Nichim Cafe

Nichim Cafe in Yuma, AZ is one of those rare finds that makes you want to tell everyone you know. The menu alone is worth the stop off the I-8.

Yuma does not get the coffee love it deserves. But if there is one shop in town making a serious case for the city, it is Nichim Cafe on S. Foothills Blvd. Owner Karime Burruel originally grew up in Mexicali and you can feel that pride and care in every corner of this place.

Ms. Burruel runs the cafe with her daughter and together they have built something genuinely special. Her commitment to quality starts with sourcing. She imports her coffee beans directly from a roaster across the border in Mexico, focusing on single origin Chiapas beans grown in the mountains of that southern Mexican state. The beans are organic. The milk is organic. The chicken in the sandwiches is organic. The equipment matches that standard too. The espresso shots are pulled on a Nuova Simonelli and every chiller and piece of equipment in the shop is quality stainless steel (none of the cheap restaurant-grade stuff here).

On our visit we put the menu to the test. The Chicken Sandwich was delicious and everything on it felt like quality right down to the sourdough bread. The Arugula Toast with egg (avocado and cherry tomatoes on sourdough) was excellent. The Sprouts Toast with egg was fabulous. The boiled egg addition to those toasts is a great call and I would not skip it. The Mango Smoothie was creamy and delicious. The hot latte made from those Chiapas beans was exactly what you want from a single origin pour. And the Mocha Frap deserves a special mention: it is well balanced, not too sweet, made from all natural ingredients with no syrups and no added sweeteners. Think of it as what a Starbucks frappuccino would be if it actually cared about you!

The cozy shop also functions as a mini market. You can grab a dozen organic brown eggs sourced from Golden Valley Browns (a local Yuma farm), sourdough bread and English muffins from The Rustic Pantry, jars of marinara from Mama's Bella Vita, local honey in several varieties and handmade soap bars from McMatos Farm. The desserts come from Tater Bryde Bakery & Sweets and they are top notch. What Ms. Burruel has done here goes beyond running a great cafe. She looked at her community, found the best of what it had to offer and brought it all under one roof! Local farmers, local bakers, local makers. The result is a place where a single visit gives you a genuine taste of Yuma at its finest. That is a rare thing anywhere.

The shop sits right off the I-8 Foothills Blvd exit with a brand new Chevron right next door. It truly could not be more convenient for travelers passing through. Just know that Nichim Cafe closes at 3:00 PM daily (2:00 PM on Sundays). This is a shop worth building your schedule around. Set your arrival time, plan your stop and do not let the clock beat you. You will regret it if it does.