Macey Estrella hopes to pour a cup full of happiness for customers at Sunny Summers Café
By Delayna Earley
The Island News
Monday, August 21, is a milestone that is two years in the making for Lady’s Island resident Macey Estrella.
She and her family will be holding the grand opening of Sunny Summers Café at 11:30 a.m. at 7 Robert Smalls Parkway in Beaufort.
On the surface, the café is a fun, brightly colored and inviting space where you can purchase coffee, a sweet treat or a savory bite to eat.
But to Estrella, who many might recognize as former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) star Lacey Evans, the café represents a chance to spend more time with her family and to give back to the Beaufort community that she loves.
Estrella has been a wrestler with the WWE for the past seven years and while she has loved it and is grateful, the constant traveling for her job has made it harder for her to be with her family and to do outreach in the community.
“I thought I could be of more assistance fighting a different fight than in the WWE ring,” said Estrella about the decision. “I want to focus on helping my community to fight against addiction and fight on the mental health side to normalize mental health issues.”
Estrella lost her father while she was still in the Marine Corps and just before she auditioned for WWE due to his struggle with mental health issues and addition to drugs and alcohol.
She said that while she was in the WWE she used her platform to try and normalize mental health issues and help those children who have been affected by addiction, and now she wants to do that for her community.
Once the café officially opens on Monday, Estrella hopes to open her doors to community organizations such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and said she plans to offer them free coffee and donuts in addition to a meeting place.
She also wants to host seminars and classes targeted at women and military spouses on important skills that are necessary to get a job and “follow their goals and aspirations.”
But most of all, Estrella is happy to be able to be settled in one place with her family.
The name, Sunny Summers Café, was inspired by her two daughters, Summer and Sunny.
The two girls, along her Estrella’s husband Alfonso, have transformed the inside of the café into a vibrant and comforting space with hidden visual treats such as crayon marks from her toddler Sunny, and little green military men hanging out in the lit-up words above the cash register that read ‘CAFÉ’ as a nod to her being a former Marine.
As a veteran and a survivor of childhood trauma due to her exposure to severe depression, drug and alcohol abuse, Estrella wanted to also focus on mental health at the café, with inspirational phrases, scent therapy, color therapy and comfortable seating.
“I wanted to create a space where people could come in and unplug from their devices, but also unplug from their minds as well,” Estrella said.
She emphasized the word unplugged and said that if you put your phone in their “Cellphone Jail” you will get a free donut to enjoy with your family.
“The cellphone has replaced your computer. The cellphone has replaced your camera. Don’t let it replace your family,” said Estrella.
Estrella, who’s contract with the WWE officially ran out at midnight on Tuesday, August 15, plans to pay homage at the café to a career that spanned almost a decade by displaying the WWE action figure that was made of her.
Stepping away from the WWE has freed up her time, but also allows her more freedom in what she can do and say.
As for the menu, first and foremost Sunny Summers Café will offer a variety of coffee drinks and donuts made fresh every day.
“The smell of coffee, the taste of coffee, kind of reminds me of the hard work that I’ve had to put in – and the long days that I’ve had to spend traveling – so it has always been very motivating for me,” Estrella said about why she wanted to open a café.
The menu also features a selection of savory and sweet treats – waffle pops, extreme milkshakes piled high with toppings, freshly made donuts, wagyu burgers, sausage and gravy biscuits – all of which are made from recipes that were developed and tested by Estrella and her 10-year-old daughter Summer.
Sunny Summers Café will be open from 5 a.m., to serve the first responders, military and early risers, and will close at 6 p.m. daily and be sure to check them out at https://www.restaurantji.com/sc/beaufort/sunny-summers-cafe-/.
Delayna Earley lives in Beaufort with her husband, two children and Jack Russell. She formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She joined The Island News in 2022. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
