Mothership Coffee Roasters

From Queens to the Desert

Juanny Romero grew up the daughter of immigrant parents in Queens, New York, where the smell of bodega coffee was as much a part of the streetscape as the subway rumble. She moved to Las Vegas and in 2012 launched a roasting operation at a time when specialty coffee had almost no foothold in the valley. Most locals knew drive-through chains; Romero bet that a city built on hospitality would eventually demand something better.

Mothership Coffee Roasters grew out of Sunrise Coffee, widely cited as the longest-running independent coffee shop in Las Vegas. Romero took that foundation and built a farm-to-cup model around it: direct sourcing from small-lot producers, in-house roasting, and handmade pastries baked on-site. Within four years Mothership Coffee Roasters had expanded to more than fifty employees and began opening locations across the metro area.

Seven Locations and Counting

The flagship Mothership Coffee Roasters cafe occupies the restored Fergusons Motel on Fremont East, a mid-century motor lodge turned creative campus in the heart of the downtown arts district. The setting is deliberate — Romero positioned the brand alongside galleries, studios, and independent retailers rather than casino corridors. Additional locations now operate at Downtown Summerlin, Green Valley, Allegiant Stadium, and several other valley addresses, bringing the total to seven.

Mothership Coffee Roasters is a Latina-owned, women-led company. Co-founder Josh Walter shares operational leadership. The roasting program emphasizes ethical sourcing and transparency, with rotating single-origin offerings alongside house blends. Romero was named a runner-up for the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Small Business Person of the Year, a recognition that placed Mothership Coffee Roasters alongside national-scale enterprises despite its regional footprint.

Mothership Coffee Roasters in the Las Vegas Valley

Mothership Coffee Roasters has become a gathering point for Las Vegas residents who live and work outside the resort corridor. The Fergusons Motel location in particular anchors a stretch of Fremont East that has shifted from vacant lots to a walkable neighborhood over the past decade. In January 2026, Vice President Kamala Harris visited the downtown cafe, drawing national press to a business that locals had already adopted as a community landmark. Mothership Coffee Roasters maintains an active presence at valley farmers markets and regularly partners with local nonprofits on food-equity initiatives.

Owners

Juanny Romero, Josh Walter

Founded

2012

Locations

Las Vegas (Downtown, Fergusons Motel, Allegiant Stadium), Downtown Summerlin, Green Valley, and additional valley sites

Phone

(725) 735-4539

Website

mothershipcoffee.com