12 Sep Sweet Potatoe’s Upbeet Cafe Revives Vacant El Cerrito Corner

Clifford Hayes Jr., left, and Jeanette Vento outside Sweet Potatoe’s UpBeet Cafe, which they co-own in El Cerrito.

Story by Natasha Kaye | Photos by Will Burkett

For years, the storefront on Kearney Street and Fairmount Avenue has sat vacant, quietly pleading for a business to take advantage of its rustic charm. Fortunately for residents of El Cerrito and beyond, Jeanette Vento and Clifford Hayes Jr. have taken up the call, transforming the long-empty corner into  Sweet Potatoe’s Upbeet Cafe where neighbors can converse over a coffee, empanadas or menu favorite, a seasonal sea moss smoothie. 

Vento, a Berkeley native and former bartender at The Factory Bar in Richmond, had long dreamed of opening a place of her own. She first learned about the empty space through her co-worker, Tom Lyons.

“It went from a bar to a juicery to a cafe to whatever location I find, I’ll make it work with what feels appropriate for the space,” Vento said. “And then we found this spot and things all sort of fell into place.”

Just a few blocks from the El Cerrito Plaza BART station, the cafe sits on the ground floor of a mixed-use building draped in flowering vines. A tucked-away alley offers a private outdoor patio away from the noise of San Pablo and Fairmount avenues. 

The cafe had its first day of business July 3. No ribbon cuttings, no advertisements, no frills or fanfare. “We just opened our doors,” Vento said. “I’m shy. I didn’t want that attention.” 

Hayes, her partner and co-owner, had previous experience owning a clothing store called Cold World in Pleasanton and pushed for more traditional marketing tactics, but Vento wasn’t sold on the idea. 

“We went back and forth on it, but then I realized we would have to pay to join the Chamber of Commerce, and there would be a whole ceremony. I was like, ‘You mean I have to pay to get embarrassed? I’m cool,’ ” Vento joked. 

Instead of leaning on the usual publicity playbook, the two decided to bring a touch of Hayes’ retail background into the space by offering hoodies, T-shirts and jewelry for sale for anyone who wanted to pair their snack with a little shopping. 

At the heart of the cafe is Vento’s desire to serve food that’s both nourishing and delightful. Alongside buttery pastries from Acme Bakery, she’s curated a menu that leans into wellness with superfoods like lion’s mane mushrooms and sea moss as well as plenty of juice and smoothie options.

The establishment’s name, “Sweet Potatoe’s Up Beet Cafe,” is a nod to the healthy options offered as well as a personal tribute to her late mother. 

“I’m Sweet Potatoe. That was my mom’s nickname for me, and I hated it,” Vento said. “If she knew that I named my cafe Sweet Potatoe’s, she’d be like, ‘Seriously?’

While the cafe is a joint venture for the duo, Hayes says the decor is very much Vento’s vision. The vibe is eclectic, blending old-school diner charm with splashes of pop culture, bright colors, and a large frog painting, once a fixture in Vento’s own kitchen, that now presides over the cafe’s self-service station. 

The menu reflects that same eclectic spirit, mixing superfood smoothies and seasonal lattes with comfort foods and global flavors. Dishes include broccoli and cheddar soup, mango sticky rice, saucy street corn, charcuterie boards and a handful of menu items that touch on Vento’s Peruvian roots, like a chicha morada latte and empanadas from local Peruvian food truck YoSoyCeviche. 

At its core, the cafe is a true “mom and pop” venture run by Richmond and Berkeley natives. The coffee is sourced from both Catahoula Coffee Co. in Richmond and Golden Paw Coffee, a family-owned farm in the Guatemalan highlands that ships its beans to their son in Berkeley for roasting. 

When asked what, if anything, Vento would like customers to walk away with after visiting the cafe, she paused and said simply, “A coffee.”

If you go:

Sweet Potatoe’s Upbeet Cafe
6401 Fairmont Ave, El Cerrito.
7:30 a.m.- 5 p.m. M-F, 9-3 Sat., Closed Sun.
IG: @sweetpotatoesupbeetcafe