As first reported by local blog Hear in LA, Silver Lake’s Café Tropical is officially back in business as of March 16. Over the last few weeks, the café has quietly been serving free pastries and coffee out of the 2900 Sunset Boulevard space, which suddenly closed in December. The new ownership appears to be the same folks behind Milkcult, a traveling gourmet ice cream pop-up.
First founded in 1975 as an ice cream shop, the Cuban bakery and café has served hot coffee, guava cheese pastries and sandwiches since sometime in the ’90s. For the last three decades, the café’s back room has functioned as a community gathering space for those in recovery, according to the Los Angeles Times. Café Tropical’s abrupt closure, also reported by the Times, was due to familial disputes between then-owner Daniel Navarro and his mother. (Navarro also operated Silver Lake’s longtime El Cochinito and newer cocktail bar Bolita in nearby Virgil Village, both of which also closed in December.) As a result of those financial woes, the former employees’ final paychecks bounced—they’ve since started a still-ongoing GoFundMe.
The new Café Tropical first reopened to friends and family on Thursday, March 14, with the grand reopening to the public beginning on Saturday, March 16. Stories from the café’s newly started Instagram account have shown someone baking orange doughnuts and guava cheese pastries, making it clear new management doesn’t feel the need to mess with a good thing.
Café Tropical is open at 2900 Sunset Boulevard from Tuesday to Sunday, 7am to 3pm.