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A look inside Fidel & Co., Little Rock's newest coffee shop


With its colorful mural painted on the front and "Coffee Bar" beaming in Broadway-esque lights, Fidel & Co. embodies the contemporary style of East Village. (Photo: KATV){p}{/p}
With its colorful mural painted on the front and "Coffee Bar" beaming in Broadway-esque lights, Fidel & Co. embodies the contemporary style of East Village. (Photo: KATV)

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A new coffee shop has opened in Little Rock's East Village and has already become popular with Instagrammers and coffee connoisseurs alike.

Founder Fidel Samour welcomed guests to Fidel & Co.'s grand opening on Friday. The shop at 500 Shall Ave. offers specialty coffee drinks, teas and pastries throughout the day. It serves lunch from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

With a colorful mural painted on the front of a remodeled industrial building and "Coffee Bar" beaming in Broadway-esque lights above the service station, Fidel & Co. embodies the contemporary style of its new neighborhood.

"I see all of the enthusiasm and effort going into growing this area," Samour said. "So we decided this is a perfect spot to start our flagship operation."

Eventually, Samour said he would like to expand into other parts of Arkansas and beyond.

"Believe it or not, very few farmers get to see the consumers enjoying what we do," coffee farmer and business partner Jorge Rivera said. "And our next plan is to bring people to El Salvador for consumers to see what we do."

Rivera and Samour grew up playing basketball together in El Salvador. After graduating from college in the U.S., Rivera returned to El Salvador and became a coffee farmer, selling to Onyx Coffe Lab in northwest Arkansas. And after graduating from college in Arkansas, Samour and Rivera began thinking about opening their own shop.

"He wanted the best of the best," Rivera said.

Rivera has won the Coffee Cup of Excellence, an international coffee competition, three times. His latest win was last year. With some encouragement and training from Onyx creators, Samour decided that as long as Rivera could supply the raw material, he could make it a business.

"This all started with a brief conversation that obviously led to a million other conversations," Samour said.

Fidel & Co.'s opening came shortly after Stifft Station's popular café The Meteor closed in December. Some of The Meteor's employees now work at Fidel & Co..

"I thought it was going to be a lot more stress, but I think the key has been having the right partnerships and the right team," Samour said. "I want to thank everybody for how quickly they've welcomed us into the coffee community here."

Fidel & Co. is open Monday through Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Its Instagram is frequently updated with specials and new menu items.

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