One year after closing her Dallas restaurant, a North Texas woman has opened an eatery she hopes will bring joy to a nearby suburb.
Joy Café is a new bakery and brunch spot in Sunnyvale, just east of Dallas.
Owner Andrea Hermosillo described the café as a project of resilience. Instead of giving up after her first restaurant shuttered, she said, “I need to be resilient and keep up in life, and everybody needs joy.”
In 2020, Hermosillo opened a Mexican restaurant in downtown Dallas called Chimalma Taco Bar. Most of her customers came from the nearby Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, Hermosillo said, but when construction in the area resulted in less foot traffic, she could no longer keep her restaurant open. It closed in April 2025.
“It’s tough for business owners and entrepreneurs right now,” Hermosillo said. “We need to have faith and be able to start over as many times as we want.”
Hermosillo is now starting over with Joy Café. She said this restaurant is not only about business, but also the community where she lives. She is always looking for ways to collaborate with the town, such as through buying ingredients from local businesses.
Joy Café’s menu is a mix of Mexican and American foods, featuring options like pancakes, sandwiches and chilaquiles, which are a traditional Mexican dish of crispy tortilla chips simmered in salsa until soft. There are also pastries and coffee available.
A few popular orders are a chicken sandwich made with Mexican spices, and a Mexican-inspired shakshuka, which is a tomato-based poached-egg dish served with bread or a tortilla.
Everything at Joy Café is made from scratch, Hermosillo said. The bread is baked in-house, and the coffee, which is imported from Mexico, is roasted in-house, too. Furthermore, Hermosillo says she is very conscious of her ingredients, making sure they are healthful and free of toxic chemicals.
The restaurant has been in a soft opening for about a month, with a grand opening scheduled for June 6.