Sweet Dreams

By Naperville Magazine
Appears in the August 2024 issue.

By Peter Gianopulos

Naperville café serves up Mexican delicacies and over-the-top treats

Every morning, hours before the Sugar Milk Café in Naperville opens, owner Saul Cabrera and his team kick off the day by preparing the diner’s signature beverages: café de olla. In keeping with the traditions of his native Mexico, where the drink is often served on special celebrations, Cabrera steeps coffee with cinnamon, brown sugar, and orange until its dark tannins soften into fruity and floral flavor.

Cabrera says Mexican families drive from far and wide to enjoy the homespun pleasure of sipping café de olla and enjoying his homemade Mexican pastries. “When I was young in Mexico, I used to always walk by a small coffee shop near my house; I never forgot that shop. That’s what I wanted to re-create here,” says Cabrera, who recently opened a second Sugar Milk Café in Melrose Park.

When Cabrera launched Sugar Milk Café in 2021, with the help of his partner, Jose Martinez, he envisioned a homey diner that served American brunch offerings and authentic Mexican delicacies. He’s remained true to his vision: Farm-style egg skillets and hearty American sandwiches share menu space with homemade chilaquiles and chicken flautas. He serves towering stacks of pancakes, waffles loaded up with toppings worthy of an ice cream sundae, and milkshakes crammed with so many candies that some guests treat them like standalone meals. His photogenic sips and sweets garner plenty of ’Gram love.

But for Cabrera there’s nothing more satisfying than fielding compliments from Mexican families about the sweet treats he’s imported. He sells Mexican waffle-style sugar cookies. His whips up his own cinnamon-spiced Oaxacan hot chocolate. And he prepares a showstopping eggnog-infused cornbread, called pan de elote, that’s so decadent he compares it to a flan.

“I like talking to people and serving them heartwarming food,” says Cabrera, who spent much of his childhood helping his mother, Josefina, run a small juice stand in Mexico. “I want people to sit down and feel like they don’t ever want to leave.” Anyone who savors of his café de olla and eats forkfuls of his cornbread is likely to grant Cabrera his wish.

Photo: Jen Banowetz