Café Cino

Coffee shop in Washington, DC

Address

1825 18th St NW, Washington, DC, 20009

Phone

(202) 430-2436

Website

cafecinodc.com

About Café Cino

Café Cino is a specialty coffee and tea pop-up in Washington, DC, built around community, craft, and culture. Founded by Ron Collins and Carolina Meurkens, a Black and queer-owned couple, the café began in 2022 as a pop-up inside PLNTR, a plant shop in Dupont Circle, and quickly built a devoted following of regulars. At its core, Café Cino is about specialty coffee done with intention: single-origin pour-overs, partnerships with local roasters, and relationships with international coffee farms that reflect the founders' commitment to sustainable and thoughtful sourcing. Ron and Carolina, both musicians and artists, bring that creative sensibility into the café itself, regularly hosting live music alongside coffee tastings and other community activations. The result is a space that feels less like a transaction and more like an invitation - a welcoming, creative atmosphere where craft and culture meet over a cup of coffee. Café Cino is expanding beyond its pop-up roots, with a first permanent location set to open at Bridge District in 2026 alongside a companion venture, Nico's Kitchen. That growth builds on years of showing up consistently for the DC coffee community, one pour-over at a time, and reflects the founders' larger vision of what a neighborhood coffee shop can be: a gathering place rooted in quality, hospitality, and genuine connection.

Ron Collins and Carolina Meurkens met in 2018 while both working at a café inside a DC convention center - Ron had come by to repair equipment, and the two bonded over a shared love of coffee culture and travel. Ron had discovered specialty coffee a few years earlier through pour-over brewing and had been working in coffee shops since 2018, drawn to the hospitality of taking care of people. Carolina, a creative professional who grew up in a household where coffee was central to family gatherings, was newer to barista work but shared Ron's passion for quality and community. Their relationship grew quickly, and within two years they welcomed a child they named Cino - after cappuccino. In 2022, that shared love of coffee turned into Café Cino, a pop-up launched inside PLNTR, a plant shop in Dupont Circle. What started as a modest side project grew into a community fixture, and the café is now preparing to open its first permanent home at Bridge District in 2026.

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