Tres Leches Café shuts down in south Phoenix, plans to close remaining location

Tres Leches Café, a family-owned Mexican coffee shop, closed one of its remaining Phoenix locations and is winding down business at the other.

The south Phoenix store on Central Avenue north of Southern Avenue, which opened six years ago, served its last drinks and pan dulces on Sunday.

Three days later, the Tres Leches Café Facebook account posted a statement saying all operations will shut down before the end of 2026, with no specific closing date for the remaining shop at 13th Street and McDowell Road.

“We’re just not seeing the volume that we’ve seen in the past. This summer’s been super tough, I think, all over,” owner ET Rivera said in a Sept. 3 video announcing the south Phoenix closure.

Rivera said in the video that the south Phoenix employees were moving to the McDowell store.

The remaining location is open seven days a week, from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

How long has Tres Leches Café been in business?

Rivera started Tres Leches Café as a coffee cart on the porch of his house in 2014 before expanding into brick-and-mortar locations.

A shop on Van Buren Street near 17th Avenue closed in 2025 amid a legal dispute with the landlord, according to the Phoenix New Times.

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