’s downtown operation, currently under the name Café Cuate, will be located at 240 Long Beach Blvd.
