Sip of Silk, located at 333 Southeast Huron Boulevard, held its grand opening from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Sunday. Leading up to its grand opening, Sip of Silk held a nine-day soft opening from Oct. 16 to Oct. 25. 

The coffee shop also hosted a trivia night with mayoral candidate Omar Fateh and political advocacy group Baddies for Omar last Thursday. 

Founded and owned by Alejandro Soto Bonilla, Ahmad Abuhadid, Hanan Wazwaz and Danya Wazwaz, Sip of Silk’s business plans started in late 2023, with the owners driven by the desire to share El Salvadorian and Palestinian culture.

Bonilla is ethnically El Salvadorian and originally worked in microbiology for three to four years before deciding to open Sip of Silk with his wife, Hanan Wazwaz. 

“We felt like if we could share our culture, then that is more valuable than any other stuff that I could do for donation purposes and stuff like that,” Bonilla said. “We really, really wanted to share our culture as my job.”

All syrups are made by the Sip of Silk team, including the pistachio and the syrup used in the Horchato de Morro, a traditional El Salvadoran beverage, according to Bonilla. He added all the feedback he has received from customers has been positive so far. 

“We just wanted to show that even though our two cultures have been through a lot of fighting and a lot of violence, they can still come together to make something unique and beautiful,” Bonilla said. 

In the center of the shop stands a tree with two branches, one side being an Olive tree, a powerful symbol of Palestinian identity, and the other side a Maquilishuat tree, the national tree of El Salvador.

Bonilla said the tree was purposely placed in the center of the shop in order to represent planting seeds of cultures coming together.

“I like the idea of people sitting underneath it, because you can’t get away from the symbolism of it being El Salvadorian and Palestinian,” Bonilla said. “We really just wanted to show the cultures together, and that two people that are vastly different and that grew up completely different lives can still come together.” 

Abuhadid is Palestinian and graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2020 in applied economics. He joined as a co-owner in early 2024. 

Abuhadid said as an alumni, he felt the campus area was lacking a local coffee shop. He added that you do not see a mix of Palestinian and El Salvadorian culture coming together often. 

“To finally see it actually become a reality, it’s a breath of relief for us, and it makes me very happy to finally see it the way it is right now,” Abuhadid said. “You won’t really see a fusion of Palestinian and El Salvadorian together, so we decided to go with that.”

According to Bonilla, Sip of Silk is named after the Silk Road, as it symbolizes the blending of different cultures and flavors. 

Abuhadid said he wants students to have a space on campus where they can come together to feel a community vibe. He hopes Sip of Silk can become a popular coffee shop on campus and fill this role. 

“People should take time out of their day to come to Sip of Silk,” Abuhahid said. “We have a very good atmosphere there. We have great workers, we have great owners, we have a great environment, it’s definitely a cafe that you don’t want to miss.” 

From now on, Sip of Silk will be open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekends. Bonilla and Abuhadid said they are working with the city to extend weekend hours past midnight.