MESA, AZ — One East Valley family uses their coffee brews to bring a taste of Costa Rica with each cup they serve. Here’s the family behind Pura Vida Grinds.
Robert Lobo is the owner of Pura Vida Grinds. Lobo’s dad is from Costa Rica and if you’ve never been to this central American country, this coffee shop will transport you there.
“I have so much love for Costa Rica, I just wanted to share that culture through coffee, to everyone in Arizona,” said Lobo in an interview with ABC15.
The love for Costa Rica fueled Lobo and his family to open Pura Vida Grinds back in 2016.
“I wanted to share culture through coffee, and growing up as a kid, and coming back from Costa Rica- during the summers so many would ask me for coffee all the time and I knew that one of those days I had to share that with everyone,” explained Lobo.
The business started off small but brewed into something big.
“Right in there, that’s our trailer where we started, and I started out on the street corner selling coffee- in downtown Mesa,” said Lobo.
Now Pura Vida Grinds operates through a trailer, a truck, and a shop… all using its special source.
“So, we bring small micro-lots of specialty coffee, and then we also bring specialty coffee through a co-op in Costa Rica that we source, and we go down once a year and we bring that delicious coffee to share with everyone,” said Lobo.
![“The coffee grown in Costa Rica… [it’s grown] at higher altitudes,” said Lobo. “It’s very very delicious, very super smooth, low in acidity, and it’s just something that I fell in love…. growing up as a kid drinking coffee and something that I just felt like and everyone else out there had to taste it for themselves and experience costa Rican coffee.”](https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/e9497be/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1376x768+0+0/resize/1280x714!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fewscripps-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fdc%2Fec%2F1154db8a443a9321ed3b084990d6%2Fscreen-shot-2022-06-02-at-12.57.43%20PM%20%281%29.jpg)
Through its beans, drinks, décor, and culture… Pura Vida Grinds hopes to share a lifestyle too.
“Pura Vida-that means live life to the fullest. Like there’s more to life than all the bad going on in the world, and that's how the Costa Ricans live their life- live life to the fullest,” explained Lobo.
IF YOU GO
- Location: 3820 E Main St Suite 9 in Mesa
HOURS OF OPERATION
- Monday- Friday: 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Saturday and Sunday: 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
