Today we’d like to introduce you to Maxine And Desirée Cofino.
Hi Maxine and Desirée , can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
We started in the middle of COVID. While quarantined, my wife and I enjoyed cooking and making things together so much that we decided to switch gears from the office work we had been doing for years, to take a chance on ourselves. After discussing what we wanted to do, we decided lemonades was a good place to start. The style of lemonade we make is based on the lemonades Maxine would have in Puerto Rico, where she is from. Fresh, squeezed to order, tropical. We took about a year to organize our menu and set up the business. Our first pop up market was at Bandera and 1604. Quickly we expanded to several markets around the city. Now we mostly work out of our brick and mortar, but we enjoy select events under our tent on occasion. Passion Fruit and Brazilian are still at the top of our greatest hits list.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
No, it most definitely hasn’t been smooth. We’ve definitely learned quite a bit from this experience. Both my wife and I come from business backgrounds but not necessarily food industry in the way we are now. Shifting gears aside, the food industry is sadly what we see on tv for women. It’s unfortunate that there is still an excess of misogyny, racism, and sexism in the industry that make being a woman, much less brown, educated, queer, and young seem near impossible many days. Our business, whether we are talking about the menu, our equipment, or how the operation works faces excessive bias and scrutiny- which has had a huge impact on our ability to get small business loans, lease a building space, qualify for business opportunities, be considered for events, even in purchasing goods for our business.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Drinks wise, I would say that our Passion Fruit Lemonade is what caught people’s attention first. These days we play so much with our menu our regulars want to know what isn’t on the menu.
What surprises most is that we squeeze to order, a basic lemonade can be made exciting by combining orange or grapefruit, and the most important thing is that people can have their preferred level of sugar, including alternative sweeteners. In a community struggling with diabetes and other medical concerns, this makes it easier for multigenerational families to all feel included in an outing.
We’re most proud of the queer community minded space the store has been able to grow into. Our community knows they have a safe and sober spot they can feel safe in whether they are just hanging out, participating in one of our events, looking for a host for a new community event, or dealing with a more difficult issue.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
Maxine was an athlete growing up in Puerto Rico and later Colorado, she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science. Desirée is from San Antonio, she participated in SAY Si, graduated from UTSA with a bachelor’s degree in studio art, and has been a part of many art projects in the city.
We tease each other about how opposite we are, but appreciate each other’s perspectives. Opposites attract is the perfect way to describe our collaboration in business and in flavors.
Contact Info:
- Website: [email protected]
- Instagram: @thelemongirlssatx
- Facebook: Thelemongirlssatx
