Opportunity Café is a business incubator providing an entrepreneur critical ingredients like space and advising to start their business. 

The 400 square foot micro-café located in the Tigard Library (13500 SW Hall) is a key asset in an economic mobility program reducing start-up costs for first-time entrepreneurs. It also gives Library patrons their most requested improvement, a café! 

Every two years, possibly more frequently, a new entrepreneur will be invited into this space to launch their business. The products and people you meet here will change over time as entrepreneurs learn how to run a business, perfect their craft, and advance to new opportunities.

Thanks to Micro Enterprise Services of Oregon (MESO) for partnering with us to launch and manage this business incubator.  MESO will advise and give guidance to each entrepreneur as they grow their business.

Meet the Entrepreneur

In October 2021, Israel Martinez was the first entrepreneur to launch a business at the Opportunity Café. Martinez is calling the coffee shop El Cuadrilatero - paying tribute to the times when Israel and his uncle would spend Sundays watching would Lucha Libre professional wrestling. 

Israel traces his dream of owning a restaurant back to 2006, when he began working in the industry with the goal of becoming a chef. From an initial position as a dishwater, his hard work, motivation and dedication helped him move into a job as a prep cook. He continued to work in restaurants when he and his brothers moved to Hawaii. By the time he returned to Portland in 2014, he realized he wanted to use what he had learned to open his own restaurant. He took a big step toward achieving that dream when he attended an information session offered by MESO that outlined the assistance and programs the nonprofit provides.

Israel then went on to take business education classes, including the Business Building series, to gain the knowledge and skills he would need to start a successful business. He worked one-on-one with MESO business specialists, who helped him focus on the exact support he needed for his business. Now Israel is focused on introducing library patrons to El Cuadrilátero’s menu of specialty coffee drinks, beverages such as fresh cantaloupe and pineapple water, sandwiches, and pastries. from La Imperial Bakery, a minority-owned small business in Hillsboro.