Meet the McGraw Café General Manager

ABOUT Jonathan

Jonathan Avina grew up on Macrina. His father, Jesus Avina, has been a delivery driver for Macrina since 2012. As a teen, accompanying his father to Macrina’s annual employee gathering, The Feast of Macrina, Jonathan met Ariel Singh, then manager of our Sodo café. He told her how much he liked the bakery. She invited him to apply for a job when he turned eighteen. In 2017, shortly after his eighteenth birthday, he applied for a job and began working with Ariel at the Sodo café.

“Macrina was my first job,” says Jonathan. “I love the people, I love the owners, I love the pastries. It’s a great community.”

One of Jonathan’s superpowers is staying calm and positive when it gets busy, and his co-workers know they can count on him, which is why he was on the opening team for our Aloha café in 2018. Jonathan was at the register on day one. “There was a long line of people waiting to get in. Once the doors opened, a guy ran up, grabbed whatever he could find, and took an Aloha’s-first-customer selfie with me,” says Jonathan. “People were very excited, and it was a wild opening.”

Outside of work, Jonathan spends a lot of his time recording music. His music crosses genres, including hip hop, rap, and rock. He cites Drake, Jai Paul, and Kendrick Lamar as influences, as well as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Nirvana.

One day, while working at our Sodo café, Jonathan spotted Jeff Ament, Pearl Jam’s bassist—then got to meet him. “I was freaking out,” says Jonathan. “That experience was definitely mind-blowing.” While working there, he also got to know Barry Ament (Jeff’s brother) and Coby Shultz, aka Ames Bros, the famed graphic designers.

Jonathan and his long-time girlfriend, Debby, are both from large families and orient their free time around family events. And, of course, now that Jonathan manages our Kent café, which is connected to our wholesale bakery, his father visits him in the café. “We’re super tight,” says Jonathan. “He’s a Seahawks fan. I’m a 49er fan. But what can you do? He’s my dad.”

Hometown: Tijuana, Baja California; Mexico-born/California-Washington raised is how I always answer that question!

First Job: Other than being the oldest of four, Macrina’s Bakery in Sodo

Alternate Universe Job: Taco Truck Chef

Pastry You Couldn’t Live Without: Apricot Oatmeal Pecan Cookie

Weekend Getaway: The Studio, recording music is my getaway

Binge Food: Carne Asada Quesadilla

Dream Vacation: Pacific Coast Highway road trip with the best company, Debby (aka my girlfriend)

Favorite Seattle Restaurant: Japonessa Sushi

Food You Despise: Ketchup, relax trust me I've heard It all!

Guilty Pleasure: Playing the bass extremely loud

What You Listen to Now: A LOT of Instrumental beats for my music recording work!

Favorite Movie: The Matrix