Evy Ruiz is serving up comfort in every cup of coffee.

Last year, she opened up her own mobile café, Hasta Luego Cafe, which translates to "see you later friend."

“I named it Hasta Luego Friend because I never imagined myself returning back home and you know that you never say goodbye to anyone, you always return and it’s always see you later,” Hasta Luego Friend owner Evy Ruiz said.

Ruiz was born and raised in Hartford.

“Actually, I grew up in this neighborhood here off Wethersfield Avenue,” Ruiz said.

Ruiz was out-of-state for 17 years working at a corporate job but then in 2023, she was let go.

“I was grieving over a loss of a job and grieving over my age and what I should do at this point, is it too late to start over,” Ruiz said.

She decided to come to Hartford to visit family and friends and ended up deciding to pursue her dream of opening a traveling café.

Evy said coffee holds a special place in her heart and always reminds her of visiting her grandmothers.

“They would comfort us with coffee, even at a young age I was drinking coffee, and at the nighttime [they would say] ‘quire cafe, si gracias’ and that was just opening arms and listening ears to me,” Evy said.

The café also pays tribute to her great grandparents who once owned a restaurant and bodega in the capitol city.

“They had a restaurant in the ‘70s and a bodega and they lost it all in a fire and due to that, my grandfather didn’t want to start all over again, so this was my way of reviving our family legacy,” Ruiz said.

The mobile café is located on Wethersfield Avenue but travels to festivals, private events and pop-up locations in Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts.

On the menu, there are cappuccinos, lattes, matcha and the specialty drink is a build-your-own coquito, which means coquito can be added to almost any drink, including hot chocolate.

“For those who don’t know what coquito is, it’s the Puerto Rican eggnog minus the egg,” Ruiz said.

Ruiz’s success story does not end with the mobile café. This spring, she is opening up a brick-and-mortar at the same location her mobile café is located on Wethersfield Avenue. It will serve as a multi-space venue, featuring a wine bar, restaurant, social club and so much more.

“The second floor will be an art gallery, we want to support local artists as well and do events upstairs as well, and then downstairs we have the kitchen, the wine bar, the café, and five different rooms where you can hang out and catch a vibe,” Ruiz said.

Ruiz said having her passion project be located in the neighborhood she grew up in is her way of giving back to Hartford.

“It still feels surreal to me, I still can’t believe this is happening, the opportunity came to me last year and I felt like I wasn’t ready, but you know we are here, we are going to push through,” Ruiz said.

Ruiz rebuilt her life and shared this advice for anyone in need of a little encouragement.

“My advice to a younger version of myself or anyone else is it is possible, it is possible, you just have to do it, take action,” Ruiz said.