A loan helped us upgrade our deep fryers to increase efficiency for the volume of orders taken.


Cenya's story

Welton Street Café is a longstanding business in the Historic Five Points Neighborhood. My parents started this journey when I was eleven years old. Redevelopment caused my family's business to move throughout the neighborhood on several occasions. We've weathered many storms including gangs and the building of RTD's light rail through the neighborhood.

I grew up in this restaurant, it was always my home away from home. I worked at different iterations of our restaurant throughout high school and college, and shortly after we settled into Welton Street Café in Welton Street, I began to pursue a Master's Degree in education.

I taught in public schools in both Colorado and Missouri for a total of 18 years, and by 2019, I was ready to hang up my hat as a teacher and rejoin my Welton Street Café family. I did this for two reasons, first, my parents were aging and they needed to retire, and second, because I recognized it was time for me to continue on our legacy as a pillar in Five Points Denver.

When I return to the fray of the restaurant world, I immediately took on a leadership role and assisted with organizing the business by overseeing daily operations, finances, inventory, and staffing. My overall goal was to make the restaurant operate as efficiently as possible. Upon taking on this task, I recognized that no amount of reorganization could solve the real problem, and that was that we had outgrown our current space.

Once we were presented with the opportunity to relocate to a bigger space, even in the midst of a global pandemic, I realized that it was now or never. My family has faith in my ability to lead, and I will continue to do all that I can to ensure our legacy continues.


This loan is special because:

It supports a Black female entrepreneur in expanding their business.



Loan details


About Welton Street Cafe, Inc.

Industry: Food
Years in operation: More than 5 years
Website: weltonstreetcafe.com

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Loan details