When Titi Le decided to join the Gainesville restaurant scene, she wanted to recreate her experiences with European cafe culture but with a personal touch.
“I wanted a relaxing ambiance,” Le said. “A European flare with an Asian twist.”
Le opened TiTi’s Café this July, a few stores down from Bagels & Noodles and across the street from Thrift 5.
TiTi’s is open from 7 a.m. to midnight. The cafe features freshly made smoothies, coffee, sandwiches, gelato and bubble tea and is catered toward a healthy atmosphere, which is important to Le.
“Your mood changes,” said Kate Hobson, 21, a manager at TiTi’s Café. “The more healthy you eat, the better you feel all the time.” Hobson frequently ventures onto West University Avenue to offer smoothie samples to pedestrians to introduce them to the cafe.
Le said she wanted to introduce healthy smoothies, drinks and European gelato to the UF students who frequently walk by the cafe on the way to class.
At TiTi’s, a small cup of coffee runs at $1.40, and a smoothie can range from $5.75 to $6.75. A small gelato is $4.25, a medium is $5.25 and a large is $6.25.
Bubble tea is $4 for a small and $5 for a large.
Le said she researched different ways to prepare her menu items before she opened the cafe.
“If I didn’t feel it was the best that I’ve tasted, then I wouldn’t have put it in there,” she said.
She plans to extend her operating hours until 2 a.m. during exam weeks to attract students to study at the cafe.
Le wants to create a study-friendly environment and offers Wi-Fi with purchase of a menu item.
Kevin Bowie, a 21-year-old UF student studying political science and economics, went to TiTi’s for the first time on Monday and ordered a strawberry bubble tea.
“It seems like it would be a really good place to study and work,” he said.
Le’s family, originally from Vietnam, has been in the Gainesville area for 35 years.
The family also owns Chopstix Cafe on Southwest 13th Street.
[A version of this story ran on page 3 on 7/15/2014 under the headline "TiTi’s Café opens, serves coffee, boba tea and smoothies"]
