All in the Family

Since first opening in 1987 in Noe Valley, Martha & Bros. Coffee Company has been a family affair, with a total of seven shops open in California (six throughout San Francisco and one in Richmond).

In fact, Raquel Picazo says that all seven shops are family owned, including her father’s shop at 4726 Mission St. She also says that it feels good when family can come together and do some good.

“Obviously, there’s ups and downs when you work with family,” says Picazo, the store manager who helps her father, Sergio Guerrero. “But we’ve made it work.”

She said that her grandfather, Aquiles Guerrero, dreamed of opening a coffee shop, but was unable to before his death. However, Sergio Guerrero decided to open the shop in his father’s honor.

Interestingly, Picazo says that when her father decided to open the shop in Excelsior, many people didn’t believe it could be successful since they thought the neighborhood wasn’t a “coffee drinking neighborhood.” But as it turns out, the shop has done well since its opening almost five years ago.

“So far, we’ve proved them wrong,” she said.

The shop features some paintings which she said were brought from Nicaragua. One I can personally relate to is a simple painting: fruit in a paper bag. I was unsure whether the fruits were apples or nectarines but when I first saw it, I immediately thought of my job as a checker at Safeway in Millbrae, since I’m usually bagging those fruits.

Picazo says one of her favorites is a beautiful painting of villagers picking coffee berries at a plantation in Nicaragua.


She says she relates to it because her grandfather owned a coffee plantation in Nicaragua before coming to the United States. Although she says she’s unsure of where in the country her grandfather owned the plantation, she says that the painting “brings back memories of when we would go pick out coffee … I love eating the berries.”

She also says that it feels great whenever she helps customers of different ethnicities because customers teach her different words from different languages. She says that she even gets to help the customers learn her native language, Spanish.

“I have a lot of customers that will come and ask me ‘Oh, how do you say this in
Spanish?’” she says. “They actually practice their Spanish with us. It’s great.”

Along with the coffee, the shop offers Internet access and customers are also welcome to enjoy their coffee or pastries outside on a patio.


While sitting down, I felt like the patio had a Puerto Vallarta kind of feel to it with its big plants. I even felt like I was in my dad’s backyard, telling Raquel that “I feel at home.”

As the shop continues to succeed, Picazo says “It feels good to say, you know, ‘It’s all in the family.’”