A Guide to Latino-Owned Shops & Boutiques in Greater Philadelphia

Open since 2020, Blissful Aesthetics and Wellness offers self-care services including anti-aging and anti-wrinkle treatments, hyaluronic dermal fillers, platelet-rich plasma injections and treatments and products for skin care, hair restoration, weight loss and more. Founder Marybell Rodriguez — a double board-certified nurse practitioner with a background in vascular surgery, interventional cardiology and endovascular medicine — offers services, treatments and plenty of products at her Fishtown shop and studio for both men and women that make for great gifts.

This shop specializes in handmade bespoke items for the home, body and mind. Colombian shop owner and jewelry maker Linda Smyth (also of We Who Prey in New York) encourages conscious shopping and personalized style creations with textile designs, clothing, jewelry, artwork, apothecary and more. Casa Vida hosts ongoing events (online and in-person) and artist curations featuring vintage treasures and new indie designers.

You might hear music from down the street before you even see the muraled storefront along Lehigh Avenue, thanks to exterior speakers piping out various genres of Latin music. Take a step inside Centro Musical, an institution for nearly 70 years, and explore a plethora of instruments (for Latin music and beyond), plus records and CDs, gifts, novelties and specialty items, many from Puerto Rico. If you’re lucky, you’ll catch a stellar in-store performance or impromptu jam.

Don’t let the name fool you. The chocolate in ChocoArte (formerly Chocolate Art & Crafts) is a culture, a lifestyle and a vibe at this uber-colorful Italian Market arts and crafts boutique. Located a block from the East Passyunk cheesesteak corner, ChocoArte offers an impressive array of handcrafted items from Mexico including pottery, masks, decorations, textiles, statement attire in every color imaginable and a ton of items for your Día de Los Muertos altar.

Lover of fresh kicks and even fresher coffee, owner Louis Quiles found the perfect blend with his new dream spot, Encanto Kicks & Coffee. The vibrant and colorful shop sells sneakers and apparel, as well as imported Puerto Rican coffee and scrumptious pastries. The drink menu also features cappuccinos, matcha, chai and more. Want to kick back and stay a while? Grab a table and play a board game or two.

Born in Ecuador, Mike Andino started performing salsa in 2001 and in 2004 became a founding member of Art in Motion Latin Dancers. For nearly 20 years, Andino has instructed private and group lessons on salsa, cha cha cha, mambo and bachata. Outside of the Fishtown studio, Estilo Dance Studio hosts all-level group dance classes at Bok Bar, Brasil’s Nightclub, Triple Bottle Brewing, Liberty Point and other venues.

There’s no such thing as too hot for spicyphile fans of Kensington’s FAIYA hot sauce company. Founded by Radhi and Mónica Fernández as a pandemic project, FAIYA’s organic hot sauces can now be found at farmers’ markets, cafes and shops throughout the region and in their online shop. The colorful line of small-batch sauces includes flavors like the mango, spiced whiskey and maple syrup Mama Juana; the blueberry jalapeño Purple Flame; and the mango habanero What the Fuego. Hear more from Fernandez on season 3, episode 19 of our Love + Grit podcast.

A deep-rooted community art center that aims to promote Puerto Rican culture and Latino arts, Taller Puertorriqueño offers arts education programs, author events and art exhibitions at its West Kensington museum space. Inside Taller is Julia de Burgos Bookstore — the only Spanish/English bilingual specialty bookshop in Philadelphia — which specializes in works by Latino authors and books about Latin America and social justice. The shop also sells art and gifts (jewelry, tote bags, candles) handcrafted by Latino artists and artisans, with plenty of local representation.

Founded in 2012 by then-Temple University undergrads Gabriela Sanchez and Erlina Ortiz, Power Street Theater has become a vital collective of multidisciplinary artists and activists serving Philadelphia’s Latino community. With a mission to create meaningful change in the theater world and within multicultural communities and preserve cultural stories, the organization offers both community-driven live theater shows and professional-led classes and workshops in writing and performance at locations around the city. Tickets to shows, festivals and a branded merch line are available online.

Project Capoeira started in 2001 and celebrates the culture and traditions of Brazil. Led by Afro-Brazilian social educator Adenilson Dos Santos, the organization offers assemblies, performances, workshops and ASCAB Capoeira classes — a Brazilian folk art that combines elements of martial arts, music, dance and acrobatics. Every September, they host a Brazilian Day Festival with vendors, merchants and live performances of samba, forró, pagode, capoeira and samba-reggae.

One of Philly’s largest game cafes occupies a three-story location on South Street with plenty of features and food and drink offerings. The fantasy-style tavern features two dedicated bars, outdoor seating, a massive board game library with 2,000-plus titles, and a brand-new retro video game arcade. Queen & Rook keeps the top-tier vegetarian and vegan fare, Vietnamese espresso roasts, and pop culture-themed cocktails it’s known for, while adding wood-fired pizzas and housemade ice cream.

This yoga, dance and pilates studio was founded 13 years ago by Cristina Espaillat, a former professional ballerina turned yoga instructor from the Dominican Republic. In-person and virtual classes are offered daily, including private and group classes ranging from gentle movements to advanced ballet sequences. In addition to movement and sculpting classes, there are aromatherapy and meditation sessions that tap into physical and mental energy for balanced results in both body and mind. All levels and ages are welcome.

Based at Penn’s Landing, Sea Philly — a private picnic boat offering excursions on the Delaware River — is one of just a handful of riverboat companies in the country owned by a woman, and possibly the only by a Latina woman. Imagine the joy of presenting a loved one with the gift of an intimate picnic cruise aboard the Argonaut, Georgette Luna’s 1961 27-foot-long mahogany Chris Craft, for a romantic voyage that can include perks like charcuterie service or free swimming expeditions. The Argonaut was even named Philadelphia magazine’s best place to pop the question.

