Mariana & Juan Carlos
Our story.
Café Zocalo brings together the flavors of Mexico and California in the heart of Old Towne Orange, steps from Chapman University.
The café is the work of Mariana, a Mexico City native with years of experience in the food industry, who set out to open a place of her own after welcoming her third child. Together with her husband, Juan Carlos, she built Café Zocalo around the food and traditions they grew up with.
The menu runs from breakfast into lunch — chilaquiles served every way from burritos to omelets, wet burritos, tortas, asada fries, nachos, and fresh sandwiches — alongside coffee and homemade pastries baked in-house every morning.
Between the indoor dining room and the outdoor patio, Café Zocalo is built for the neighborhood: a quick coffee and pastry on the way through, or a slow brunch with people you like.
Buen provecho.
The name
Every town has a zócalo. This one’s ours.
Café Zocalo is named for the zócalo — the town plaza at the center of Mexican life, where families gather, neighbors meet, and the day begins with good food and familiar faces.
What we cook and why
Mexican-American. Not one or the other.
The menu at Cafe Zocalo isn’t a compromise between two cuisines — it’s what happens when both feel completely at home on the same table.
Chilaquiles and breakfast burritos. Wet burritos and sandwiches. Conchas and cinnamon rolls. Espresso and horchata. We cook what we grew up with and what our neighbors grew up with, and most of the time those things aren’t as different as they sound.
The family recipes came first. The café built itself around them.
Our salsas, beans, and pastries are made in-house from scratch every morning, and our tortillas come from a local Orange County tortillería we’ve trusted for years.
Old Towne & Chapman
A neighborhood café means actually knowing the neighborhood.
Café Zocalo sits in the heart of Old Towne Orange, steps from Chapman University and a short walk from the historic Orange Circle, just off its south side — right in the middle of a community the café has come to call home.
Come say hi.
We’re open every day on S. Glassell. Walk in, order ahead, or just stop by to see what came out of the oven this morning.
136 S Glassell St, Orange, CA 92866 · (714) 538-3764
