![\"Hijau,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/SJM-L-HIJAU-0811-02.jpeg\")
Hijau, which kicked off its soft opening in San Jose on Aug. 13, specializes in Indonesian-style coffee drinks, like this pandan latte. (Courtesy of Lisa Maria)\u00a0<\/p>\nAfter facing a layoff from a tech job, Lisa Maria, accompanied by her husband, Ryan Prawiradjaja, worked to figure out what to do next.<\/p>\n
Maria was drawn to her family roots in coffee: Her parents were small coffee roasters in West Java, she says, and she wants to see Indonesian-origin coffee become better represented in the U.S.<\/p>\n
The couple ultimately decided to launch Hijau, a pop-up coffee shop bringing Indonesian flavors and coffee to San Jose. Starting in February 2024, they sold their colorful coffee drinks at the San Jose Rose Garden and Cupertino\u2019s De Anza College farmers\u2019 markets.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were motivated because we didn\u2019t see much Indonesian flavor represented in the Bay Area, or in the U.S. in general,\u201d Maria says.<\/p>\n
The couple built a menu offering three signature lattes: pandan \u2014 inspired by a tropical green plant with notes of coconut and vanilla; nastar \u2014 inspired by small pineapple tarts common in Indonesia; and klepon \u2014 named after a dessert considered the Indonesian version of mochi.<\/p>\n
Hijau, which kicked off its soft opening in San Jose on Aug. 13, specializes in Indonesian-style coffee drinks, like this pandan latte. (Courtesy of Lisa Maria)\u00a0<\/p>\n
At the end of May, they put the farmers market pop-ups on hiatus as they worked to open their own brick-and-mortar location.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince then, we\u2019ve been focusing our time and energy to get the shop built out,\u201d Maria says.<\/p>\n
But the journey to opening their own San Jose cafe hasn\u2019t been cheap, as Maria recently pointed out in a video posted to the cafe\u2019s Instagram account<\/a>.<\/p>\n The video plays on the social media trend of staging the start of a Netflix documentary, in which the subject takes a seat in front of a camera while intense music plays. Maria\u2019s video shows a stream of bills the team has received in its road to opening for permitting and inspections. The grand total? Around $27,000, she says.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had prepared ourselves, but we were still surprised by how much it cost,\u201d she\u00a0says.<\/p>\n How that compares with the costs that other small businesses take on to open a cafe or restaurant in San Jose is hard to say, according to Marika Krause, public information manager with San Jose\u2019s Planning, Building and Code Enforcement Department. The city\u2019s permitting fees and structures are on par with the Bay Area\u2019s other major cities, and they largely depend on the tenant\u2019s plans and whether changes are needed to meet health and safety requirements, she says.<\/p>\n San Jose does offer a program to streamline restaurant permitting, Krause says, and it has so far helped over 3,000 restaurants, in some cases shortening the permitting process timeline by half \u2014 to one or two months from two to six months \u2014 and it is expected to expand further this fall.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want folks to get their doors open,\u201d she says. \u201cIf anyone is struggling, they should reach out.\u201d<\/p>\n Details: Open 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays and 8 a.m.-4 p.m. weekends at 1432 W. San Carlos St., Suite 70, San Jose, as of Aug. 13; hijau.coffee<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\t\t