By Darlene Brace
If you’re looking for something delicious to eat in the downtown Jamestown area, you should try the award-winning HotSpot Café. The HotSpot Café is located at 100 East Third Street on the corner of Third and Pine Street. It is owned by Hector Alverio and his wife Michelle, and the two of them opened this café in 2020. Hector is usually at the café daily, and he is a very friendly business owner. He tries to greet their customers when they come in and thanks them for their business when they leave.
The HotSpot Café has a very warm, inviting, and welcoming atmosphere, and it is a cute café with plenty of seating. They have a very extensive menu which Hector said is a mix of American, Hispanic, and Soul Food. On the menu there is a wide variety of items, such as soups, salads, handcrafted sandwiches, paninis, chicken fingers, pot roast, chicken wings, pork dishes, tacos, and much more. Their Cuban and Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches have become their best sellers. Also, Hector has a license to serve beer and wine, and they even have wine slushes. The café also includes a glass case filled with yummy homemade baked goods and treats. Hector says, “We are open every weekday from 8am-4pm. We have two great chefs and a great staff. We serve a little bit of everything as we want to keep all of our customers happy.”
The café can accommodate larger groups of people. In addition, you can have small private parties, showers, or conference events for up to 40 people, but it needs to be after their regular hours. Your larger party can order off the menu or you can discuss food menu options and packages for any type of private parties or gatherings that you want to have at the café.
Besides having meals or small gatherings at the café, the Alverios have incorporated a large catering business that has become well known in the community. They can cater weddings, graduation parties, work conferences, festivals, or any other type of gathering at your chosen venue or location.
A very popular part of their catering business is their chicken bbq that is housed in a mobile trailer. This can be used to provide food for fundraisers, weddings, festivals, and larger events. The chicken bbq trailer can provide other foods such as steaks, ribs, hot dogs, and burgers. They also have a hotdog cart that can be set up for private parties and festivals which includes hotdogs and sausages.
If you want adult beverages for your event, the HotSpot Café can help you with that as well. They now have a traveling bar that can be set up for private events and festivals. The traveling bar has a large selection of domestic beer and six to eight wines.
In addition to supplying food and drinks for your event, they can also provide entertainment. They own a DJ company, and they have several different DJ’s. These DJs can be hired for private parties and events. They have a wide variety of different types of music available. If you want to, you can provide a playlist and they will try to play all the songs on your list for your event.
The HotSpot Café has won awards for Jamestown’s Best Entrepreneur of 2021 and the SBDC’s Minority Entrepreneur of 2022. Hector said he is proud to have been presented with these awards. He also stated that he is happy to have their business in Jamestown, and that the Jamestown community has been very welcoming and supportive of their business. Hector and Michelle want the public to know that they are very flexible and are willing to work out any type of menu that you would like to have for your event.
If you want to make a reservation for a catering date for a wedding, party, or other special event, you should try to call at least two to three months ahead of time or call ahead as much as possible. You can even call as much as a year or longer ahead of time. They are already booking for weddings and special events into 2025 and even into 2026, so you may want to call them soon to secure that special date.
To order take-out or for more information about catering for an event, call 716-720-5038. You can also find their menu and updated information about their daily specials and events on their Facebook page. Since opening the cafe in downtown Jamestown, the HotSpot Café has become a multi-faceted business, that can provide delicious meals as well as whatever you need for any size and type of event.