Billing itself as the “hub of Conshohocken’s biking community,” The Tricycle Cafe & Bicycle Shop is part retail cycle store, part bike repair center and part neighborhood café. A community vibe permeates this Black- and Latino-owned operation just off of the Schuylkill River Trail, which not only offers a great selection of new and demo bikes and cycling gear (plus a professional service and repair shop for that needed tune-up), but is also perfect pit stop for coffee, teas, sandwiches and wraps, smoothies and freshmade pastries. Bonus: Bike rentals are available as well.

Wilde & Lovely is a thrifted apparel and accessories shop founded by Liana and Christian Calabrese, a husband and wife duo of Puerto Rican and Colombian heritage. Aside from their online boutique, the Calabreses host in-person pop-up markets that fuse art, culture and nature with vintage pieces, handmade hats made from up-cycled materials, dried bouquet floral arrangements and home goods. They also take in un- or lightly used florals, hats or fabric scraps to be up-cycled and re-used to foster sustainable consumption.

This Brazilian-owned butcher shop and grocery store has two locations along Castor Avenue. Local shoppers come here for the variety of fresh produce, pantry items, postres and prepared foods representative of Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Colombia and other South American communities. Other popular offerings include hot meals and dishes from the grill like empanadas y pastelillos, steak sandwiches and rice and beans.

This family-owned Mexican ice cream shop on South 12th Street is a sweet treat dream. Paletas, handmade ice cream, fresh fruit plates (chopped mango topped with chamoy and tajín), milkshakes, and quintessential snacks (elote with mayo, cheese and chile), and juices (tamarind shaved ice) are just a sliver of options here. Bonus: Many items are vegan-friendly.

Whether out strolling Rittenhouse Square or around Reading Terminal Market, Sofia Deleon’s selection of Central American street food at El Merkury is always enticing. Featuring gift ideas including a wide variety of food stuffs (by the pound or quart) and eclectic crafts, Deleon’s goal is to bring community together through food. Hear more from Deleon in season 3, episode 8 of our Love + Grit podcast.

Whether you translate chupi as “little sweetie” or “awesome,” both terms describe Alexei Encarnación’s homemade helados (ice cream) and paletas (ice pops). But it wasn’t Alexei that came up with the idea; leave that to his then-nine-year-old daughter, who started making popsicles as a hobby. Today that hobby has blossomed into a business, with Helados Chupi Chupi selling its all-natural artisanal frozen treats — featuring bright flavors like pineapple, piña colada, mango, coconut, passion fruit and more — at retail outlets across the region, including Juniata Supermarket in Feltonville, 7 Brothers Supermarket in Olney and J&J Supermarket in South Philly. Got a private party to cater? Hire the mobile ice cream bicycle or popsicles car.

In a city filled with neighborhood markets and small grocers, one of the most beloved for Latin American food and ingredients is South Philly’s J&J Supermarket. The stocked-to-the-rafters grocery carries thousands of cultural staples, fresh produce and hard-to-find imports (think bacalao and salchichon) from Mexico, Columbia, Puerto Rico and owner Juan Carlos Romano’s native Dominican Republic, along with a generous hot food bar. Romano personally purveys his favorite items (like taino cookies and galletitas de leche), and revels in the diversity of his clientele, reflecting the neighborhood’s rich mix.

The Lucci family from Argentina is educating Philadelphians on how eating vegan and gluten-free can be healthy and delicious. The vegan grocer has multiple locations around Philadelphia — including Reading Terminal Market — offering fresh, frozen and microwavable prepared meals and pantry ingredients alongside its existing array of made-to-order vegan menu items and deli products. Select locations also include breakfast (served all day), lunch and dinner available to-go, for delivery and catering.

Seeing coffee as a mission, founder Gabriel Boscana of Máquina Coffee Roasters has serious chops as a former roasting manager for Intelligentsia Coffee. His online shop (located in Coatesville with plans for a service window in the near future) offers coffee subscriptions for a slew of blends (ethically sourced from places like El Salvador, Kenya, Colombia and Honduras) then roasted locally with care. Shop-branded gifts including T-shirts and artist collab gear are also available, with proceeds from the business — also LGBT Business Enterprise certified — supporting non-profits like Planned Parenthood, the NAACP and the ACLU.

Branding their Fishtown operation as “Philly’s Neighborhood Winery,” personal and business partners Nicholas Ducos and Francesca Galarus founded Mural City Cellars with a goal of making wine more affordable, accessible and local using grapes from small regional farms and minimal intervention. Ducos’ sommelier skills and Galarus’ eye for arts and community helped Mural City — the city’s first independent urban winery — bloom into a welcoming destination for “uncomplicated, un-stuffy, un-manipulated” wine and chill vibes, influenced by the city’s beloved local brewery scene. Hear more on season 2, episode 18 of our Love + Grit podcast.

Tenango was launched in 2023 by El Merkury’s Sofia Deleon, who was inspired by her great-grandmother’s story of making Guatemalan moonshine with sugarcane 100 years ago. Through bartender and cocktail collaborations around the city, Deleon is on a mission to educate Americans on high-quality premium Guatemalan rum. Pick up a bottle at Fine Wine & Good Spirits throughout Greater Philadelphia, or order a Tenango rum cocktail at your favorite bar.

From James Beard Award winner Cristina Martinez’s South Philly Barbacoa to Jezabel Careaga’s eponymous Argentinian bakery, there are scores of incredible spots in Philly for dinner, drink and dessert. For more, check out Visit Philly’s roundup of over 30 of the best Latino-owned Philly eateries.