Restaurants

La Mo’s recent scan-to-order post has two choices: cafe or cocina. That small distinction is useful if you have only stopped for a latte, or only know the courtyard as a place for breakfast. The coffee shop and the restaurant share a downtown address, but have different menus, ordering links and hours.

Find them at 310 East Main Street. The family-owned business describes itself as a Latin bistro and coffee shop, with the restaurant tucked into a courtyard behind Main Street.

Coffee First, or a Meal in the Courtyard?

• Coffee shop: Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Restaurant: breakfast and lunch Tuesday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Order drinks and cafe items: Cafe Orders.
• Order from the kitchen: Restaurant Orders.
• Phone: 209-632-6655.

A Monday coffee stop does not mean the restaurant is also serving lunch. Likewise, the cafe stays open later than the kitchen on its listed operating days. La Mo posts schedule changes and seasonal specials on its own channels.

The Menu Has More Range Than Coffee and Pastries

The restaurant ordering menu includes chilaquiles, huevos rancheros, a Latin Benedict and sourdough orange French toast. Its wedding chicken platter pairs grilled chicken with a medium-spicy cream sauce, rice, beans and tortillas. There is also a wedding chicken burrito, a jicama salad and a tamale of the day.

Several dishes are specifically marked unavailable on Saturdays, including sopitos and beef picadillo empanadas. That makes the live menu worth opening before you decide what to order. Seasonal dishes and availability can change, so the menu link is more useful than a permanent list of every price.

The coffee shop says it now roasts in-house, makes its beverage syrups from scratch and serves Nutcher Family milk and Rishi Tea. Those details distinguish its current operation from the original coffee launch, when the shop bought coffee from a Modesto roaster.

A Mother and Two Daughters Built the Coffee Side

The Journal’s August 2014 opening story identified owners Gloria Smallwood and her daughters Hillary Smith and Brityn Butrick. The cafe flanked the entrance to Shoppers’ Eden, where the family already operated its restaurant.

From the beginning, the drinks were a project of their own. The opening menu included scratch-made chai, house syrups and loose-leaf tea. A Community Coffee offered a suggested price while allowing customers to pay what they could. The family donated tips from its friends-and-family soft opening to Teen Challenge.

The cafe gave the family another reason for customers to linger in the courtyard, with drinks available beyond the restaurant’s breakfast and lunch service.

The First Anniversary Was a Coffee Festival

By its first anniversary, the shop had become a coffee destination in its own right. The Journal reported on a courtyard Coffee Festival featuring roasting demonstrations, tastings, a latte-art competition and a screening of A Film About Coffee.

Hillary described how much she had learned about specialty coffee during that first year. The lineup brought La Mo together with other regional coffee businesses, including Modesto participants. It was an early example of the courtyard doing more than seating diners.

Another Local Business Story Came Through Its Kitchen

In 2022, the Journal profiled Tito Alvarez, then La Mo’s executive chef, as he opened Tito’s Parrilla. He had worked at La Mo since 2015 and became executive chef in 2018, according to that report.

Tito and his father bought a used food truck before the pandemic. Illness and family losses delayed the project, but the truck opened on January 4, 2022. At the time, Tito worked mornings at La Mo before heading to his own business.

For a visit now, choose the cafe or kitchen ordering link first. If you plan to stay downtown afterward, the Downtown guide covers nearby stops, and the shopping and dining directory connects other independent restaurants.

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Downtown Turlock | Shopping and Dining