Israel Vega is a nurse practitioner who dabbles in renovating classic Chevys and is a founding member of a Rio Grande Valley-based semi-pro soccer team. Since January, you can add co-owner of a Los Fresnos coffee shop to his portfolio.

PJ’s Coffee is a shop he co-owns with his business partner and fellow Los Fresnos native, Adam Abrego. They wanted to create a sense-of-community kind of place where people could gather and meet and enjoy a cafecito in their hometown. Walk into PJ’s Coffee on state Highway 100 (Ocean Boulevard) and you will experience a well-designed and inviting coffee shop.

There’s comfy furniture and framed imagery on the shop’s walls explaining coffee history and the process of bean roasting.  The range of menu choices from lattes to cold brews to drip coffees has everything a coffee shop aficionados could desire. An array of pastries is readily available, including the New Orleans-originated beignets, which is the city where the PJ’s franchise began. 

Staff friendliness and warm greetings as customers walk in reflect the vibe and personalities of the business owners.

“We had over 100 applicants and we chose 20,” Abrego said. “If we hire you, be happy, smile, this has to be a fun job if you work here. Their attitude reflects us.”

Getting Into Coffee

During a classic car show on a recent Saturday at PJ’s Coffee, traffic rumbles by as people head to and from South Padre Island. 

Vega says PJ’s customers are about evenly split between Island travelers and local folks. There are lots of the latter stopping by for a coffee beverage and to get a close-up look at classic cars from the 1950s-to-1980s era. 

A county constable drives into PJ’s parking lot to ask about one of the classic editions. Vega has one of his own models out there and he chats up the law enforcement officer about cars. A family member of one of the owners eases himself into a favorite spot on a couch in the shop. It’s just what Abrego and Vega envisioned in opening PJ’s in early 2025.

“We didn’t do coffee because we thought, ‘Los Fresnos doesn’t have anything like this, so let’s open a business here,’’’ Vega said. “We wanted to offer a place that families and the community could enjoy.”

The genesis of the idea that led to PJ’s Coffee came after a trip to Puerto Rico. Abrego’s visit to the Caribbean island piqued his longstanding interest in coffee. Returning home, where he works as Vega’s practice administrator at the nurse practitioner’s medical clinic, Abrego offered up a business proposal.

“What do you think of doing a coffee shop?” Vega recalls Abrego asking. 

They were already plenty busy with the VHC Family Health & Night Clinic in San Benito. Vega’s involvement in helping to launch the Rio Grande Valley Red Crowns, a semi-pro soccer team based in Harlingen, was still up ahead. Before that team formed, the search for the right coffee shop company began. Locations in Los Fresnos and Harlingen were in mind.

Finding PJ’s

The two-year process of looking and vetting “different scenarios,” as Vega puts it, would lead the budding entrepreneurs to PJ’s Coffee of New Orleans.

The New Orleans-based coffeehouse chain was founded in 1978 in the Crescent City. It is today a growing franchise with locations across mostly Southern states with a few PJ’s in the Northeast and Midwest. The company’s website shows there are 25 locations in Texas and is a recent entrant to the RGV market.

PJ’s describes its coffee shop brand as being “known for its commitment to sourcing high-quality beans and its unique cold-drip brewing process which results in a less acidic coffee.” Abrego and Vega were impressed by PJ’s roasting process in New Orleans and that it is done in small batches. They also like that PJ’s works closely with small local farmers in Central America. The duo felt a positive reception in helping to establish the brand in the Valley. 

Their initial hope was to open in Los Fresnos and Harlingen. The latter fell through, for now, but a successful start in their hometown bodes well for a second Cameron County location.

“This is my happy place,” Abrego said. “We’re not absentee owners. We’re here every day. I get behind the counter and run the register. It’s something different for me. We’re really enjoying it.”