Shots Cafe owner Liliana Arteaga-Tucker is surrounded by pastries at her Housatonic Street eatery. She also owns Boba Train in Great Barrington.Arteaga-Tucker was inspired to open Shots by the European cafes she patronized before moving back to the Berkshires.
The Diego Rivera panini, with roasted chicken and avocado, is a customer favorite.
LENOX, Mass. — Shots Cafe on Housatonic Street is celebrating 15 years of business by giving back to its customers.
On Thursday, May 15, customers will get 15 percent off their orders all day.
Owner Liliana Arteaga-Tucker, opened the eatery in 2010. She said she wanted to create a European-style cafe in the Berkshires as she loved them during her time living in Europe.
"After living for a few years in Europe, I moved to the Berkshires, where I was looking for those little cute European cafes around here. Unfortunately, I didn't see a lot of them around here. So I decided I want to open my own," Arteaga-Tucker said.
After 15 years in business, she said she has grown a lot and credits her patrons for the success of her business.
"Fifteen years passed very fast, incredibly fast. But it's amazing how we have been growing up a lot, too, you know?" Arteaga-Tucker said. "We don't do the business, or customers do our business. They ask you, what to do, what to sell, what they are looking for in preparation, when 15 years ago, when we opened, has been a huge difference. So definitely, I have been learning a lot from my customers, from my employees."
But running a business for more than a decade can come with many challenges, one of them being balancing her personal life.
"I think that one of the biggest challenges for me, I mean, a cafe has been like being a housewife and running the cafe. I thought it was gonna be easy when I had my daughter, and it was a little difficult. But after a little bit, you learn how to manage and so far has been good," she said.
Another challenge she and other business owners faced was the pandemic, when many businesses like hers had to come up with creative ideas to survive.
"Under the pandemic, it was very difficult for us to survive. I think we were one of the few businesses with surviving hubs," Arteaga-Tucker said. "Fortunately, we came with a lot of ideas to make it work during the COVID-19, and everything went good."
One of her motivations are her daughter and how much she loves the cafe.
"I really love Shots Cafe. I really love what I'm doing. I really love to be able to cook everything for my customers, to be able to make all those fresh new servings every morning to do all the things that I do," she said. "I really love to do it. And in that my daughter is my big motivation, too, for keep working hard every day and be here at Shots."
Arteaga-Tucker said the most rewarding thing about running her business are her customers.
"For me, running my business is, to meet so many such nice people every day to make new friends and into here every day the customer satisfied what they get, like a with a foods, with everything they get here, and seeing them coming back all the time," she said.
The cafe offers breakfast and lunch, with pastries, eggs benedict, quiche and croissants, wraps and salads, quesadillas and paninis. There's also a variety of hot and cold coffees and teas as well as beer and wine.
She creates the recipes and makes the coffee and her husband works in the kitchen.
Arteaga-Tucker said one of their most popular menu item is the Diego Rivera panini, made with house roasted chicken, Swiss, avocado, tomato, sprouts, and chipotle aioli.
Shots Cafe is open Tuesday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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Possible Measles Exposure at Boston, Logan
BOSTON — The Massachusetts Department of Public Health confirmed Wednesday that an out-of-state adult visitor who spent time in Boston and Westborough earlier this month was diagnosed with measles and was present in a number of locations.
This could have resulted in other people being exposed to measles virus.
The visitor arrived at Logan International Airport on American Airlines flight 2384 from Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, on Dec. 11 at 2:39 p.m. They stayed at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Boston-Westborough in Westborough and departed the state on Dec. 12 via Logan at 9:19 p.m. on JetBlue flight 117 to Las Vegas.
DPH is working with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local partners to identify and notify those who may have been exposed to measles from this individual.
"Measles is a highly contagious, airborne disease, which has increased significantly in the United States because of the unfortunate decrease in vaccination rates. It is also a preventable disease," said Public Health Commissioner Dr. Robbie Goldstein. "This current situation serves as an important reminder of the critical role vaccination plays in protecting our communities. While Massachusetts has not had a measles case this year, 2025 saw the highest number of nationwide cases in more than a decade — nearly 2,000 in 44 jurisdictions, and sadly, three deaths.
"Fifteen years ago, measles had been considered eliminated in the United States, but that tremendous progress is at risk. Vaccines are one of the most important public health interventions ever — they are safe, effective, and lifesaving."
Measles is very contagious. However, the risk to most people in Massachusetts is low because the vaccination rate in the state is high. People who are not immune and visited any of the locations on the following dates and times may be at risk for developing measles.
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